The New Orleans Saints (9-1) host the Atlanta Falcons (4-6) in the last match of the NFL’s Thanksgiving lineup looking to secure their 10th win of the season in a short week of preparation.
After routing the Philadelphia Eagles 48-7 at home the Saints get to play a second straight game at home against a Falcons team that has lost two straight including a 22-19 heartbreaker against the Cowboys at Mercedes-Benz Stadium last week.
The Saints, on the other hand, have won nine straight since losing the opener to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and even though they have a three-game lead over the Carolina Panthers in the NFC South they can’t afford to lose as they are in a very tight race with the inactive Los Angeles Rams (10-1) for the best record in the conference.
The Saints’ offense has been rolling lately as they’ve scored 45 or more points in their last three games and have scored 24 times in their last 29 possessions, not counting kneel downs at the end of games. Most amazing is the fact that 18 of those 29 possessions have resulted in touchdowns.
The Falcons’ offense may not be as prolific as the Saints’, but their passing game is not too shabby either as they rank third in passing yards in the NFL and will be a good challenge for a Saints secondary that in Week 3 allowed Atlanta’s quarterback Matt Ryan to pass for 374 yards and his season-best five touchdowns.
The Falcons’ defense ranks near the bottom of the league in every major defensive category as it has been decimated by injuries to key players all season long so the likelihood of them even containing Brees and company at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome is quite unrealistic.
The best thing the Falcons can hope for is that they’ll find a way to exploit the Saints much-maligned pass defense, which ranks 27th in the NFL with 280 passing yards allowed per game, to be able to keep up with the Saints firepower.
The Falcons’ defense ranks 29th against the pass as it’s missing key players in the secondary, something that should allow the Saints to easily feast on them. The fact that the Saints have an almost equally bad pass defense may allow the Falcons to keep up with the Saints for a while, but in the end, it won’t be enough.
The Saints defense has played a lot better in the last two weeks as they have not allowed more than 14 points per game and limited the Bengals and Eagles to 174 and 138 passing yards respectively.
This one won’t be even close as the Saints will rout the badly hobbled Falcons on the way to their 10th win of the season.
Prediction: Falcons 14 – 42 Saints
