Saints at Falcons: second divisional game in first three weeks

The Saints and Falcons may have identical marks of 1-1, but the Dirty Birds have a couple things going for them, leading up to Sunday’s head to head match-up. One is home field advantage and the other is their divisional record.

Along with the Panthers, New Orleans is currently at the bottom of the NFC South as a result of its 48-40 shootout loss to the Buccaneers in week one.

Meanwhile, Atlanta is coming off a 31-24 victory over Carolina, putting the Falcons in second place behind undefeated Tampa Bay.

Other than the Titans, the Saints and Falcons will be the first teams in the entire league to play two divisional games, setting the stage for one of the most important early-season games in recent memory.  Safety Kurt Coleman said, “We’ve got to be able to put all the preparation, all our eggs in this basket, we’ve got to have a sense of urgency that this game matters a lot. And obviously, we gave up a game against Tampa Bay. So we’re already 0-1 in the division. So every game is going to matter and especially in the divisional games, they matter a lot more.”

Rankins said, “When you think about it, Atlanta was a playoff team last year, they pretty much bring back everyone. We were a playoff team, not to mention a division opponent. So it’s going to be big, like I said our first road game. So we’re looking forward to the challenge, we’ll go out and execute to the best of our ability and try to get this win.”

The Saints and Falcons will kick things off from Atlanta at noon on Sunday on WXXV on FOX.