Falcons at Saints: 3 key matchups
ew season, bigger beard. Falcons offensive lineman Sam Baker has let his beard grow out, sporting some additional length on his chin. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com
Three key matchups
Saints DE Will Smith vs. Falcons LT Sam Baker: Baker has been called for four holding penalties, but the Falcons think his issue may be related to the new placement of the umpire. Baker will have to get his hands on Will Smith and keep him from collapsing the pocket as he did last season in New Orleans. Smith had two sacks in that game. He was a disruptive force. Baker and the Falcons were able to contain Smith in the second matchup last season.
Saints S Malcolm Jenkins vs. Falcons QB Matt Ryan: Jenkins is in his first season as a full-time starter and is trying to replace the injured Darren Sharper. Jenkins is a converted cornerback and has one fumble recovery. The 49ers were able to hit some deep passes over the top of the defense Monday night. Ryan has won six of his past nine NFC South starts. He passed for three touchdowns and had a 117.3 quarterback rating last weekend. The Falcons are 10-0 when Ryan has a quarterback rating of more than 100.
Saints RB Pierre Thomas vs. Falcons MLB Curtis Lofton: With Reggie Bush out, the Saints likely will give his carries to the hard-running Thomas. They signed Ladell Betts for depth. Thomas averages only 3.2 yards per carry, but leads the team with 11 receptions. Thomas hopes to have his third game in a row at home against the Falcons with a touchdown rushing and receiving. In the past two games in New Orleans, he has 209 total yards and four touchdowns. Lofton respects Thomas’ style of play and knows he’ll have to account for him in the run game. “I don’t think anybody overlooks him,” Lofton said. “He’s a great back. We’re going to have to bring our pads.”
History lesson
- Saints coach Sean Payton is 7-1 against the Falcons.
- This is the 82nd regular-season meeting. The Falcons lead the series 44-37.
- The Saints own a 17-16 advantage at the Superdome.
- This is one of the NFL’s best and most underrated rivalries. With the teams entering the league a season apart in the late 1960s, don’t think the Falcons are not upset that the Saints won a Super Bowl trophy first.
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108 comments Add your comment
SeenThisB4
September 24th, 2010
11:38 am
Falcon Jim: “Yahoo Answers”? Ah, ha, ha, ha! I guess that makes you the “authority”.
GEAUX SAINTS! OUR TIME!!
SeenThisB4
September 24th, 2010
11:39 am
Howie Long: Here’s a real deal for you: Win or Lose, I’ll be here on Monday!
GEAUX SAINTS! OUR TIME!!
truth
September 24th, 2010
11:43 am
Seen, childish. It is sad for you to think you need turnovers to win. Ok I’ll man-up. The Falcons don’t need or want your turnovers they will just flat out dominate the game and beat the aints straight up, without relying on turnovers. NO TEAM GOES IN HOPING TO GET TURNOVERS SO THEY CAN WIN, THEY GO IN NOT WANTING TO MAKE TURNOVERS. Now of course if it happens and a team gets turnovers, GREAT. But, don’t count on them to get a win. Now that you’ve been schooled take a nap kid.
GO FALCONS!!!!
FrontRow
September 24th, 2010
11:49 am
WHODAT I can’t really tell from your post is you believe one game at a time or you have already reached the end of the season. Looks like you’re sitting on both sides of the fence.
Saints posters here seem to hail the second coming of the ’70s Steelers. For some reason they preach the Saints are entitled, even moreso since they have beaten 2 REALLY LOUSY teams.
A real team is coming to your house and alot of real Saints posters (the ones ont he Saint’s blogs) are worried based on recent performance.
After the Falcons wipe some of the Katrina doo doo off the floor of the toilet dome with your has been team you will disappear or at the very least begin posting under other names.
Here is a early BYE BYE
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
11:51 am
Who is that? Who IS that? Again I ask, who is that who appears to be indicating that they intend to defeat these New Orleans Saints?
Yeah, that’s better . . .
truth
September 24th, 2010
11:56 am
Yes you want to win the turnover battle for sure. But that can’t be apart od a teams hopes of a win. Of course you want to create turnovers to get an edge, but no coach will ever say “guys we will only win if we get turnovers.”
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
11:59 am
Seen, just thought it was funny…………..”who dat next team to beat the saints…..”
(I ran across this trying to figure out some of this cajun stuff. I don’t get it. Guess I’m just a Georgia boy.)
FrontRow
September 24th, 2010
12:02 pm
The WhoDats are the ones that leave in the 3rd quarter.
Or at least that’s been my experience.
WHO-DAT
September 24th, 2010
12:19 pm
FrontRow, did I hit a nerve? Now you are getting into personal stuff. Katrina, doo-doo, whatever. We can take it all. Katrina didn’t kill us it just made us stronger. It’s not where you have been but where you are and where you are going. See in our rear view mirror. Bee-Beep!
