FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Falcons will face the New Orleans Saints for the 110th time on Sunday, continuing a rivalry that has taken on many different forms since it began in 1967.
This particular Saints squad has drawn a lot of attention for their offensive performance to begin the 2024 season. Even with a 12-point outing in its Week 3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans' offense is No. 2 in total points scored this season with 103. Only the Buffalo Bills, who have 113 points, have scored more, while no other team in the NFL has more than 85 points through three games.
Atlanta's defense is off to a good start of its own. The Falcons have allowed 20.3 points per game, a number that is tied for 13th through three weeks, despite spending more time on defense than any other team besides the Indianapolis Colts. Those numbers indicate Atlanta is playing well on defense, but it needs to get off the field faster. How does that happen?
"I think the first thing is stopping the run down — first down," Falcons safety Jessie Bates III said. "We've been in a lot of third-and-short type of downs. You know, second-and-4-or-5. So, I think the first down, we've got to dominate the run down. … I just think that's a huge part of our game plan, stopping the first-down run, because that makes you play the boot, it makes you play the shots. Try to make them one dimensional, just like every week, it will help us out for sure."
Making a team with the offensive versatility New Orleans has one dimensional will be easier said than done, though.
Understanding that three games is a small sample size, the Saints present a tricky problem for opposing defenses to figure out. They are at once a very efficient offense that ranks second in third-down conversions with nearly a 53% success rate, third in red-zone success rate and 10th in possessing the ball. But they are also the only team in the league with three touchdowns of more than 50 yards, and their seven touchdowns from at least 10 yards out are tied with the Bills for most in the NFL.
To put it simply: The Saints have been productive when their offense is on the field. According to TruMedia, they are second with 3.32 points scored per drive, and 77.3% of New Orleans' first downs have resulted in either another first down or a touchdown, a rate that ranks fourth.
A lot of New Orleans' efficiency can be attributed to some familiar faces. Alvin Kamara is off to a resurgent season, looking like the version of himself that made five consecutive Pro Bowls upon entering the league in 2017. He leads the league with 417 yards from scrimmage this season — 285 rushing and 132 receiving — and his five total touchdowns are tied for the most as well.
"He's outstanding. He's an outstanding player," Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said. "He's been that way for a very long time. We have drafted players just to cover him. Let's just be honest. He's been a focal point of what we've been doing for a long time."
Saints quarterback Derek Carr is also off to a solid start in his 12th season. He is currently on pace to set career bests in touchdown passes, yards per attempt and yards per completion. Operating in a new offense, Carr has struck a nice balance between the throws that keep his group on schedule and the throws that could put six points on the board.
Wide receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed are his primary partners in those efforts.
Olave is the team's leading receiver with 12 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown. He has back-to-back games with more than 80 receiving yards, and he is tied for eighth in the league with 10 first-down catches so far this season.
Shaheed only has seven receptions on the year, but he has 169 yards and ranks second among receivers with a 24.1-yard average. With touchdown receptions of 59 and 70 yards, Shaheed is emerging as the kind of player who can alter the score on any given snap.
"Those guys are real dudes," Bates said of the Saints' receivers. "I think (Dolphins receiver) Tyreek (Hill) is No. 1 with the most explosive plays and then there's Shaheed right there. And then you've got Olave, who every year it just seems that he gets better."
There's a growing familiarity with Olave, whom the Saints drafted at No. 11 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. In his four games against the Falcons, Olave has 16 catches for 264 yards and a touchdown. Of all receivers Atlanta has faced since Olave joined the league in 2022, he ranks third in receptions and second in receiving yards against the Falcons.
It's Shaheed, though, who could become a headache for defenses this year, and a player the Falcons need a plan for. Don't let his seven receptions fool you, either; Shaheed has drawn 14 targets this season, the same number as Olave. He got five looks in Week 3 against the Eagles but couldn't haul in a single one. However, two could have been explosive touchdowns, and it's clear that he's established a downfield connection with Carr.
An offense featuring dynamic weapons like Kamara and Olave with a quarterback like Carr, who is playing at a consistently high level to start the season, is difficult enough to stop. However, the foundation for many of the rules at the heart of schemes and play calls center around addressing the most immediate threats.
So far this season, Shaheed has been arguably the most immediate threat in the NFL, and the Falcons will need to have an answer for him.
"Any time that you're lined up on his side or even every time that he's in the game, you have to be alert," Bates said. "Depending on, obviously, what coverages you're in, but just digesting the offense and seeing what they're trying to do, you've always got to know where (Shaheed) is because he's the guy that in a heartbeat can change a game."
