“We always beat Atlanta” said Saints Linebacker Jonathan Vilma after the game in the Super Dome last Sunday. Nothing like throwing down the gauntlet Vilma! As if the rivalry needed more fuel added to the fire. Sleeping way down south near the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most intense rivalries in all of professional football. The Falcons and the Saints don’t like each other very much and last week saw the Saints knock off the previously undefeated Falcons. Atlanta was the only undefeated team in the NFL going into the game and finished a frustrating afternoon against the determined New Orleans team that included being stopped 4 downs in a row on the Saints one yard line by what had been called the worst defense in the history of pro football. That’s got to hurt. And now it comes to pass that the Saints will travel to Atlanta on the 29th of November to face the Falcons once again knowing full well that they will be fired up and ready for a revenge match on their own turf.
In their last outing on November 11, New Orleans won the hard fought battle by a final score of 31-27. Saints Quarterback Drew Brees threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns while completing 21 of 32 passes. RB Chris Ivory carried the football seven times for 72 yards (10.3 avg.) and a touchdown. Mark Ingram recorded 16 carries for 67 yards and TE Jimmy Graham caught seven passes for a career-best 146 yards and two touchdowns.
The Falcons made it down to the Saints one yard line with only 2:26 left in the game but the beleaguered Saints defense held and CB Jabari Greer broke up Quarterback Matt Ryan’s final attempt at the endzone to give the Saints the victory in a hard fought game that came down to the wire.
After beating the Raiders in Oakland 38-17 the Saints next come back to New Orleans to face a red hot 49er (7-2) team before heading off to “Hot ‘Lanta” to face the Falcons once again. Last Sunday out in Arizona, Atlanta barely got by a feisty Cardinal team 23-19. The Falcons will travel to Tampa Bay to face the always dangerous Bucs next week before returning home to take on the Saints once again. The stage will be set in Atlanta on November 29 for another hard hitting classic gridiron battle in the NFC South.