WHO-DAT!!!
FrontRow
September 24th, 2010
12:42 pm
No…it’s just that no matter how well you try and fix the toilet dome it’s a dump – it was a dump before Katrina.
Your problem is the whole where ya been and where ya going stuff. The mentality is since the Saints won the SB last year they will again (forgone conclusion by Saints posters here).
In doing so, you are looking WAY past the Falcons. Mediocre at best (based on 2 game performance) meet team at the beginning of a blowout streak.
I like our chances ALOT.
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
12:57 pm
Of course the Falcons have a chance to win. They played the Saints really well last year. You don’t realistically think you’re going to change the minds of any Saints fans though, do you? So what if a Saints fan is looking past the Falcons? I’m pretty sure that fan is not going to be suiting up this weekend, and neither are you. Personally, I love the fact that this game generates as much passion as an SEC game.
truth
September 24th, 2010
1:00 pm
Don’t worry fellow Falcon fans come sunday at around 4pm est there wont be anymore aints fans on these boards because they will not come back and eat the crow we are ready to prepare. The Falcons are going to win this game. We all (aints fans included) know this. Go to there boards they know it.
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
1:09 pm
I will say this though, even if the Falcons win this one game, the Saints will still be the defending Superbowl champs, and that really gets you . . . The Falcons may have gotten to the Superbowl before the Saints, but the Saints didn’t wet the bed the night before. So, there it is, dirty birds.
WHO-DAT
September 24th, 2010
1:14 pm
FrontRow: Check this out:The NFL, a multibillion dollar business decided to have the 2013 Superbowl in that dump and not in that Home Depot paper made roof dome that even your own owner don’t what to play in anymore. If your film crew can take an panoramic view of the 850-million dollar refurbished Superdome, you will find out that not only do we have a Championship team but also a Championship building. You need to get out the ATL and see what I am saying. WHO-DAT!!!
P.S. Forgot, our 14-million dollar Champion Square tailgating Plaza adjacent to the dome is open for all visitors. LOL
JP
September 24th, 2010
1:15 pm
“With the teams entering the league a season apart in the late 1960s, don’t think the Falcons are not upset that the Saints won a Super Bowl trophy first.”
Saints fans LOVE LOVE LOVE that!
Geaux Saints!
The Man
September 24th, 2010
1:16 pm
sAINTS bandwagon riders, GEAUX HOME!!!!!!!!!
FrontRow
September 24th, 2010
1:17 pm
Lipstick on a pig.
Scoop
September 24th, 2010
1:18 pm
FrontRow, Don’t go, WhoDat forgot to tell u its the murder capital of the world
FrontRow
September 24th, 2010
1:18 pm
I acutally enjoy the Saints being up on a pedestal. The higher they get, the farther they will fall.
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
1:19 pm
I’ve been on that bandwagon since 1979, and it has been an awfully bumpy ride.
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
1:21 pm
Front Row, better to have been to very the top and go back down than to stay on the bottom forever. But congrats on finally getting back to back winning seasons. You’re definitely headed in the right direction.
FrontRow
September 24th, 2010
1:26 pm
Yep and the Saints are headed in the right direction too….back down.
We just hope to make the landing a little bit harder.
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
1:34 pm
You and everybody else. Good luck, you’re going to need it.
Falcon Fanatic
September 24th, 2010
2:08 pm
It’s time to RISE UP, and go into the superdome and take back OUR division!!!
Lets Go FALCONS!!!
WHO-DAT
September 24th, 2010
2:16 pm
Front Row/Scoop: Check this out. 7.5 million visitors to New Orleans, a city of only 385 thousand people. Murder capitol of the world, right, people are just dying to get there. Don’t hate, I can tell you and the rest of the internet community what murders Monica Pearson, Jovita Moore,Ja Quitta Williams report on a daily basis, but we are not going to go there. Saints-Falcons, leave the other stuff where it belong. WHO-DAT!
Big Rod
September 24th, 2010
2:28 pm
The Aints had a tough game and have a short week. Meanwhile, the Falcons had an easy game and a full week. We will get the upset as long as the refs don’t take it from us like they did the Vikings in the Championship game.
Falcons 26 Aints 24
Saints Fan
September 24th, 2010
2:53 pm
The city of Atlanta also has one of the highest LGBT populations per capita. It ranks 3rd of all major cities, behind San Francisco and slightly behind Seattle, with 12.8% of the city’s total population recognizing themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
Most of them have posted here.
Saints beat you like we beat you twice last year, and just barely enough to make it hurt more.
