Monday night's matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons in the Superdome will cap off NFL action in Week 4. The Saints come into the meeting at 1-2 after losing their home opener to the Raiders last week. Atlanta has not been in action since last Thursday, when they routed the Green Bay Packers on the road.
New Orleans could very easily be 3-0 coming into their first NFC South showdown. A major reason they've been in position to win all three outings has been because of an outstanding passing attack. Quarterback Tyler Shough and that passing game faces an Atlanta defense that's been vulnerable in that area. As such, we focus there in this article.
Atlanta Falcons pass defense
- 263 yards per game (29th)
- 57.7% completion percentage
- 6 touchdowns (23rd)
- 1 interception (21st)
- 5 sacks
- 26 QB hits
A season-ending injury to Jalon Walker and conduct suspension to James Pearce depleted
the Falcons at edge rusher before the season even started. Atlanta responded ny signing 12-year veteran Za'Darius Smith, who has 6 pressures and leads the team with 2.5 sacks. Journeyman edge Cameron Thomas, on his third team in five years, has been a pleasant surprise so far with 1.5 sacks and a team-best 7 QB hits. Another edge rusher, the underrated Samson Ebukam, has been limited all week with a hamstring and is likely questionable for Monday night. Among the down linemen, only Gervon Dexter has a sack with half a takedown. However, Brandon Dorlus has 5 QB hits and LaCale London has proven capable of pressuring the passer.
Linebackers Divine Deablo (hamstring) and rookie Kendal Daniels (Achilles) are each solid in coverage and good athletes. However, both have been limited in practice this week. If one or both can't go, the Falcons will turn to Christian Harris or rookie Harold Perkins Jr.
At cornerback, Atlanta is dealing with a big void with A.J. Terrell on injured reserve. Without him, the Falcons line up veteran CJ Henderson, Mike Hughes, and Billy Bowman with rookie second round pick Avieon Terrell in reserve. This defense boasts two of the NFL's best safeties with Xavier Watts and Jessie Bates III. They are Atlanta's top two tacklers, with Watts owning the team's only interception after 5 picks a year ago.
New Orleans Saints passing attack
- 281.3 yards per game (3rd)
- 68.9% completion percentage
- 8 touchdowns (3rd)
- 3 interceptions (22nd)
- 10 sacks
Second-year quarterback Tyler Shough has been spectacular at times and particularly productive in the second half. Two drawbacks to Shough have been a couple of extremely slow starts and some struggles with ball security, losing a couple fumbles in addition to 3 interceptions. The Saints have also not done him any favors with poor pass protection and the lack of a consistent running game. However, Shough has shown excellent poise and the ability to come up with big plays in crucial moments.
Left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. (ankle) is going to miss a significant portion of the rest of the season. Asim Richards replaces him and had a solid start against the Raiders last week before a couple of crippling breakdowns. At right tackle, Taliese Fuaga has played below expectations. Guards David Edwards, Cesar Ruiz, and center Erik McCoy have done okay protecting against the rush of down linemen but must be much more consistent at blitz recognition and pickup.
Wide receiver Chris Olave is off to an incredible start. Olave has 375 receiving yards with a league-best 27 receptions and 36 targets, coming up especially huge in the biggest moments as evidenced by 20 first down conversions. His complement at wideout, Devaughn Vele, has caught 15 balls on 22 targets for 172 yards. Vele isn't the big-play threat Olave is, but has rewarded Shough's trust in him with several acrobatic or heavily contested catches. Rookie fourth round choice Bryce Lance is slowly getting more opportunities. Lance has only 4 receptions for 50 yards so far, but has come excruciatingly close to a few big plays. Until first round pick Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) is back from injured reserve, explosive rookie sixth round pick Barion Brown and veteran possession target Kevin Austin Jr. are in on four and five receiver sets.
With running back Travis Etienne (hamstring) now on injured reserve, the running back duties fall back to Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller. Kamara is the far more dangerous pass catcher of the two but has only 6 receptions for a meager 12 yards so far. With the Falcon linebackers banged up, the Saints could test that second level with Kamara if he has anything left in the tank.
Another trusted Shough target is Juwan Johnson at tight end. Johnson has caught 15 of his 19 targets for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns as a vital part of the attack. New Orleans can also hit defenses with a three-headed tight end look, with both Noah Fant (8 catches, 66 yards, 3 scores) and rookie Oscar Delp both very capable playmakers as receivers.
Shough and his three-pronged spear of Olave, Vele, and Johnson has been lethal. These three have been highly productive consistently, accounting for 39 of the team's 48 receiving first downs and 78.5% of the receiving yardage. There's no reason to expect that to change, with the Saints looking like they have a significant advantage against Falcons coverage as long as they can protect Shough against what's been a quiet Atlanta pass rush.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints passing attack looks to have big advantage against Falcons
