Falcons @ Saints
Final Score: Saints 20, Falcons 17
Writer: Brett Ford (@FadeThatMan on Twitter/X)
An NFC South showdown in the Big Easy turned into a slog as the Saints and Falcons battled to see who could reach 20 points first. The Saints came into the divisional contest with a new head coach and some sense of rejuvenation while the Falcons were seeking a third-straight victory. Behind the newfound energy at the helm, Derek Carr and company did just enough to hold off Atlanta and earn the important divisional win at home. Let’s dig in.
Two Up
- Marquez Valdes-Scantling – There aren’t enough rocket emojis in the world to express how much his stock has risen since joining the Saints.
- Bijan Robinson – Back to bellcow workload for Bijan Robinson, which is what fantasy managers need at this point of the season
One Down
- Kirk Cousins – Cousins threw for 300 yards but didn’t connect on any touchdowns
Atlanta Falcons
Quarterback
Kirk Cousins: 23/38, 306 Yards, INT
Kirk Cousins worked to find his receivers in space and did a good job working the offense down the field, but just couldn’t find the end zone frequently enough to get the win. Cousins drove the Falcons to scoring opportunities three times in the first half, including twice reaching the red zone but Atlanta came away with just seven points with two missed field goals (one blocked). Cousins drove the team downtime field for scoring drives in each of the first two chances in the second half but couldn’t muster a clutch drive in the fourth quarter. With just over two minutes left, Cousins was picked off on a pass over the middle to Drake London. He got the ball back after the Falcons forced a three-and-out, but couldn’t drive the team to a game-tying field goal.
Running Back
Bijan Robinson: 20 Carries, 116 Yards, 2 TD | 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 28 Yards
Robinson was on the field for over 75% of the Falcons’ offensive snaps, partly because of the game script – he is the predominant pass-catching back. It was great to see the Falcons hand Robinson the ball 20 times, in just his second 20-carry game this season. The volume that Robinson earned on Sunday could be indicative of the Falcons leaning more on their star running back going forward. Robinson has at least 20 touches in each of his last four games.
Tyler Allgeier: 11 Carries, 59 Yards
Tyler Allgeier has been as much a pain in the side of fantasy managers as he has been a fantasy asset. It wasn’t a bad day for the running back, averaging over 5.0 yards per carry for the third time in five games, but he missed an opportunity to punch the ball into the end zone for the second straight week as he was stuffed on the goal line. Robinson snuck it over the goal line on the next play for the score. Allgeier runs violently and vertically and should factor in more in games that the Falcons play from in front. The game script didn’t lend itself to Allgeier’s role on Sunday.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Drake London: 12 Targets, 8 Receptions, 97 Yards
After an extremely slow week against the Cowboys, London was a target hog on Sunday pulling in eight catches on a team-high 12 opportunities. This is the type of volume that London managers are looking for from one of their top pass-catchers, but he didn’t find the end zone in spite of three red-zone targets.
Darnell Mooney: 10 Targets, 5 Receptions, 96 Yards
Darnell Mooney continues to thrive in Atlanta where he’s earned over a 30% target share in the past two weeks combined. Mooney has established himself as the intermediate to deep threat in this offense with an average depth of target (aDOT) of 11.6 yards, averaging 14.3 yards per reception as well. He nearly found the end zone as he was taken out of bounds at the one-yard line in the second quarter, setting up the Falcons for a rushing touchdown two plays later.
Kyle Pitts: 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 55 Yards
Kyle Pitts was kind of the odd man out in the Falcons’ passing game, earning just six targets for four catches and 55 yards. It has been nice to see Pitts’ usage level out with at least four receptions in three of his last four games. He’s still a bit of a roller coaster (like nearly every tight end these days) but has seemed to have found his role with five or six targets on a weekly basis.
Ray-Ray McCloud: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 30 Yards
The third receiver in the offense, Ray-Ray McCloud is on the field for nearly every play as the Falcons live in 11-personnel, but he’s the last option on virtually every play as far as skill position players. McCloud will get some usage – more because the distribution is so narrow and he’s so consistently on the field – but likely won’t pop off more than once or twice all year.
New Orleans Saints
Quarterback
Derek Carr: 16/25, 269 Yards, 2 TD | 4 Carries, 17 Yards
Carr only had to throw the ball 25 times, a formula for success for the Saints. Carr struck for a handful of big plays, including his 67-yard pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, dropping the ball into a bucket for the speedy wide receiver on a go route. A lot of his yardage came as yards after catch with dynamic playmakers like Alvin Kamara gaining yards after the catch. If Carr and Klint Kubiak can continue to get the ball into their playmakers’ hands in space, they could get back to what made their offense so good in the first two weeks of the season.
Running Back
Alvin Kamara: 17 Carries, 55 Yards | 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 54 Yards
Kamara was the old reliable motor of the Saints’ offense, helping churn the team down the field drive after drive. Kamara was on the field for 43 offensive snaps and earned 22 touches, getting an opportunity on more than half of his snaps. This elite level of usage should produce more robust fantasy stat lines moving forward.
Jordan Mims: 2 Carries, 10 Yards | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 4 Yards
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Chris Olave: DNP
Rashid Shaheed: DNP
Taysom Hill: 4 Carries, 14 Yards | 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 36 Yards
The last time these two teams met, Taysom Hill rushed for two touchdowns. He wasn’t so lucky on Sunday, having an 88-yard touchdown reception called back for a holding penalty, but he did get six touches in several different alignments. Five of Hill’s six opportunities came in the first quarter, and according to Nathan Jahnke of PFF, that’s becoming a trend this season: 21 of Hill’s 37 touches (56.8%) this season have come in the first quarter.
Juwan Johnson: 3 Targets, 2 Receptions, 22 Yards
Juwan Johnson was on the field for 31 snaps and ran 16 routes but was targeted just three times. With so many mouths to feed in this tight end room and so few opportunities in this kind of game script, the Saints have kind of forgotten about Johnson for the most part. Fantasy managers should too.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 109 Yards, 2 TD
Welcome to New Orleans, MVS! After signing with the Saints earlier in the week, Valdes-Scantling made himself known (and adored) in the city with a pair of touchdown catches. The first was a bomb that Carr uncorked down the field while the second was a more refined route across the back of the end zone, catching the ball on a cross to record his second score. Valdes-Scantling fills the role that Shaheed held and played so well earlier this year. If the Saints can use him in the same way, he may find some sustained success.