The Atlanta Falcons were set to come into the Falcons game more or less completely healthy, but things have a nasty habit of changing fast. Asante Samuel is now out for the Saints game.
Bad foreshadowing for #Falcons: Asante Samuel (thigh) is among the inactives for opener vs. #Saints.
— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzAJC) September 8, 2013
Losing your top cornerback against the Saints is bad. No sugar coating that. Samuel was going to be relied upon to handle Marques Colston and Lance Moore as necessary, and losing him instantly makes things easier for Drew Brees. I'm not going to say it changes the course of the game entirely, but it's frightening.
The Falcons will now start Desmond Trufant and Robert McClain outside, with Robert Alford and Dominique Franks getting into the mix at nickel corner. Franks could kick outside occasionally to put McClain back in the slot, as well, but we don't entirely know. It's clear that the Falcons will need to get a little creative to make up for the loss.
Mike Nolan is going to need to go aggressive to keep Brees off balance, and the Falcons are going to need to put on a fireworks show on offense. Still a very winnable game, so don't panic yet.
Full list of inactives:
Today's Falcons inactives: CB Samuel, RB Vaughan, S Ishmael, T Trueblood, G Gunn, DT Robertson, DE Maponga #ATLvsNO
— Atlanta_Falcons (@Atlanta_Falcons) September 8, 2013
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