Dwayne
September 24th, 2010
3:21 pm
Ok, you win Saints Fans, now go back to your asbestos(sp) laced trailers and enjoy you Superbowl Trophy.
Falcon fans, they won it last year, of course they had lots of help from league officials, but they did win it. I’m glad they won it, even if their fans are morons. At least it wasn’t the team with the dog killer on it, or the Steelers again, or the Patriots. Hell, at least we can say we lost to the Superbowl Champs twice….lol. Ease up dudes, regardless of what happens, we still got to go to work, well, some of us do.
League Official
September 24th, 2010
3:36 pm
It’s true, we love the Saints.
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
4:19 pm
I love taint…………………….did I miss understand something?
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
4:50 pm
No, Falcon Jim. You are what we refer to as the 12.8%.
PlanB
September 24th, 2010
5:15 pm
Seen – we’ll take Reggie if he seems to be hurting your team!
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
5:21 pm
Hey Crao (AND I MEAN IT) I don’t think you know what the hell taint is………….you queer-boy.
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
5:21 pm
Not Crao……………..Crap ! ! !
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
6:06 pm
Pretty sure I do. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=taint
Wishful thinking on your part. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
6:14 pm
Crap, go down to the third definition. I’m fifty-five and it has always been a term used with regard to females. So I think we have a mis-understanding here. (I’m sure my beautiful wife and two grown sons would agree.)
(I’ve NEVER heard it used in reference to males……………….)
O.K.?
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
6:21 pm
Jim, I believe you. I do. Heck, I was just making a joke about the 12.8%, which I still think was pretty funny.
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
6:26 pm
Damn, make a kinda funny joke and end up defending your man-hood. Jeeeezzzz.
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
6:27 pm
Cajun Crap, I think were good. Hey, have fun watching the game………….but don’t get too upset. HA !
Cajun crap talker
September 24th, 2010
6:32 pm
Hey man, you too. I hope I have fun watching the game, but I can tell you that the first two weren’t all that fun to watch, and I don’t expect this one to be either, until the end anyway. Either way, I’ll come back on here Sunday or Monday and either gloat or take my medicine (either way, I’ll be talking crap).
PlanB
September 24th, 2010
6:34 pm
Maybe he’s “inbetween” thoughts.
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
6:50 pm
Cajun Crap, I don’t know if you have read some of my little talks on years of watching ball. But after it’s all said and done, just enjoy the game regardless. Heck, being a Falcon fan since day one has given me some real thick skin. I’ll be watching with my son who is 21 and a big fan. That’s all I really want.
Have a GREAT Sunday.
F.J.
Martin
September 24th, 2010
6:52 pm
Atlanta dream, Georgia bulldogs, Georgia tech, Atlanta braves, Georgia state, Atlanta fal-cants (stands for can’t win a super bowl), what do they all have in common two weeks ago? They all lost, now what you call them, a part of loserville USA.
Falcon Jim
September 24th, 2010
7:14 pm
Martin, I think it was all the voodoo you cajun types have been casting around here for a couple weeks. GO HOME.
waymer44
September 24th, 2010
7:38 pm
Hey falcons, this game is huge for the divison crown. Lose and the Saints go up 3-0 with arizona, carolina, cleveland, and tampa on deck = 7-0 race over. While the dirty birds drop to 1-2 with 49’s, browns, eagles, and bengals on deck = 3-4 and not catching the saints.
This game will come down to the final 2 minutes with the ball in brees’ hands going against the houston hamstring and tiny grimy and we all know how thats going to turn out.
hiramsaint
September 24th, 2010
8:35 pm
the 1st 2 look like mis-matches with the advantage to the saints
Big Ray
September 24th, 2010
10:35 pm
What’s really sad is so called professionals who are highly paid, giving up turnovers. That’s what’s really sad. And even worse, to the point of childishness, are opponent fans, who point to the Saints propensity to recover those turnovers, as a poor method for producing wins.
Even sadder are fans of other teams who apparently don’t have forums of their own. I mean, when you’re constantly posting on another team’s website EVERY WEEK, you either can’t read, can’t use the search engine, or you don’t know where you live.
Big Ray
September 24th, 2010
10:37 pm
The city of Atlanta also has one of the highest LGBT populations per capita. It ranks 3rd of all major cities, behind San Francisco and slightly behind Seattle, with 12.8% of the city’s total population recognizing themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
Guilty dogs always bark loudest. That would be YOU, Saints Fan.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
September 25th, 2010
12:05 am
Big Ray – stick to sports topics and not your sexual agenda. This is the Falcon’s vent…. there is no place for politics here.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
September 25th, 2010
12:08 am
Saints fan – the same goes for you….. cut the 12.8% B.S. – this vent is for sports and the Falcons.