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It’s a bit over 48 hours before Falcons-Saints, so the nerves are probably heightening by the hour. There’s always a different kind of excitement prior to these two teams meeting — the kind that settles firmly in your chest and radiates down your extremities until your hands tremble. Or maybe that’s my body telling me I’ve had far too much caffeine already.
Sunday is the first opportunity for Atlanta to put New Orleans firmly on notice in the NFC South, so while the anxiety builds until kickoff, get refreshed on all the Falcons happenings with today’s Falcoholinks.
Unstoppable force meets a pretty movable object
With all of the injuries mounting on defense, it will be a tall task to slow down Saints running back Alvin Kamara, let alone stop him. He’s going to get his carries, he’s going to be heavily involved in the passing game, and if the Falcons are going to have a shot they cannot let Kamara be the one who beats them.
Dave Choate took a look at the matchup and how the Atlanta Falcons defense may be deployed to make things slightly more difficult for the Saints’ elusive back.
Evergreen header: Injury update
With an outbreak of calf injuries hobbling a bulk of the team, we received an injury update Thursday on some key players.
Julio Jones said missing practice yesterday was a precaution. Nothing serious. Said his calf tightened his up during the Panthers win.
— Jason Butt (@JasonHButt) September 20, 2018
The good news is that Julio Jones’ balky calf doesn’t appear likely to keep him out on Sunday, but Takkarist McKinley, Devonta Freeman, Derrick Shelby, and Corey Nelson all missed practice. We’ll keep a keen eye on all of them for Friday.
The Falcoholic Live Ep. 52, The Falcoholic Podcast Ep. 50
It’s a cavalcade of content here at the Falcoholic, so be sure to check out Wednesday’s Falcoholic Live and yesterday’s Falcoholic Podcast.
On The Falcoholic Live Ep. 52, Kevin Knight and Eric Robinson were joined once again by Adnan Ikic. Adnan’s racked up an impressive number of appearances of late — he’s like a Falcoholic Live wack packer at this point. The guys looked back at the Panthers game, looked ahead to Sunday against the Saints, and discussed the litany of injuries currently affecting the Falcons. Give it a listen, here.
For the 50th episode of The Falcoholic Podcast, your humble hosts DW and Jeanna Thomas were joined by Carlos Medina of 680 the Fan. The trio discussed a bevy of topics, including the probability of the Falcons offense capitalizing on a suspect Saints defense, why Grady Jarrett might be the key to securing a win, and the likelihood of slowing down a rapid-fire New Orleans’ offense. Episode 50 is available, here.
Can the Brotherhood endure?
The start of the 2018 season has been like none other during Dan Quinn’s tenure as head coach, and the spate of injuries will test if The Brotherhood he installed is built to last. The performance on the field is the first concern, but injuries can also cause underlying issues to bubble to the surface. They can test the physical and mental wherewithal of an entire team, and we’re about to find out if The Brotherhood truly runs deep.