FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons safety Justin Simmons is brushing up on the history of the next opponent.
He’s set to play in his first Falcons-Saints game when the two NFC South foes meet at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I don’t know all of the details,” Simmons told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “I just know there is a lot of bad blood between the two. I know that. I’m excited to play in the game.”
Simmons spent eight seasons with the Broncos before he signed as a free agent with the Falcons on Aug. 15. He’s more familiar with the Broncos-Raiders or Broncos-Chiefs rivalries.
This will be the 110th regular-season meeting between the Falcons and Saints, who met for the first time in 1967. The Saints hold a 55-54 edge. The two teams split last season’s games, with each team winning at home.
“The first (NFC) South game against the Saints,” Simmons said. “They have been playing really, really good football. So, we have an opportunity here to really set our destiny, our football destiny moving forward with them coming in.”
The Saints blasted the Panthers 47-10 on Sept. 8 and routed the Cowboys 44-19 on Sept. 15. They lost a hard-fought game 15-12 against the Eagles on Sunday.
The Saints are led by quarterback Derek Carr, who spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Raiders. Simmons joined the Broncos in 2016 and faced Carr twice a season.
“He’s really smart,” Simmons said. “He has a good control over the offense. Obviously, playing him over the years when he was with the Raiders in Oakland and then Vegas, he’s always done a really good job of controlling the offense and moving the ball down the field.”
Simmons respects how Carr takes care of the football. Carr has completed 44 of 64 passes (68.8%) for 585 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions this season. He has a passer rating of 115.7.
“All of the times that I’ve played him, he hasn’t really thrown picks or fumbled it all that much,” Simmons said.
Running back Alvin Kamara, who played at Norcross High, Alabama and Tennessee, and wide receiver Chris Olave are Carr’s top weapons. Kamara has rushed 61 times for 285 yards (4.7 per carry) and four touchdowns. He’s also caught 10 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown.
Olave, who played at Ohio State, has caught 12 passes for 178 yards.
“We’re going to have to do a really good job making sure that we stop the run and take away the explosives,” Simmons said. “They are an explosive pass-play team. We’ll detail that up as the week goes on.”
Simmons, the NFL’s interception leader since entering the league in 2016, made his 31st career interception in the first quarter against the Chiefs. It was his sixth interception of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Saints have a new offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak, who came from the 49ers and is running Kyle Shanahan’s version of the West Coast/outside zone offense.
Morris doesn’t believe that because the Falcons run a similar attack then they’ll have an easier time preparing for the Saints.
“You’ve got to go through it,” Morris said. “You’ve got to have the ability to go line up, watch those guys, go through your process throughout the time, and take all the time you need to get ready to play these guys, or they’ll embarrass you.”
The Saints amassed 379 yards against the Panthers and 432 against the Cowboys. The Eagles held the Saints to 219 yards.
“This league is a humbling league, as we see every single week,” Morris said. “It changes for everybody. You better go out there and be ready to play every single week and prepare every single week.”
The Falcons and Saints have a common early-season opponent in the Eagles. The Falcons beat the Eagles 22-21 on Sept. 16.
“It’s always good when you have some common opponents and some commonalities that you’re going to put up there just for your viewing purposes, for your cut-ups and all those type of things,” Morris said. “But you’ve got to go get your preparation done. You’ve got to go put in the work.”
The Falcons are looking forward to seeing the Saints.
“The South is coming,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “We’ve just got to do what we’ve got to do to put a good performance together. Know it’s going to be a dogfight every game.”
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