Luke Johnson (Season record: 13-3)
Saints 27, Falcons 23: It all boils down to quarterback play in this one. The Falcons are depending on Taylor Heinicke, who
threw three interceptions in his most recent game and has never once exceeded 230 passing yards in five games, while Derek
Carr has been playing at an extremely high level lately (8 touchdowns, 74% completion, and 116.8 rating in his last three
games). I like New Orleans if the Saints offensive can continue to put pressure on Atlanta despite the Falcons’ worrisome
running game.
Rod Walker (Season record: 12-4)
Falcons 24, Saints 20: Both teams, despite their records, can still win the NFC South. That tells you all you need to know
about how bad the division is. The Saints looked as good as they’ve looked all season against the Bucs last week, but that’s not
quite enough to convince me they’ve turned things around. Slight edge to Falcons because of their running game. (And also
because this is only way I can catch Luke for the season lead.)
Saints 17, Falcons 16: At this point, figuring out what you’ll get from the Saints on a week-to-week basis is picking a coin flip,
as you can tell based on my record (and theirs). It wouldn’t surprise anyone to see New Orleans disappoint one more time in
the season finale against rival Atlanta. But I picked the Saints to go 9-8 and win the division in the preseason, so what the heck?
Saints win, Panthers win, playoffs in the Dome next week.
Matthew Paras (Season record: 5-3)
Saints 23, Falcons 21: The Saints should have enough breathing room to contain Atlanta’s renowned rushing threat as long
as they can take an early lead. Though I believe New Orleans will be more adept at stopping running back Bijan Robinson and
will do better in the red zone, I still expect this game to be close. Regretfully, it won’t be sufficient for the Saints to qualify for
the postseason. Green Bay and Seattle, the two clubs vying for the seventh spot, will easily defeat Carolina, while Tampa Bay
will triumph.
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