***TNF IN THE SWAMP - ATL @ NO***
***ATLANTA FALCONS @ NEW ORLEANS SAINTS***
Rivalryyyyyy game in store tonight in the SuperDome! Wooo gotta love it. I have had this one circled as a potential spot for the Falcons to get their first L, and I am sticking to it. It has been set up perfectly.....ATL with a somewhat cupcake schedule so far has their record making them appear much tougher than they really are. Although very good, they almost gave one up last weekend in their own house against the Skinskes. The Dirty Birds were fortunate enough to squeak it out in OT with a huge pick 6 after the Redskin WR fell to the ground in the flat. Good for them, it keeps their record spotless and a very high public perception of them in tact. Their WR beast Julio Jones has also been banged up and did not look like himself last weekend. Besides jumping on a fumble into the endzone for a TD, he was very quiet. It is a very short week and he will surely lace 'em up tonight because he is the man but he is definitely not 100% which makes their offense manageable to defend for a mediokur defensive squad like the Saints have. Falcons WR veteran Roddy White has also not been shy to voice his displeasure of not being a big part of the offense like he is used to being. I think he will be more involved tonight as QB Matt Ryan will have to look elsewhere to supplement for Julio not being at full strength. However as I mentioned, the Saints should be able to make things difficult tonight for Matty Ice as their secondary is finally getting healthy and coming along nicely. CB Delvin Breaux (bro) has really caught my eye these past couple of weeks as a fiesty ball hawk despite his size and with CB Keenan Lewis coming back to compliment stud Browner on the otherside, it should allow Breaux to play the slot which he is perfectly suited for. I just feel like the way Kirk Cousins was able to move the ball on this Falcon defense last game, that a motivated Drew Brees at home in a Prime Time spot should be able to do the same. The Saints lost badly last week when looking at the scoreboard but it was a bad spot for them. They are no good on the road, especially on grass and we all know this as it is no secret for years now. If you look at my picks last weekend I had the Eagles beating them up there as I faded the Saints in that spot knowing they would be looking ahead to tonight's divisional matchup at home on Prime Time. The Eagles were also just primed to have a big bounce back game at home as well and the Saints were the perfect team in that spot to use as a stepping stone. To my surprise though, the Saints actually played well until turning the ball over a few times in the second half and then it quickly unravelled. I like the Saints to utilize RB Cj Spiller again tonight in the screen game along with Ingram and Robinson to help open up the pass as think WR Brandin Cooks has a long awaited big game tonight. Bottom line here as I realize it is almost kickoff, I don't think the Saints are as bad as they seem and I don't think the Falcons are as good as they seem, and the spread tonight seem to agree with that as well. WHODEY with the upset tonight! SAINTS +3
