With a real firecracker Week 14 starts the hot phase of the season. The Atlanta Falcons (7-5) ask the New Orleans (9-3) to join the NFC South’s top game. For both of them, the encounter has a trend-setting character, as it’s all about positioning themselves for the playoffs. The Falcons encounter an opponent, who they might think is conceptually very familiar to them. DAZN broadcasts the firecracker live on Friday night from 2:25 a. m.!
The NFL is a Copycat League. If a team does something really well, you can safely assume that many others will try to do it – or at least try it.
This year, we see one such example in the New Orleans Saints, which set a clear example in terms of their running game: the Atlanta Falcons. They caused a sensation in 2016 with a backfield that was extremely fast and dynamic, especially by Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, and which could hardly be held on the ground or in the air.
The Saints are doing the same thing. On the one hand, Mark Ingram seems to have finally arrived in the league – last week against the Panthers he put down a remarkable 72-yard run – the longest play of his NFL career! And then there’s super-rookie Alvin Kamara, who no one had on his list before the season. He scored at least one touchdown in each of his last six games and is barely down.
Against Carolina there were even two touchdowns and over 100 scratch image yards – more than 60 each on the ground and through the air. It was a mad run by Alvin Kamara,”said Defensive End Cameron Jordan, praising his colleagues:” If it had been someone else, he would have gone down in nine out of ten cases. But his balance is amazing. That’s really what sets him apart from a lot of other running backs.”
Falcons-head coach Dan Quinn hit the same score:”What really caught my eye was his balance. I don’t know how many Missed Tackles you can count on one player, but I’d bet he’d have one of the highest numbers in the league.”
Thanks to Kamara’s balance, the Saints-Offense as a whole is getting a new balance that has been lost in recent years. Too much was the focus on quarterback Drew Brees and his aging right arm. But now the ground game helps to relieve Brees. With success, because Brees is on course for less than 4400 yards – as few as not since 2009 – then there was a parade through the city at the end!
Now the Saints, with their explosive offense and equally dynamic defenses, are meeting their role model, if you will. The Falcons are not only explosive and fast in the offense, but also defensive:”You can run,”Saints head coach Sean Payton told the upcoming opponent:”That’s what stands out on the tape. They are fast in all positions. I think Safety Keanu Neal played very well. I think they have a very good pass rush, and once they get into third down situations, you see a lot of the things we saw in Seattle when Dan Quinn was defensive coordinator there.
On the other hand, in Atlanta they try to forget the last game. At 9:14 against the Vikings, they had problems with Third Downs in particular and only managed to make a new first try in one of ten cases,”My bigger question is how the hell we got into 3rd and 12,3rd and 17 or 3rd and 13,”Quinn raised his team’s main problem.
At the same time, however, he wants to look ahead because:”We are back in the middle of the division race. We know that everything is possible for us:” At the moment there are two games up to the Saints, against which we will practically be competing twice within the next three weeks. Part 2 is then on Christmas Eve.
In terms of personnel, both teams get back important defensive playmakers. The Falcons can fall back on the Cornerback Desmond Trufant, which has recovered from a concussion, while the Saints Rookie-Corner Marshon Lattimore suffered a ankle joint injury. For both this means that they will have to deal with the top receivers Michael Thomas and Julio Jones respectively. Not an easy task, especially shortly after injuries.
The bottom line is that the Thursday Night Game will have a trend-setting character, because if the Saints win, this would be something like a preliminary decision, at least vis-à-vis Atlanta. The Falcons, on the other hand, want to keep their chances alive so that they can pass by for Christmas.
Atlanta Falcons (7-5) – New Orleans Saints (9-3) (Fri, 2.25 am live on DAZN)
The SPOX NFL Predictor, Week 14:
Pascal
De Marco
125-67