Matchup: Falcons’ Dline vs. Saints’ Oline
Nov. 13, 2011 - Atlanta: ---WINNING KICK --- Dejected Atlanta Falcons Jonathan Babineaux, left, and John Abraham, right, walk of the field after the winning field goal kick by New Orleans Saints John Kasay for a 26-23 Saints victory in overtime at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. Curtis Compton ccompton@ajc.com
FLOWERY BRANCH – With the NFC South title on the line, the Falcons (9-5) face the New Orleans Saints (11-3). on Monday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Here is a look at how the Falcons’ defensive line matches up against the Saints’ offensive line:
Matchup Advantage: New Orleans Saints
What happened last time: The Falcons stopped the run, holding the Saints to 41 yards rushing on 16 carries. The Falcons went sackless and had just two quarterbacks hurries against Brees, who passed for 322 yards and two touchdowns. Kansas City was able to get Aaron Rodgers to stop the Packers. The Falcons have to get sacks to beat the Saints. They seem to settle for moving him off of his spot, but in the last game they didn’t even do that.
Falcons’ starters: Right end John Abraham, right tackle Jonathan Babineaux, left tackle Corey Peters and left end Ray Edwards.
Falcons’ key reserves: Ends Kroy Biermann and Lawrence Sidbury, and tackles Peria Jerry and Vance Walker.
Saints’ starters: Left tackle Jermon Bushrod, left guard Carl Nicks, center Brian de la Puente, right guard Jahri Evans and right tackle Zach Strief.
Saints’ key reserves: Center/guard Matt Tennant and tackles Pat McQuistan and William Robinson.
Matchups to watch: Abraham vs. Bushrod and Peters vs. Evans.
Abraham is coming off a monster 3 1/2-sack game and has played stronger over the past three games. Bushrod is a critical part of a unit that protects quarterback Drew Brees like he’s a Brink’s truck.
The Falcons have 30 sacks which ranks 19th in the league. The Saints’ line has given up only 23 sacks which is the fourth-lowest total in the league.
Evans and Nicks both went to the Pro Bowl last year and are widely considered the best guard tandem in the league. But the development of Bushrod and steady play of Strief have been impressive this season.
“Bushrod was a starter last year,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “Strief was their extra offensive lineman in their ‘big’ package. He’s a guy that has stepped into a starting role this year. Again, they’ve done a very good job with protecting the quarterback and also running the football with their run blocking.”
The Saints have a major weight advantage over the smaller and quicker Falcons. Bushrod (315) is 42 pounds heavier than Abraham, Nicks (343) is 43 pounds heavier than Babineaux, Evans (318) is 13 pounds heavier than Peters and Strief (320) is 42 pounds heavier than Edwards.
“It’s a big offensive line,” Smith said. “The two guards and the two tackles are really big men and they’ve done a very good job. I think you can see by the statistics that they’ve put up, not only scoring but passing and rushing yards.”
The unit has been sturdy over the last six games after giving up six sacks in the Saints’ upset 31-21 loss to St. Louis on Oct. 30.
Behind the line, the Saints are averaging 456.7 yards per game (first in the league), 331.4 yards passing (first) and 125.4 rushing (eighth).
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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178 comments Add your comment
Sleepy4
December 21st, 2011
4:19 pm
I kind of think the Aints need to win, due to their fans have nothing else to live for.
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
4:23 pm
I wont laugh at them if they lose to Atlanta Monday night and get beat by Superman the following week in Louisiana…..you Ant Fans know you can trust me to keep my pppwomise….lol
And then again you know they have won what now, 7 straight games and they due to lose and we must remember what just happen Sunday to the Packers also.
whodat1
December 21st, 2011
5:05 pm
Sleepy, We actually do have something else to live for….another SB Championship. Then it would be 2 more than the falcons have. Time for your nap sleepy.
