This is it for the 2016 season. One last opportunity to watch the Saints. Will they finish 7-9 or 8-8? This will also be the last regular season game ever played in the Georgia Dome. It would be nice to send them packing with a loss. The Saints will be playing spoiler in an attempt to ruin the Falcons’ seeding. Here’s what I’m looking for:
1. Can the Saints do anything to slow down the Falcons offense?
The Saints are 25th on defense and were much worse at the beginning of the year and the Falcons are #2 on offense and have been great all season. It was really no surprise Matt Ryan and his buddies carved up the Saints at will back in September. Maybe a bit more surprising was Devonta Freeman’s 152 yards on 14 carries because the Saints have actually been good at stopping the run this year. I’m terrified with how this goes because with Ken Crawley the Saints are now down to Sterling Moore, B. W. Webb and De’Vante Harris as their top three corners. Missing are Delvin Breaux, Kyle Wilson, Crawley, Damian Swann and P. J. Williams – all on IR. Vaccaro is suspended. Keenan Lewis was cut before the season started. This backfield is down to the bone. I can’t imagine the run defense will be worse than the first meeting, but I also think the pass defense could struggle all day long. The Falcons put up 45 points on the Saints on that night – any chance it’s less in this one? I’m skeptical.
2. Can the Saints shut out Vic Beasley again?
Vic Beasley, Jr. leads the NFL in sacks this year with 14.5. More than Watt, Von Miller, Khalil Mack – you name it. He’s #1. None of those came against the Saints, though, and the Saints have been pretty good at handling edge pressure all season long. Can the Saints duplicate this effort against Beasley again, or is Brees going to spend the offseason rehabbing some hit Beasley laid on him? If the Saints want to move the ball, they’ll have to block him.
3. The Mark Ingram show.
Ingram needs 60 yards for his first 1,000 yard season. This would also be the first Saints 1,000 yard rusher since Deuce McAllister in 2006. I want to see this happen. Ingram had 77 yards on 15 carries last time these two teams played… not bad. Ingram can also pass Dalton Hilliard for 3rd all time in team history in rushing yards with 20 yards. He’s 133 yards away from passing George Rogers for 2nd all time. The way I see it, the less time Freeman, Ryan and the Atlanta offense spends on the field, the better. So run the ball a lot, milk the clock, and run up the Ingram stats. There’s a lot of Saints history he can make in this game.
4. Can Jairus Byrd play off this current momentum?
I’m really anxious to see Byrd play in this game. I feel like he’s finally playing with some energy and confidence that’s been missing since he signed due to injuries. Are the Saints finally getting a return on their investment, or was the Bucs game a fluke? If Byrd can re-confirm his current form again against the Falcons, it starts to make me more excited about the prospects of keeping him and what it could mean to the Saints next season.
5. Scoreboard watching.
Win or lose, as soon as the game is over, I want to know where the Saints pick in the draft. I detailed all the games that could impact the slot of where the Saints pick and we don’t know where we will fall between 9th overall and 19th overall in the first round of the draft until the results of each game are in. I have to root for the Saints to win, of course, which hurts their stock… but I’ll be rooting for favorable outcomes in every other game to help increase the value of where they end up picking.
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