FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- With quarterback Drew Brees at the top of his game and offensive-minded head coach Sean Payton spinning his wizardry, the New Orleans Saints have scored 40 points or more this season against some of the better defenses in the NFL.
Enter the Falcons with their bend-but-don’t-break defense -- ranking eighth in the NFL in scoring but 25th in yards per game -- which broke in last Sunday’s 37-21 loss to the Cowboys.
In Monday night’s significance-laden NFC South tilt at the Superdome, the Falcons (4-2) will have to hold their own against the 6-0 Saints and all of their weapons, which have helped to produce the NFL’s third-ranked running offense and sixth-ranked passing offense for the top overall spot.
A Falcons’ secondary that took a battering against Tony Romo in surrendering 299 passing yards will have to rebound. Falcons safety Erik Coleman said that while the Saints’ offense is complex, it’s the execution of defending it that is most nettlesome.
"I don’t know if it’s hard to make the right calls, it makes it hard to play them with so much speed out there on the field," Coleman said. "They have great match-ups everywhere on the field and they do a great job of getting the ball to their playmakers."
Those playmakers include: wide receiver Marques Colston, who has caught 30 passes for 466 yards and five touchdowns; wide receiver Devery Henderson, who has 19 receptions for 312 yards and a touchdown; tight end Jeremy Shockey, who has 26 catches for 304 yards and three touchdowns; running back Mike Bell who has rushed for 343 yards and two touchdowns on 72 carries; running back Pierre Thomas who has 314 yards and three touchdowns on 56 carries and back Reggie Bush, who has 319 combined passing and receiving yards with three touchdowns.
"I’ve got a tremendous amount of confidence with the guys here," Brees said. "We’ve put in a lot of time and effort together and what I see is that this is our fourth year together now. A lot of the core group in this offense -- Devery Henderson, Marques Colston, myself and Reggie; now throw in Lance Moore, Robert Meachem and Pierre Thomas -- we’ve all been together three years. The entire offensive line, for the most part, has been together for at least three years."
"When you get to that point, the chemistry has been built. You just feel like you know each other really well and you’ve been through a lot together and it makes a big difference on game day."
That level of chemistry -- and production -- is something the Falcons are still working to achieve.
"We just have to keep getting down that chemistry, figure out which plays are working the best and keep going out there and executing them," said Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, who pointed out that this is only his first year in this offense and the second for most of the others, which stands in contrast to the Saints.
While the Saints have scored 45 and 48 points the last two weeks, the Falcons have scored 21 points in each of the last two weeks, one a win and one a loss. Quarterback Matt Ryan has had a pair of perplexing efforts in those. The numbers are almost identical in each: 19-of-33 (57.6 percent) for 185 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for a 68.4 rating against Chicago and 19-of-35 (54.3 percent) for 198 yards also with two touchdowns and two interceptions for a 66.1 rating against Dallas.
Of course, Ryan had gone four games without being sacked until last week when Dallas got him four times and caused him to fumble twice, losing one.
"That’s something we have definitely put an emphasis on this week," Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith said of protecting Ryan.
Said Ryan: "I think the biggest thing is that you can’t turn the football over. Any time you lose the turnover battle in this league it’s tough to come back and win the game. So my focus this week is to be better with the football, but at the same time you can’t lose that aggressiveness... It’s a fine line."
Ryan had better be able to negotiate that fine line because the Saints have 13 interceptions -- most in the NFL -- and seven forced fumbles. This is the first year for Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and he has brought an attacking style of defense. Falcons center Todd McClure said that New Orleans blitzes more than 50 percent of the time.
"I think a couple of areas that have been troublesome for us have been takeaways and big plays given up," Payton said. "They are two areas that we’re getting better at statistically. We’re doing a really good job with the takeaways and we’ve been able to reduce the average big play per game."
A big reason for the increase in the Saints’ takeaways is safety Darren Sharper, a free-agent acquisition in the offseason. Sharper’s six interceptions lead the NFL and he has returned three of them for touchdowns. His 11 interceptions for a touchdown rank second in NFL history.
Falcons wide receiver Brian Finneran played in college against Sharper when he was at Villanova and Sharper was at William & Mary.
"He does a very good job of understanding routes and concepts, so he puts himself in good positions to make interceptions and be around the football," Finneran said. "And he also takes chances, too, because he gets all those picks and interceptions. You’re doing something right, but at the same time you’re in where the ball is all the time."
With the midpoint of the NFL season approaching, certain realities are taking hold. One is that a loss by the Falcons would make it extremely difficult for them to catch New Orleans and win the division, as the Falcons would be three games back with nine to play.
The other reality is that injuries are starting to take their toll.
Seemingly one way to defend Brees would be to pressure him. Miami sacked him five times last week and he uncharacteristically threw three interceptions, though Brees said only one was a combination of a bad decision and bad throw; another was tipped at the line and a third hit a receiver’s hands.
But after Thursday’s practice, three of the Falcons’ four starting defensive lineman did not practice at all (Thomas Johnson) or were limited in their participation (John Abraham and Jonathan Babineaux).
And on offense, neither running backs Jerious Norwood nor Jason Snelling, who rushed for 68 yards on seven carries last week, were able to practice.
New Orleans also has injuries to deal with. Fullback Heath Evans, one of the Saints’ key free-agent acquisitions this year, suffered a season-ending knee injury last week. On the defensive side, starters Scott Fujita (calf), a linebacker, and tackle Sedrick Ellis (knee) did not practice on Thursday.
Perhaps the Falcons can capitalize on those injuries and struggling running back Michael Turner can get going. Ryan emphasized the need to be physical and McClure said the loss to Dallas left a bitter taste in the team’s collective mouth.
"It’s a big game for us," Turner said. "Everyone in this locker room knows this. We can’t fall three back close to midseason plus them having a win on us. We need a win badly."
MORE FALCONS-SAINTS COVERAGE:
-
SCOUTING REPORT: Updates on injuries and key stats from John Manasso
-
GAMEDAY LIVE: Stats, preview information, video and more from AF.com
-
INJURY REPORT: Updates on Falcons and Saints injuries
-
EXPERT'S TAKE: Thoughts on the NFL and the Falcons running game
-
WHAT TO WATCH: Some stats that could be key on Monday night
-
NUMBERS, NOTES AND COLORS: Notes and fun facts to get you ready for the game