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
5:07 pm
gee mr. earl , thats a tough one!…if your a failclown fan. really who wants naming right to a circus tent that has rap concerts where an occassional football game breaks out . saints 45 -failclowns 17 in the ICONIC mercedes benz superdome
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
5:11 pm
it’s really funny reading all these intricate fairytale sories of how the failclowns could retain the nfcs crown. maybe try some football for a change during the reg season and you wouldn’t have to put yourselves through this agony all the time
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
5:12 pm
@ hiramsaint 45 points ? You are out of your freakin mind !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
5:16 pm
are you saying we can’t put 45 on the board? i believe we have put 40 burgers up a few times already and you know the failclowns ain’t really all that!
whodat1
December 21st, 2011
5:35 pm
Question for you falcon fans. How is Matt Ryan going to call those boring predictable audibles at the line this week in the Mercedes Super Dome? With all of the noise, Ryan won’t be able to hear his own farts as his stomach becomes weak at the thought of the beat down his team will take. Saints 35 falcons 13.
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
5:39 pm
I don’t know what your mama put in your kool-aid but she needs to nip that in the bud and oh yeah ……….I enjoyed watching Breeze back in shotgun and center snaps the ball and goes sailing by him in the Vikings game Sunday…….hilarious.
Cheap call by the officials too on that first pass interference call to help get the Saints rolling since Drew was slow to wake up out there . Seems they always get those kind of breaks !
See ya, got a call for supper !
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
5:42 pm
even with that adversity we still put up …….thats right a 40 burger…. at their house …..with ap playing . y’all barely squeked out a win against them at your tent with no ap and lets not forget how yates looked like an all pro in his 1st start….hilarious
WHODAT7556
December 21st, 2011
5:55 pm
I guess Mularkey is the man now////LOL
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
6:05 pm
The Packers are a lot more interesting to watch than the Saints but we will see a different version come Monday Eve than what was on television Sunday in Minnesota. You know your boys were too much for those Viks but this week they play a more superior opponent that has unfinished business
Monday Morning QB
December 21st, 2011
6:07 pm
Can the Falcons beat the Saints – sure we can but odds are against it. We have the better defense and a strong offense but the Saints offense is a powerhouse. It will take a great effort by the d-line to win this game. Abraham looked better than he has all season last week and said he has been hurt all season. I expect another tight entertaining game but until the Birds can prove otherwise the Saints are at the top of the hill. GO FALCONS
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
6:12 pm
One thing for sure , that isn’t the Minnesota Team they will be facing, go get your mama to change your pamper hiram
Monday Morning QB
December 21st, 2011
6:13 pm
@ WHODAT7556
Just saw your comment about Ryan’s playoff record. Are you a moron or what? Ryan has played in two playoff games against teams that went on to the Super Bowl in those years. What was Scarface Brees’ record after 4 years? Nowhere near Ryan’s you can bet on that. What happened in the last playoff game played by Brees? He lost to the worst team to EVER make the playoffs. Go swim in the sewer, it’s right outside your door if you live in New Orleans.
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
6:20 pm
Lets see New Orleans win these last two, that would make 9 wins in a row and they go into playoffs and fold up like a rollaway bed in the first game..long winning streaks are hard to come by in the NFL and in the playoffs those games are especially different kind of football games cause if you snooze you loose. A chicken can’t do much when they cut off the head, you put a good defense up against Breezy and he will roll up like a old lap dog .
UGA/Falcons Homer.....And?
December 21st, 2011
6:23 pm
Falcons have this one in the bag
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
6:26 pm
Enter your comments here
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
6:30 pm
They just a bunch of hypocritical losers ! So called Saint Fans ! what a joke
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
6:44 pm
a fan of a team with no championships and an 0-2 recent playoff record calling the fans of a team who have had 2 nfc championship appearances , a superbowl win and in the playoffs for the 3rd consecutive year losers. really? i know it’s from jealousy and hate that you say that so i’m ok with it but look at the failclown team picture if you want to see losers…or in the mirror
ninobrown
December 21st, 2011
6:49 pm
Monday Morning,
I remeber your little nursery rhyme that you wrote with Micheal M. before the first meeting between the Saints and the Falcons. Micheal tried to warn you about it, but you posted it anyway. I’ve been waiting for you to show up. We haven’t seen you since!!!! Lol (typical falcon “fan”). Just wondering if you have any material for us this week?????
ninobrown
December 21st, 2011
6:57 pm
Micheal M.
