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Tonight, the Atlanta Falcons have another chance to prove they are a playoff contending team on prime time television. Their first go at it was Sunday night against the Chicago Bears.
Most people believe the Bears lost that game. The Falcons didn't actually win it. Well, going to New Orleans against an undefeated Saints team should give the Falcons some respect.
Personally, if the Falcons come out of this game the victor, I expect the media to spend more time talking about the Saints being exposed.
Regardless, this rivalry is one the country knows little about. Both teams have been in shadows for so much of their existence that it took a hurricane and dog fighting before people paid attention.
"It's definitely a rivalry," said former Saint now Falcon Aaron Stecker. "Every time we play Atlanta it's always an extra emphasis on the little things. At the beginning of the week we always talk about It's the Atlanta Falcons."
Both teams had to rebuild. One a city and a stadium, the other a franchise from the top to bottom. Both look to be stronger than ever before and ready to show the rest of the country the NFC South is ready to rise.
This game in particular has special meaning to me. Growing up in Louisiana, most of my friends are Saints fans. We debate, argue, and treat this game each season like our own little Super Bowl. Tonight is special;the world is forced to watch it!
The best thing about this deal is, both teams are good; they are very good in fact.
New Orleans will be defending their dome. Last season when these two met in the dome, both teams had exactly 414 total yards. Rookie Matt Ryan tossed for over 300 yards in the loss that went down to the final drive. The Saints converted a fourth down that resulted in a Pierre Thomas touchdown.
And in what's become a trend for Mike Smith and the Falcons of late they punt down by four points with three minutes left in the game; they never got the ball back.
Being one of the only remaining undefeated teams in the NFL, the Saints will be very motivated to put on a show for their home town. The Falcons need this win to keep pace in the division and keep that wild card spot open in case the Saints finish as strong as they have started.
This game will feature two of the best quarterbacks in the league in Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. For franchises that boasted the likes of Billy Joe Hobert, Joey Harrington, Billy Joe Tolliver, and Tony Graziani, this is an unprecedented time for both. No offense, to the likes of Michael Vick, Aaron Brooks, Chris Chandler or the Cajun cannon Bobby Hebert, but this is special.
Last season, Brees challenged Dan Marino's passing record and fell short on an under-thrown route down the middle intended for Lance Moore. He is playing football about as well as any quarterback in the league.
What makes this Saints team more complete is the balance they have this season. They actually run the ball more often than pass. The play-action they get from the running game gives Brees an advantage he hasn't had since his days in San Diego. The combination of Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell, and Reggie Bush give defenses too much to defend.
The Saints also hired defensive guru Gregg Williams to solidify that always suspect secondary and had the signing of the year when they got a retread player from the NFC North named Darren Sharper. That guy should win defensive player of the year if he even plays half as well the rest of the season. He has picked off six pass and returned three of them for scores. He is a nightmare in the secondary.
The Falcons has not been playing up to their potential so far this season. Their offense on paper would make any defensive coordinator stay up late worrying about who to defend. Besides second-year phenom Ryan, you have Michael Turner, Tony Gonzalez, Roddy White, and Jerious Norwood. The fact that Ryan can distribute the ball to each of these weapons effectively is trouble for any defense.
But the wheels on the bus aren't going round and round. The offensive line has had trouble run blocking, the receivers aren't testing teams down-field much and the alignments the Falcons use allows for the opposing teams' defense to stay bunched up at the line of scrimmage;there just isn't any explosion on offense.
IN THE WORDS OF CHUCKY
In a recent interview with NOLA (Saints Local Paper) former Tampa Bay
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