FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The records are what they are, the Saints at 2-1 on the year are traveling north to Atlanta to face the Falcons at 1-2 this Sunday. But as we all know, with rivalries like this one, the records can be thrown out the proverbial window. Regardless of who's up or who's down, it tends to matter not when it comes to one of the biggest rivalries in all of the league.

So, what does that leave us with when looking ahead to Sunday's showdown between two NFC South opponents? Quite a lot, actually.

Injury update

The Falcons will be without two starting offensive linemen Sunday. Drew Dalman was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury while right tackle Kaleb McGary was ruled out Friday with a knee injury. And though running back Bijan Robinson (shoulder) and outside linebacker Matthew Judon (hamstring) were limited Thursday, by Friday they were back to full-go.

The Saints, on the other hand, have been dealing with far more injuries this week. Players like running back Alvin Kamara (hip/ribs), linebacker Demario Davis (hamstring), guard Cesar Ruiz (knee) and wide receiver A.T. Perry (hamstring) did not participate in practices at various points this week. In fact, Davis, Ruiz and Perry were all ruled out of Sunday's game entirely. Meanwhile, Kamara and wide receiver Chris Olave were questionable. Olave's hamstring injury did not pop up until Friday's practice for the Saints. He was limited.

Both teams will release their inactives lists 90 minutes before kickoff Sunday.

Limiting explosives

You have to give credit where credit is due, and so far in 2024, the Saints offense is owed a lot of credit. Through their first three games of the season, New Orleans has amassed over 100 points scored. Only the Buffalo Bills have scored more in the same time frame, and as Will McFadden pointed out this week, no other team in the NFL has more than 85 points through three games.

So, it goes without saying the Saints have one of the most explosive offenses in all of the game at the current moment.

Simultaneously, though, Falcons defense has been one of the best at limiting explosive plays. The unit has only allowed five plays of 20 yards or more this season. That is the second-best mark in the league.

What Sunday could turn into is really a good vs. good, strength vs. strength situation by way of an offense known for explosives (the Saints) and a defense known for limiting them (the Falcons). It takes the game from checkers to chess quickly.

Winning third-down opportunities

It's no secret the Falcons offense has struggled to convert third downs. They are 6-of-27 through three games, 1-for-6 on third-and-short and 1-of-12 on third-and-long.

It's also no secret the Falcons defense has struggled to get off the field on third downs. Opposing offenses are converting third downs at a rate of just under 50%, at 20-of-44.

Collectively, the Falcons are losing not only time of possession (they rank 31st in average time of possession with 24:36), but are also significantly down in average play count over three games. Opponents have averaged 68.6 plays per game while the Falcons sit at 54.6. If the Falcons were scoring more points, time of possession and play counts wouldn't be an issue. But they became a talking point in the lead up to Week 4.

According to quarterback Kirk Cousins, the Falcons offense needs to be better on first and second down, as well as in the red area.

"(We're) trying to be really effective in our third-down red zone offense," Kirk Cousins said, "and that's a place where I think we can be better."

From the defensive perspective, coordinator Jimmy Lake said the exact same thing.

"We've got to be better on first and second down," Lake explained. "We've been in 10 third-and-ones or fourth-and-ones. It is extremely difficult in this league to stop an offense from gaining one yard. We've gone two-out-of-10 on those 10. We've won two of them, lost eight of them."

This is a wrinkle of the game that — for both sides of the ball — could be a difference maker.

Starting centers to IR

As noted in the first section, the Falcons will be without their starting center Sunday with Dalman on injured reserve. However, they aren't the only ones. The Saints also placed their starting center, Erik McCoy, on injured reserve this week, too. He has a groin injury that is reportedly taking surgery to fix.

Both offenses are deploying different tactics for how to account for the loss of their centers.

Ryan Neuzil is expected to be the Falcons starting center, while Lucas Patrick is set to take over the same spot for the Saints.

Neuzil was an undrafted free agent picked up by the Falcons in 2021. He was a practice squad member in his first season before the Falcons brought him back in the coming years as a contributor within special teams and on offense for depth. Neuzil has started four games for the Falcons — all four coming in 2023 when Dalman was injured. Neuzil took all the snaps at center in the second half of the Falcons' loss to the Chiefs last Sunday. To account for depth, the Falcons brought up Elijah Wilkinson from the practice squad and signed Matt Hennessy to the practice squad.

As for the Saints, they also had to do some roster manipulation to account for injuries to their starting center. New Orleans elevated interior lineman Shane Lemieux from the practice squad. Though Lemieux played much of the preseason at center, he is likely to take over for Ruiz at guard while Patrick will stay put at center, where he ended last week's game. At 31 years old, Patrick has held onto veteran status a lot longer than Neuzil has. He has started 57 games over the course of his eight-year career.

No matter how you slice it, though, both teams will come into Sunday ready to test their offensive line depth.

The JB3 + JS31 effect, cont.

A trend that has shown up over the first three weeks of the season that may be a direct effect of Jessie Bates III and Justin Simmons in the secondary is the lack of deep passes thrown by opposing quarterbacks they've faced. There's been quite a bit of dinking and dunking happening to start the season, and probably for good reason. Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith (and former Falcons head coach) said the game plan heading into Week 1 was to keep the ball away from Bates. By Week 3, one of Patrick Mahomes' few deep balls was intercepted in the endzone by Simmons. Both have made game-changing plays that have helped keep the Falcons in each of their first three games of the season.

Derek Carr and the Saints present another test for this secondary, particularly. This game might actually be the better measuring stick to discern how potent this secondary truly is. So far, this defense has faced three of the best mobile quarterbacks in the league. You don't have to watch much tape to see Justin Fields, Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes cut defenses down by their play-extending abilities. Nothing against Carr, but his strengths are different. He's going to try to lull the defense into stopping the run and giving up five to 10-yard grabs here and there before taking the top off with an explosive (as we have previously discussed). How does the duo of Bates and Simmons along with the rest of the Falcons secondary account for that?

Player of the Game prediction: Grady Jarrett

If you're Jarrett, this could be a giant game for you.

Heck, this entire Saturday Six Pack has essentially been devoted to the issues both offensive lines are facing. You don't think someone like Jarrett is ready to pin his ears back and get after the wounded interior of the Saints offensive line? Oh buddy. I think that's exactly what he does. That, and I do think Jarrett will be important in run support, too. We know how good Alvin Kamara has been for the Saints in 2024. If Jarrett got bottle up the interior — along with players like David Onyemata, Ta'Quon Graham, Zach Harrison, etc. — then that bounces Kamara out to the outside, where the Falcons do have a bit of speed to bring him down.

If this article showed you nothing, you better believe it showed you this: This game is going to be won or lost in the trenches.