Hypocritical losers???? I DO have respect for you and your views on football. But I DO recall the Carolina game and it was just sad how the majority of the posts were about getting rid of the entire coaching staff, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White and Micheal Turner. The same was said during the Texans game. All of a sudden “fans” reappear during Jags game. And all of a sudden, the Falcons are an elite team. The first game was closer than it should have been and Monday night will prove this. Saints by 10pts at least!!!
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
7:19 pm
yeah and we playing a good tune too its an old hit , you remember, the big payback ,surely you do.
Alright I am tired and getting off this thing have a nice one !
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
7:21 pm
Ha ! Ha !
later taters
WHODAT7556
December 21st, 2011
7:40 pm
HaHaHa..LOL @Nino….IT SEEMS THAT MONDAYMORNING HAS DISAPPEARED AGAIN..LOL…HMMMMM
whodat1
December 21st, 2011
7:56 pm
When you guys from atlanta get your SB ring, come back and we’ll discuss football with you. Who Dat.
Bobby Bulter
December 21st, 2011
8:05 pm
I like to hear how stupid you Saints fans can be. Going to bet the Falcons by three touchdowns. They couldn’t even beat the Rams. You sure have a bad team. LOL
Greg Mendel
December 21st, 2011
8:07 pm
After making countless awful movies, John Wayne finally won an Oscar. After losing countless football games, the Saints finally won a Super Bowl. Fair and square, I will add, because John Wayne couldn’t act.
The Saints won’t win another Super Bowl for decades, but they will remind everyone of their one championship for the next umpteen years. Long after they cease to make the playoffs and drift back into NFL obscurity. Long after the Falcons win a championship or two or three, Saints fans who are still alive then will protest that “We won one too — back in.. back in… !”
Seriously, in 2011 the Saints are good. Very good. The Monday Night game will be fun — because the Saints ain’t THAT good and the Falcons ain’t THAT bad. An OT win isn’t a wipeout.
whodat1
December 21st, 2011
8:16 pm
Wow, what an analogy Greg…. an actor and an NFL team. So the Saints won’t win another SB for decades. Do you realize that the Saints offense this year is better than 09’s SB champion Saints?
Joe Tess Fish House
December 21st, 2011
8:27 pm
Matchup 2 watch
Mike Smith vs Sean Peyton.
Advantage Peyton especally if Smith go 4 it inside the 30 yard line…..Dummy
Eric C.
December 21st, 2011
8:39 pm
Joe Tess Fish House, the Falcons will go for it on 4th early and often…especially if they have already clinched a playoff berth. With Julio Jones and Rodgers filling in more now…they will have more success.
Jborodawg
December 21st, 2011
8:53 pm
To hint that the Saints have the advantage on the line of scrimmage because their O line is bigger…well, UGA has the biggest O line in all of North America. Murray still got hurried and/or sacked many times during the season. The Falcons can do the same to Brees.
DOL…what’s the latest on Pro Bowl voting? Any Falcons projected?
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
9:05 pm
the saints have the advantage on the o line because they are better.
Greg Mendel
December 21st, 2011
9:05 pm
@whodat1
I do. The Saints are very good, as I said. They also lost to the Rams. Remember? No, not the 2000 Super Bowl-winning Rams. To this year’s ultimate losers. Which means the Saints (or the Falcons) can lose to anybody.
I’m not predicting a Falcons win, just a good game. The Saints, btw, earned their ring. John Wayne’s Oscar was a gimme.
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
9:17 pm
thats un-American dissin’ the duke!
Greg Mendel
December 21st, 2011
9:23 pm
Hot Damn! An upper case letter from hiramsaint!
Screw the Duke. He minced when he walked Ever hear the story about him visiting the WW2 Pacific wounded in Hawaii? Ugly.
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
9:48 pm
never heard that story but i’ll check it out . i do use upper case when it counts.
#1SaintsFan
December 21st, 2011
9:49 pm
MondayMorning?????????
