(Here’s our weekly nine items at 9 a.m. Thursday this week on the Atlanta Falcons, otherwise known as the Cover 9@9 blog!)
1. The no-spin zone: In recent matchups, quarterback Matt Ryan has struggled against the Saints.
The Falcons (3-4) face the Saints (5-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Ceasars Superdome in general manager Terry Fontenot’s first return to his old stomping grounds.
Ryan, who likely will be without wide receiver Calvin Ridley (personal matter), had his lowest passer rating (67.8) of the season in the 19-13 loss to Carolina on Sunday.
It was his lowest since he had a 48.5 in a 24-9 loss to the Saints on Nov. 22 last season. He had another sub-100 passer rating against the Saints in the 21-16 loss Dec. 6.
Overall, Ryan has completed 616 of 958 passes (64.3%) for 7,353 yards (294.1) and 44 touchdowns and 18 interceptions against the Saints. He has a cumulative passer rating of 95.1 against the Saints.
In 12 of the matchups, Ryan has passed for at least 300 yards.
If Ryan passes for at least 300 yards in this game, he would tie Philip Rivers (73) for the fourth-most games with at least 300 passing yards in NFL history.
Ryan is 9-16 against the Saints over his career. He missed one game against the Saints back in 2009 with a severe turf toe injury.
Quarterback Taysom Hill returned to practice Wednesday for the Saints. He suffered a concussion against the Washington Football Team on Oct. 10.
Trevor Siemian replaced Jameis Winston, after he suffered a season-ending left knee injury, and led the Saints to a victory over Tampa Bay. He led the Saints to five scoring drives in the upset.
Saints coach Sean Payton would not share which quarterback he planned to use when talking to the New Orleans media Wednesday.
Hill went 3-1 as a starter last season, including beating the Falcons in the second matchup. He was replacing Drew Brees, who was out with broken ribs.
The Saints will be without their top receiver Michael Thomas, who went on social media this week to announce that he’d be out for the season.
2. Rush defense. After giving up 203 yards rushing to the Panthers, the Falcons dropped to 26th in the NFL (125.1 yards per game).
The Saints’ rushing attack, which is led by running back Alvin Kamara (Norcross High), averaged 125 yards per game (ninth) in the league. Also, the Saints added Mark Ingram in a trade with Houston. He rushed six times for 52 yards against Tampa Bay.
Overall, the Saints rushed for 152 yards on 32 carries against the Bucs.
The Falcons can expect a steady diet of Kamara and Ingram heading into this matchup.
3. Betting line: The Falcons opened as 5.5-point underdogs against the Saints with the over/under at 45.5 by betonline.ag.
The line has increased to six points and the over/under has decreased to 41.5.
4. Falcons’ coach of the week: Villa Rica High School’s Tim Barron was named the Falcons’ coach of the week for Week 10, presented by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Coach Barron has the Villa Rica football program headed in the right direction in his first year at the Carroll County school.
Barron has won 153 games, including the 2018 Class AA state championship, in 19 seasons at Heard County before taking over at Villa Rica this season.
Barron and the Wildcats have won seven consecutive after opening the season with two losses, including last week’s victory over defending Region 6-5A champion New Manchester in Douglasville to earn the school’s first region title since 1998.
5. Injury report: Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard (concussion) and wide receiver Calvin Ridley (personal matter) did not practice Wednesday, according to the team’s official injury report.
Wide receiver Russell Gage, who has a groin injury, was limited.
Here’s the Saints injury report.
6. Tale of the tape: Here are the 2021 regular season statistical ranking for the Falcons and Saints:
Falcons Saints
21.1 (21) Pts/Game 25.1 (13)
334.0 (23) Tot Off. 305.9 (29)
87.0 (27) Net Rush Yds/Game 125.0 (9)
247.0 (14) Net Pass Yds/Game 180.9 (31)
29:36 (19) Poss Avg 30:29 (14)
27.9 (26) Opp Pts/Game 18.3 (4)
358.3 (16) Opp Tot Off. 344.3 (10)
125.1 (26) Opp Rush Yds/Game 79.4 (2)
233.1 (12) Opp Pass Yds/Game 264.9 (22)
-4 (23t) Turnover Differential +7 (4)
7. Series history: The will be the 104th regular-season meeting. The Falcons lead the series 52-51. The Falcons also won the lone playoff meeting, 27-20 in 1991.
The Saints, who swept the Falcons last season, have won six of the past seven meetings.
8. Payton’s Place: Saints coach Sean Payton is 20-8 against the Falcons.
9. Depth chart: Inside linebacker Daren Bates and outside linebacker James Vaughters were promoted to the 53-man roster Tuesday.
The Falcons also released linebacker Dorian Etheridge, an undrafted rookie from Louisville.
Bates has helped on special teams over the past two games, and Vaughters has provided depth at outside linebacker.
The Falcons also signed speedy wide receiver Marvin Hall to the practice squad. Hall played for the Falcons in 2017 and 2018.
Hall, 28, has played in 45 NFL games and made six starts. He has had touchdown catches of 40, 48, 58 and 73 yards over his career.
Here’s the Falcons’ official depth chart for the Saints’ game:
OFFENSE
WR - Calvin Ridley, Tajae Sharpe, Christian Blake
TE - Kyle Pitts, Lee Smith
LT - Jake Matthews, Jason Spriggs
LG - Jaylen Mayfield, Josh Andrews
C - Matt Hennessy, Drew Dalman
RG - Chris Lindstrom, Drew Dalman
RT – Kaleb McGarry, Jason Spriggs, Colby Gossett
TE - Hayden Hurst, *Keith Smith (Has lineup as traditional TE), *Feleipe Franks (was part of TE/QB package vs. Giants)
WR - Russell Gage, Olamide Zaccheaus, Frank Darby
RB - Mike Davis, Cordarrelle Patterson, Wayne Gallman
*FB - Keith Smith, Cordarrelle Patterson (Added to reflect that they played the position in the opener.)
QB - Matt Ryan, Josh Rosen, Feleipe Franks
DEFENSE
DL - Grady Jarrett, Marlon Davidson
NT - Tyeler Davison, Ta’Quon Graham
DL - Jonathan Bullard, Mike Pennel, John Cominsky
OLB - Steven Means, Brandon Copeland
ILB - Deion Jones, Mykal Walker
ILB - Foyesade Oluokun, Daren Bates
OLB – Adetokunbo Ogundeji, Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, James Vaughters, (Dante Fowler on IR)
LCB - A.J. Terrell, Darren Hall
FS - Erik Harris, Jaylinn Hawkins
SS - Duron Harmon, Richie Grant
RCB - Fabian Moreau, Avery Williams, Kendall Sheffield
SPECIAL TEAMS
K - Younghoe Koo
P - Dustin Colquitt
LS - Josh Harris
H - Dustin Colquitt
PR - Avery Williams, Olamide Zaccheaus
KOR - Cordarrelle Patterson
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