Falcons play for seeding, Saints for .500 record (Jan 01, 2017)
ATLANTA -- The final regular-season game in the 25-year history of the Georgia Dome on Sunday has more than a little significance to the Atlanta Falcons, who for the last quarter century have mixed some good football with the bad and the ugly.
In this case, the Falcons (10-5) have a self-made opportunity to lock up the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs -- along with a critical first-round bye -- by defeating their bitter NFC South rival, the New Orleans Saints (7-8).
The stakes are high for the Falcons, who already have clinched the NFC South title. A win would guarantee them the second seed, a week off and a divisional-round game at the Georgia Dome.
A loss would mean the Falcons likely would fall to the No. 3 seed and play next weekend, probably against the Washington Redskins or the New York Giants.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said he can't think that far ahead.
"We want to keep getting better every day we show up in the building," Ryan said. "To me, the discussion is, 'What do we need to do this week? We'll talk about next week next week.' My message is not to worry about any of that other stuff. We'll deal with it when we get to it."
Atlanta coach Dan Quinn said there has been "a lot of good football" in the dome's 25-year history, and he hopes the Falcons can draw on the energy of a wild home crowd.
"Being a part of that is a cool feeling," Quinn said. "We get this one here and then, past that, we don't know how many. We're sure hoping that it is going to be a loud one here Sunday."
The Saints, who have won two straight behind two phenomenal performances by Drew Brees, would like nothing better than to put a dent in the Falcons' postseason plans and also finish a roller-coaster season at 8-8 after consecutive 7-9 seasons.
Brees, 37, is having one of the best seasons of his NFL career, showing no slippage in his performance.
He leads the league in passing yards (4,852) and is just 148 yards shy of extending his NFL record of 5,000-yard seasons to five. Brees also has 35 touchdown passes, one behind Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, and his 70.9 completion percentage is just behind Detroit's Sam Bradford (71.3).
Brees set the NFL completion percentage record of 71.2 in 2011. He has been intercepted only 14 times in 623 passes.
"I focus on the process to get to the result, and the result I want is winning and making the playoffs and having a chance at winning a championship," Brees said. "So, while I feel like there were a lot of good things this year, I feel like we can do even better next year. Certainly, I can do even better next year to get us to where we need to go.
"I'm just willing to do whatever I need to do to help us win. I have a high level of expectation and standard for myself, and that doesn't mean stats. Now, does a high completion percentage and do touchdown passes versus low (percentage) and turnovers, do all those things result in winning?
"In most cases, yes. There's a correlation there. But at the end of the day, we've got to find ways to win."
Quinn said Brees continues to be a massive headache, especially because of his longevity -- 11 seasons -- with Saints coach Sean Payton.
"I do not know how many reps they have together in practice and in games, (but) you can see why the execution is so good where they go," Quinn said. "To me, I think the fact that everyone gets involved -- the run game is on point with Mark (Ingram), the way they use the screen I have always been impressed with through the years.
"Tight ends have been a factor. The running backs, forever, when you count up all of their catches, have always been an important part of it. When you add the receivers to it, it just leads to this explosive offense with accumulation of people."
In the Saints' first game this season, they led 7-0 and forced a Falcons punt but then muffed the catch, leading to the tying score. The Falcons went on to win 45-32 behind Tevin Coleman's three touchdowns and a 90-yard pick-six by linebacker Deion Jones.
Linebacker Darnell Ellerbe (foot) and fullback John Kuhn (hip) did not practice on Wednesday for New Orleans. For the Falcons, wide receiver Taylor Gabriel (foot) and tight end Austin Hooper (knee) were held out of practice.
