LIVE: Falcons are in playoffs, now go for South vs. Saints
Falcons are hoping John Abraham can replicate this play against Drew Brees. (Jason Getz)
NEW ORLEANS — After lunch with D-Led at Mother’s — always my first stop in New Orleans — I’m ready for the afterthought of this road trip: a football game. (Sorry, but everything takes a back seat to food here.)
The byproduct of two straight wins and a few NFC playoff contenders collapsing around them has left the Falcons in a comfortable position going into tonight’s game against the New Orleans Saints: They’ve already clinched a postseason birth for the third time in four seasons.
There's always a line at Mother's.
But is winning that NFC South that implausible?
Three things need to happen for the Falcons to win the South and clinch a home playoff game: 1) They need to win tonight. (The last four meetings between the teams have been decided by a field goal, with two going into overtime, so an upset wouldn’t be monumental); 2) The Falcons need to win next week’s regular season finale at home against Tampa Bay. (Not a problem. The Bucs have lost nine straight); 3) New Orleans needs to lose next week against Carolina. (The Saints will be favored, but the Panthers have won four of their last five and have a high-scoring offense.)
In that scenario, the teams would finish tied at 11-5 overall but the Falcons would get the edge because of a better division record (4-2 vs. 3-3). So it’s possible they can pull it
Darryl Ledbetter scripts his first 15 plays.
off. But winning in the Superdome won’t be easy, especially with quarterback Drew Brees playing like the league’s MVP (16 touchdowns, zero interceptions in the last five games, 24 TDs and 3 interceptions in the last eight).
At least the Falcons know they’ve already clinched at least a wild card playoff berth, the result of Green Bay’s win over Chicago Sunday night.
If the playoffs opened today, the Falcons (NFC’s sixth seed) would face the Saints (third seed) in the playoffs. If the Falcons finish ahead of Detroit for the top wild card spot (fifth seed), they will travel to the NFC East champion, which will be the winner of next week’s Dallas-New York Giants game. If they win the division, they could wind up hosting Detroit. There’s still a chance New Orleans finishes with the No. 2 seed and
Counter-clockwise: Red beans and rice, shrimp po-boy, chicken and andouille gumbo, softshell crab po-boy.
draws a bye, leaving the Falcons to travel to San Francisco.
For now, the Falcons are focused only on trying to play four quarters against the Saints as well as they played the last six against Carolina and Jacksonville.
Some obvious keys tonight: 1) Turnovers (it’s notable the Saints’ defense has only 13 takeaways, the fewest in the league; 2) Don’t waste red zone possessions, as was the case the last time the teams met; 3) Get some semblance of a pass rush on Brees, at least forcing him to move off his spot; 4) Pound the Saints’ defense with the run, using up clock and keeping Brees on the sideline.
The Falcons also get cornerback Brent Grimes back after a three-game absence, which should help against a quarterback who’s about to break the NFL’s single-season passing record (Brees’ 4,780 yards trails Dan Marino’s record of 5,048 by 268).
OK, that’s enough. I’ll turn it over to you now. Call me crazy (not the first time, I’m sure) but I like the Falcons’ chances tonight. They seem particularly up for this game. We’ll see. I’m here to serve, at least until I have to start banging out the game column.
By Jeff Schultz
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2,750 comments Add your comment
stendek
December 26th, 2011
11:30 pm
These officials are from where? SEC? That explains it!
Loserville USA
December 26th, 2011
11:30 pm
EPIC FAIL.
Only in LOSERVILLE can teams have winning records and BLOW.
FalconFan
December 26th, 2011
11:30 pm
Oh surprise, another Atlanta penalty. They shouldn’t have called that a penalty because the offense was setting up a screen pass. LOL Worked for the Saints.
ijonathan
December 26th, 2011
11:30 pm
Mike Smith looks different tonight…like his head is swollen or something, maybe like he got a facelift. Seriously.
CGD..
December 26th, 2011
11:30 pm
Melt= Joey Harrington
Ryan is ICE MELT on Madden only!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joseph
December 26th, 2011
11:30 pm
They just let them tackle Abe and wasn’t holding because it was a screen pass, but yet there was no pass but a quarterback run! Crap!
fred
December 26th, 2011
11:30 pm
announcers said, ” this is a safety”.
refs said, “not a safety, it was a screen pass.”
announcers watching the replays again and again said, “no it was not a screen. don’t know what the referees saw?”
and there you go.
WHO DAT? WE DAT! WHY DAT? CAUSE WE ALL DAT!!
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
WHO DAT? WE DAT! WHY DAT? CAUSE WE ALL DAT!!
All you fake falcon fans. Talking all this and that. We have destroyed you!
phil
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
SSDD – it is what it has always been.