Where did he go??? LOL//////We are waiting on one of those wonderful nursery rhymes predicting a falcon win again////LOL
Texas Falcon
December 21st, 2011
9:49 pm
This is a rivalry game! The Saints fans Are not suppose to like us and, we are not suppose to like them. That’s how rivalries go. I love the city and the citizens of New Orleans but, two times out of the year I really hate your guts! Oh yeah, screw your Super Bowl ring we’ll have one soon enough. Go Falcons!!! Fly Dirty Birds Fly!!!
MG3
December 21st, 2011
9:58 pm
Pressure Brees and we win this one…go Falcons.
Greg Mendel
December 21st, 2011
10:08 pm
@hiramsaint
Well, just make sure you use ‘em when it counts.
The John Wayne story: I can’t recount it verbatim, but I read William Manchester’s account (Manchester was a Marine combat veteran of Okinawa and earlier battles) in “Goodbye Darkness” a few years ago. Very good book, btw.
Apparently, John Wayne — who was just becoming a cowboy/western movie hero — showed up in a military hospital in Hawaii, to cheer up the wounded troops. He entered the ward, outfitted in cowboy garb (including dual six-guns) and began making statements about “them Japs ain’t gonna know what happened to them when our boys…” etc., etc.
According to Manchester, the wounded soldiers stared at him like he was a creature from another planet who was out of his mind. Then they booed him. Then, he and his entourage slunk out of the place.
I remember him promoting the war in Vietnam while I was in it. And the final scene of his “Green Berets” movie. It was touching. The Sun was setting over the South China Sea. Which meant the Sun set in the east for the Duke, anyway.
whodat70816
December 21st, 2011
10:18 pm
Poor Falcons Fans all filled up with false hope.
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
10:20 pm
well i’m sure he meant well and was promoted to do it by his managers or whatever and you know hollywood movies , there is always foul ups in those but i still like the duke and my daughters love his movies so to each his own i suppose- SEMPER FI !
whodat70816
December 21st, 2011
10:31 pm
Michael M.
December 21st, 2011
6:20 pm
Lets see New Orleans win these last two, that would make 9 wins in a row and they go into playoffs and fold up like a rollaway bed in the first game..long winning streaks are hard to come by in the NFL and in the playoffs those games are especially different kind of football games cause if you snooze you loose. A chicken can’t do much when they cut off the head, you put a good defense up against Breezy and he will roll up like a old lap dog .
__________________________________________________
It was only the season before last the Saints won 13 games in a row, lost the last 3 and was told no team has ever won the SB losing their last 3 games….How’d that turn out?
I know you would know all to well about snoozing and losing in the playoffs….because Mike Smith and Matty Melt always snooze and lose in the playoffs.
I would consider the Texans and Bears defenses good….two teams the Saints beat and the Falcons lost to….That tells me Matty Chicken is the one rolling up like an old lap dog when he has to face a good defense.
Besides…I consider the Falcons defense very good…and I don’t Brees had much of a problem against them in November….Or are you saying the Falcons defense stinks?
hiramsaint
December 21st, 2011
10:36 pm
also , brees has 11 games with over 300 yds. passing and you can’t expect us to believe that atl.’s d is gonna stonewall him. dream on ’till mon then the nightmares start
Greg Mendel
December 21st, 2011
10:43 pm
I’m sure Mr. Wayne meant well. He was an actor, not a Marine or soldier or sailor. He made war glorious and fun.
In WW2, 27,000 people per day died. Most of them civilians. War is the most fun you can have, as long as you aren’t in one.
Greg Mendel
December 21st, 2011
10:45 pm
Go Falcons! (No more heavy comments.) Cheers to hiramsaint, et al.
KISSTHEBELT
December 21st, 2011
10:49 pm
Cheesehead here….
I would rather go up against MattyMelt than Brees,,,,Although none of yall can beat the packers
#1SaintsFan
December 21st, 2011
10:51 pm
Anyone that picks Ryan over Brees is an idiot..Clearly we know who’s better. Falcon fans will never admit it though..#smh
#1SaintsFan
December 21st, 2011
10:53 pm
@Kiss..
We gave yall a run for your money tho//OH but dont worry, we will see yall in the NFC Champioship Game