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The Saints beat the Falcons earlier this season, handing the team their first loss, and that kind of kicked off the downward spiral that would ultimately cost the franchise a playoff berth. The Falcons may be out, but they're still getting a chance at revenge this time around, and they're slight favorites at home in the Georgia Dome.
The fact that the Falcons are 1.5 point favorites is perfectly defensible when you consider they lost to the Saints earlier this season, the Saints are back on a mini-roll, and NFC South games are unpredictable, as we saw when the Falcons beat the undefeated Panthers last week. Drew Brees is on fire and the Falcons are going to be giving extended run to some of their young players, so this one will probably be somewhat of a coin flip unless Atlanta comes out insanely motivated and playing at the same level they did against Carolina.
And that's okay. I want the Falcons to beat the Saints as badly as I ever do, but I badly want to see the Falcons trot out Tyler Starr, Malliciah Goodman, Jalen Collins and others who need auditions and playing time as the Falcons embark on building their team for 2016.
We'll hope the Falcons can finish the season on a high note against the Saints, though, and get their young players some developmental time at the same time. Fingers crossed.