Happy Kwanzaa.
yoder
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
falcons are done- but how can refs assume that brees was throwing a screen and not call holding
stendek
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Another errant MR pass!
80sFalcon
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
the good thing is Atlanta won’t play another team as good as the saints for awhile.
MTSeats
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
@John, no harm, no foul
SonofaDawg
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Hey falcon fans, don’t whine about the refs, your saviour Matt “lil dink shawty” Ryan just sucks!
Falcons: Play 60
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Jeff with 29 comments on the blog tonight. I think it’s safe to say Bradley is the better blogger when it comes to blogging during the Live games.
americankris
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Our offensive game plan was amazing we just need a pass rush
Big Wally
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Should make the entire defense walk back to Atlanta, they don’t deserve a plane ride.
PMc
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
4 years quickly becoming the Don Waddell process.
ATL Sports Fan
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
I’m telling you the refs are scared to call penalties on the Saints in the FEMA Dome. Did you hear what people did to each other during Katrina in this place. They don’t want to be murder or raped in the FEMA Dome.
Sparks
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Something stinks on that non call in the end zone…I agree someone needs to take a look at this crew.
tb falcon fan i think
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
carolina will probably play better next week than we did
athensmatt
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Question: If a pass is not catchable, pass interference can”t be called on the defense, right? So if a pass isn’t catchable, can pass interference still be called on the offense? I don’t see how they could call P.I. on White a few minutes ago.
Another penalty on Atlanta there. Funny how the smallest instance of a penalty will be called on Atlanta, but all night the blatant ones by New Orleans have been ignored. (Example: Sproles’ 90+ kickoff return.)
Breeztastic
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Today I watched Mr. Brees.
Evade the Falcons’ D throwing TDs.
Their offense was slow, Turner couldn’t go.
Like a passing breeze was the falcons D
They got whupped on national t.v.
Gonna be a long ride home,
Let’s hope they come back for a whuppin in the Superdome!
Elvis Presley
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Ladies and gentleman, Jeff Schultz has left the building !
ijonathan
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Donta robinson makes a tackle like that all the time. LOL
Jay Dubu
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Falcons just were outplayed, unprepared, and wore down under the noise of the dome.
Can they win a playoff game this year?
Gonzales neer won a playoff game in KC, and now will have the same curse in Atlanta.
Loserville USA
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Joke play calling tonight.
This is what we get after 10 days to prepare.
Jeezus.
80sFalcon
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
Can we send our defenders to the summer Saints tackling camp?
stendek
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
MR throws pass yard short on third down! Way to go loser.
kerryb
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
Another non pass interference call
americankris
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
No call again
Lawton
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
Julio has to extend his arms and catch that
80sFalcon
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
these officials suck!
FalconFan
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
Why didn’t Tracy Porter just tackle Jones. We know a penalty wouldn’t have been called.
phil
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
Way to play guys!
Ahahahahahaha! More typical atlanta…why do i even care anymore.
ijonathan
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
Observation: Julio doesn’t exactly fight for the ball when it is contested with a receiver.
Ted
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
All over him.
stendek
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
MR fails again! Total loser without hope. Trade his untalented a$$! ASAP.
yoder
December 26th, 2011
11:32 pm
and pass interference on 22
Ouch
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
No holding because it was a screen pass? How do the refs know it was a screen if the ball wasn’t thrown? Superstar Rules have found the NFL
katherine
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
WHO DAT? WE DAT! WHY DAT? CAUSE WE ALL DAT!!
December 26th, 2011
11:31 pm
WHO DAT? WE DAT! WHY DAT? CAUSE WE ALL DAT!!
All you fake falcon fans. Talking all this and that. We have destroyed you!
Yes…you all won the game….and you live in louisianna…..so who really won
falcon fred
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
note to dawg fans: trading bama for mizzou won’t avoid an azzkickin for the ignorant dawgs…mizzou looked sec ready tonite…dawgs and their fans are stupid…just like falcants fans…
CGD..
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
1-13 last 14 MNF GAMES.. Beyond
Pathetic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Falcons suck. Always have...always will.
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
Georgia Bulldog fans and Falcons fans are obviously the same delusional people. Blaming the officials?! You people deserve this team…
5150 UOAD
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
He is all over his back JONES needed to fall and make the play look worse.
M10
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
The refs are really blowing the saints tonight it’s ridiculous.
kerryb
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
Gruden, the Falcons offense should be disgusted with the officiating tonight.
Jay Dubu
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
I really thought that the defense wuld be prepared for the Saints offense with the extra time between games.
FalconFan
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
I actually think Mike Smith has something wrong with his health. I don’t think they are telling all they know about his heart situation. He shows no emotion on the sideline any longer.
americankris
December 26th, 2011
11:33 pm
Better to get this out of our system then in the playoffs