Scoring Plays:
1Q - ATL - Younghoe Koo 28 yd FG GOOD | ATL 3, NO 0
1Q - NO - Wil Lutz 22 yd FG GOOD | ATL 3, NO 3
End of Quarter Score - Atlanta Falcons 3, New Orleans Saints 3
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2Q - ATL - Younghoe Koo 51 yd FG GOOD | ATL 6, NO 3
2Q - ATL - Younghoe Koo 52 yd FG GOOD | ATL 9, NO 3
2Q - NO - Alvin Kamara 3 yd TD rush (PAT Good) | ATL 9, NO 10
End of Quarter Score - Atlanta Falcons 9, New Orleans Saints 10
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3Q - NO - Taysom Hill 2 yd TD rush (PAT Good) | ATL 9, NO 17
End of Quarter Score - Atlanta Falcons 9, New Orleans Saints 17
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4Q - NO - Taysom Hill 10 yd TD rush (PAT Good) | ATL 9, NO 24
Final Score - Atlanta Falcons 9, New Orleans Saints 24
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Hello again, Who Dats & Who Datettes and welcome to the 2020 New Orleans Saints Week 11, Game 10 thread.

The one week I decide to talk about how healthy we are, that happens.

Welp, can't take it back now. The win over the 49ers was as costly to our attrition as any game we've seen lately, and so now we head into the stretch of 2 games in 3 weeks against our most hated rival in the Atlanta Falcons at way less than 100%.

And with Drew Brees now out of the picture for at least the next 3 weeks, it's reportedly Taysom time as Taysom Hill will apparently be given the keys to the Saints offensive castle in the absence of our future hall of fame quarterback. The big question, can Hill duplicate the performance of Teddy Bridgewater from a season ago where Bridgewater went 5-0 as a starter?

Looking at the schedule, you'd think this is as good a time as any for Brees to go down with an ~4-week injury, considering our next 4 opponents are a combined 12-23-1.

But the Falcons are actually trending upward after canning head coach Dan Quinn & GM Thomas Dimitroff following an 0-5 start and the ascension of Raheem Morris to interim head coach, having won 3 out of their last 4, and are only a toe stub & too much forward momentum from having won 4 straight. Plus, while the Saints were getting beat up by the 49ers, the Falcons were sitting at home resting on their bye week.

So undoubtedly this game will depend on if the Saints can slow down the Falcons offense with all of its weapons. The Falcons have the league's 5th best offense in terms of yards per game, 2nd best in passing yards per game, & 18th best in rushing yards per game. Fortunately, the Saints have the league's 4th best defense in terms of yards per game, 15th best in passing yards per game, & 2nd best in rushing yards per game. Can the Saints D line get home to Matt Ryan, who's been sacked 19 times already this season, before Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, & Russell Gage can pop free from the Saints DBs?

Fortunately for our new starting QB, Taysom Hill, he gets to ease into this whole starter thing against the league's 3rd worst defense in terms of yards per game & 2nd worst pass D, though Atlanta does boast the 6th best D in terms of stopping the run, which possibly could be attributed to the passing success teams have against them.

In the important points per game category, on the defensive side the Saints are 12th best while the Falcons are ranked 24th in scoring D. Offensively, the Saints are the 4th best in points per game in the NFL, while the Falcons are 13th in the league in points per game.

It was a very Happy Thanksgiving for the Saints when these 2 teams last played each other, which was on November 28th, week 13 of the 2019 season. The Saints defense sacked Matt Ryan 9 times & Taysom Hill blocked a punt, caught a TD pass, & rushed for a TD as the Saints closed out Thanksgiving Day with a 26-18 win over the Falcons in Atlanta. The win clinched the 2019 NFC South Division Championship for the Saints, the team's third straight division championship.

LET'S SLAY THE DIRTY BIRDS AND MAKE IT SEVEN STRAIGHT WINS!!!!!!!!!!!

Injury Report: (Players only currently on the 53-man roster who have a game designation from the Friday injury report listed here)
ATL-
NONE
(while everyone on their 53-man roster is good to go, they do have a few interesting names on IR. Safety Damontae Kazee is injured while DE Dante Fowler, Jr. & WR Laquon Treadwell are on the COVID list)

NO- (since he was placed on injured reserve on Friday, Drew Brees will not be listed below)
Josh Hill (Concussion) OUT
Dwayne Washington (Back) OUT
Marshon Lattimore (Abdomen) QUESTIONABLE

Weather: In the Superdome again means no weather to worry about. For the second week in a row, capacity in the Superdome is at 6,000 fans for today's game.

Uniforms: Last home game for a month means one last look at black on black in the Superdome for a while

Current Standings:
NFC South:
Saints 7-2
Buccaneers 7-3
Falcons 3-6
Panthers 3-7

Betting Line: Saints (-3.5) O/U 49

Want to listen to Zach Strief, Deuce McAllister, & Steve Geller instead of Kevin Burkhardt, Daryl "Moose" Johnston, & Pam Oliver?
Find your local Saints Radio Network affiliate at this link

Today's Officials: (all officiating crews are subject to change)
Referee: #122 Brad Allen

Umpire: #102 Bruce Stritesky
Down Judge: #113 Danny Short
Line Judge: #85 Daniel Gallagher
Field Judge: #15 Rick Patterson
Side Judge: #41 Boris Cheek
Back Judge: #82 Jimmy Russell
Replay Official: TBA
Replay Assistant: TBA
**Due to "regionalization" of crews due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brad Allen has 1 member of his 2019 crew with him in 2020, BJ Jimmy Russell. LJ Daniel Gallagher is in his rookie season as a NFL official. Umpire Bruce Stritesky was a member of Bill Vinovich's crew last season and I'm fairly certain he was at THAT game that shall not be spoken of.**

Inactive Lists:
ATL-
QB Kurt Benkert
RB Qadree Ollison
CB Tyler Hall
OT John Wetzel
DT Deadrin Senat

NO-
CB Marshon Lattimore
LB Chase Hansen
OL Derrick Kelly
TE Josh Hill
RB Dwayne Washington
DL Malcolm Roach

This post was edited on 11/26/20 at 8:23 pm