NEW ORLEANS — The first-place Atlanta Falcons (6-3) don’t hesitate to list the pitfalls of overlooking the last-place New Orleans Saints (2-7) in Sunday’s matchup of fierce NFC South Division rivals at the Superdome.
The Falcons needed a last-second 58-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo to win the most recent series meeting 26-24 on Sept. 29 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. And now they’re about to face a Saints squad that is trying to get interim coach Darren Rizzi off to an auspicious start.
When a coach is replaced, as third-year Saints coach Dennis Allen was this past Monday, “the team plays very well the following week, in my experience,” Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins noted.
“So I see it as a real challenge that we’ve been thrown,” he added. “They’re going to be emotionally and mentally at their best — and then playing at their place. There’s a lot of factors coming together where you feel like we have to be at our best to have a chance.”
The coaching change in New Orleans came a day after a deflating loss to the struggling Carolina Panthers extended the Saints’ losing streak to seven games for the club’s longest skid in a quarter-century.
Allen, who was well liked by ownership and management — he had spent 15 seasons with the Saints in varies capacities since 2006 — was dismissed after going 18-25 in 2 1/2 seasons as the successor to Sean Payton.
Rizzi, a 54-year-old special teams coordinator who is popular with players, was tapped to take over. To kicker Blake Grupe, Rizzi was the obvious choice.
Grupe even marked his coordinator’s promotion by wearing a “Merry Rizzmas” shirt that Rizzi had made for special teams players during the 2023 holiday season.
“He’s always been a player favorite,” Grupe said. “He has a good relationship with everybody, whether it’s always having a conversation or side jokes.
“That’s how he gets the most out of people. That’s why guys want to play for him.”
The Saints trail the Falcons by four games with eight to play in the regular season and are trending toward missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year, but Rizzi scoffed at suggestions that he would focus more on long-term concerns such as player development than winning now.
“Do I think in any way, shape or form that we’re giving up on this season? I don’t,” Rizzi said. “I don’t think the locker room thinks that we’re giving up on the season. The front office doesn’t think we’re giving up on the season.”
Or as 14th-year Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan put it: “It’s Atlanta hate week.”
Both teams will be off in the 12th week of the regular season, but there are ways to manage injuries and add rest even in a big game week like this one. The Falcons’ practice Wednesday was closed to reporters because the team deviated from its usual schedule by holding a light walk-through.
Even offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was surprised, adding he didn’t think a midweek walk-through was an option. Robinson called the decision by Atlanta first-year head coach Raheem Morris “really cool” because more can be taught in the slower session without pads.
“Those are basically meetings on the grass,” Robinson said. “We’re able to talk through a bunch of different looks. … I know the players love it.”
Morris said the decision was “performance based” and also meant to “take a little wear and tear off the body.”
“Get ready mentally. Get the sharpness right,” Morris said. “Get ready to perform and be the best version of ourselves.”
The best version of Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson continues to emerge with the second-year pro also producing as a receiver, just as the Falcons expected when they used the No. 8 pick of the 2023 draft on the versatile former University of Texas star. He has back-to-back games with seven receptions and four straight games with at least 100 scrimmage yards — including his career-best 145 combined yards rushing and receiving last week against the Dallas Cowboys.
“That was the vision,” Morris said, adding that he believed heading into the season that Robinson’s versatility resembled that of San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.
The Falcons even had Robinson — who has 38 catches for 303 yards this season — line up wide at times against the Cowboys.
“As much as he can touch the ball, we’re definitely going to try to do that,” Zac Robinson said.
Things obviously aren’t so smooth for New Orleans on offense.
While Saints quarterback Derek Carr is heading into his second game since returning from injury, the receivers he was throwing to before he went down won’t be playing.
It’s unclear how long Chris Olave will be sidelined — or if he’ll return at all — after sustaining his second concussion of the season last weekend at Carolina. Deep option Rashid Shaheed is on injured reserve. A.T. Perry was cut and picked up by the Denver Broncos. And fifth-round draft pick Bub Means is on injured reserve.
Meanwhile, reserve receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. was dealing with a shoulder injury that kept him from practicing early in the week.
The healthy receivers on New Orleans’ active roster are midseason signing Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who is an NFL veteran, and undrafted rookies Jermaine Jackson and Mason Tipton. The Saints also could bring up Kevin Austin Jr., Equanimeous St. Brown or Dante Pettis from the practice squad.
“We’ve got some guys that have a unique opportunity,” offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak said. “I’m excited for the young guys that are going to get to play.”