Saints vs Falcons: Key Matchups in Week 9

The New Orleans Saints march into Week 9 after a big win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Waiting for them is another divisional opponent, the rival Atlanta Falcons. This matchup will be the first of the year for these two teams that just do not like each other. The Saints defensive front will be looking forward to getting after Matt Ryan. The Falcons offense will be looking to prove that they can keep up in the NFC South race. These are some of the key matchups that could decide the winner of the Saints and Falcons Week 9 matchup.

Saints vs Complacency

It seems as if this Saints team comes out flat after big wins this season. After dominating the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, the Saints came out the next game and lost by 19 to the Carolina Panthers. Similarly in Week 3, the Saints went on the road and handily beat the New England Patriots. The next week the Saints allowed the New York Giants and Daniel Jones to put up over 400 yards of offense and lost the game in overtime.

This week, the Saints will look to avoid this trend. Last week was a massive win in the NFC South. The Saints get another divisional opponent in the rival Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons have been a fiery team each week, with three wins on the season already. If the Saints come out as they did against the Panthers and Giants earlier this season, the Falcons will take advantage. There are no easy weeks in the NFL, and the Saints will wrestle with this fact again this week.

Alvin Kamara vs Atlanta Run Defense

So far this season, Alvin Kamara has not really been the Alvin Kamara expected at the beginning of the year. Yes, Kamara has been good this year in his various roles but he has yet to just take over a game. He also just got back his running mate in Mark Ingram, who will take some touches away from him. This should end up being a good thing though. Kamara is able to take over games when he is fresh and able to move around the field. So far this year, this has not happened very much. Kamara has just two touchdowns on the season. This could be the game. The Falcons defense allows the 10th most yards-per-carry in the entire NFL. Kamara, and in some part Ingram, will need to exploit this to take pressure off whoever the Saints name as quarterback for this week's divisional matchup.

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Kyle Pitts vs Demario Davis

The New Orleans Saints defense has not allowed a touchdown to a tight end this season. Demario Davis is a big reason for this success. Davis is one of the league’s best linebackers that almost no one talks about. Davis has been the lone bright spot in this linebacker group until this year. The entire defense’s success is due in some part to Davis’ play. Davis is giving up the lowest percentage of completions in his entire career. He is also allowing the lowest quarterback rating to opposing players of his career. He has another tough test this week.

Kyle Pitts came into his rookie season highly touted. He was taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. With that much equity at stake comes expectation. So far this year, Pitts has had two games with more than 100 receiving yards; however, both of those have happened within the last three weeks. Pitts seems to be learning how to play in the NFL more and more every week and the statistics show that. Without Calvin Ridley, Matt Ryan has leaned on Pitts lately. Demario Davis and the rest of the Saints linebacker group will have to monitor Pitts all over the field.

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