TallySaint

New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons


John Clayton, Espn.com



It's fitting these two teams play in this division because both teams are going South. The Falcons have lost three in a row and can't get Michael Vick back into a rhythm. The Saints have lost two in a row and gave up 69 points in those games. But the pressure is on the Falcons and coach Jim Mora. The Falcons lost to the Saints, 23-3, in the emotional reopening of the Superdome. The Saints are tied with the Panthers for the division lead, so a loss Sunday doesn't knock them out. A Falcons loss could be devastating because it would put the Falcons two games behind the Saints in the standings, but that's really three games because they would lose the tiebreaker to New Orleans. This game should be fascinating. The Saints can't stop passing offenses of late, but the Falcons haven't been much of a passing offense the past three weeks. After seemingly gaining momentum in victories over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, Vick has gone just 44-of-93 for 487 yards in the past three games. He's averaging barely five yards an attempt, so if he can't get the passing game going against the Saints, he may have to wait until next year.



John Clayton's First and 10....
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...=ESPNHeadlines

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

hagan714

well that sums it up pretty well but he did not say anything about the points off of turn overs we have yielded. cut those turnovers out and we would be sitting better but that is the what if game. we saints fans play that game better than most.

WVSaint

i think the loser of this game is watching the playoffs for sure

along

It's games like this where conender step
up and do what they do!!!!!

saintsrule

I hope they play like they did in the first game.

Bobaganoosh

I think this is going to be a completely different game than the first one...The Falcons are running a different kind of offense then they were running early in the year, as are we. We have got to get back to feeding the ball to Deuce...all the passing yards are great but we need to keep their offense off the field and running the ball is the way to do it. Getting Deuce his 20 carries would help us out instead of throwing the ball 45 times a game.

SaintFanInATLHELL

Anything that limits offensive turnovers is a good move.

The Falcons' defense won't be able to stop Brees and company. If the offense takes care of the ball, theyll score enough points to beat the Falcons.

But taking care of the ball is key. The Falcons are not together enough to put up long drives, though they can throw the ball down the field.

SFIAH

SaintDenmark

If we don't turn the football over as we did against the Ravens, Steelers and Bengals... WE WIN!

SaintFanInATLHELL

That's the truth.

SFIAH

TheDeuce

I was thinking about all of these turnovers. Let's look at who has been turning it over in our last three losses:

Brees has 10 picks. In the last three losses he has 6. He also lost a fumble.
Reggie has an interception and a fumble.
Terrance Copper has two critical fumbles.
Billy Miller has a fumble.

Just a quick look at that list tells you a couple of things:
1. Almost all of our turnovers are stemming from the passing game.
2. Brees hasn't been as careful with the ball as he was at the start of the season.

I honestly think that Copper should not be playing this week. The starting WRs should look like this - Joe Horn, Devery Henderson, and Reggie if we need a slot receiver. Sure, that sounds silly, but look at that list, and look whose name isn't there:

DEUCE MCALLISTER. The guy is a beast and a half. He's BAAAAAACK this season, but for some reason he ain't getting the ball. He's averaging 4.3 yards per carry and he's ripping off big gains more often. He doesn't turn the ball and he always seems to pick up positive yardage (unlike another one of our RBs). I am just flabergasted that he is on pace to get only 216 carries this season, when he should be getting over 400. This man is a beast, and he's being ridiculously underutilized. Sure, the passing game is nice, and I'm happy with the emergence of Marques and with Brees' prolific numbers, but the passing game is losing us games. Let's get the ball to Deuce.