You call this Monday Night Football????? Saints visit the Falcons!!

Long ago Deuce McAllister was lost for the season and now the underacheiving but ever exciting Reggie Bush will hang with him on the sidelines. That means once again we have a 3rd string player in a star position !! This year more then any the injuries seem to have piled on for certain tams at certain positions. Now they turn to Aaron Stecker who has been largely unproductive running the ball this season especially on the 2 occassions he received 10 + carries( not a great indicator cause he wasnt the featured back like he will be here). Really though with Bush struggling as a featured back will there be a dropoff ? Stecker can catch the ball as well. Clearly he is not the gifted athlete that Bush is and that is what they lose. That explosiveness and big play ability.

Flip to Atlanta and they are basically riding with there 4th string QB a guy who was out of the league for 3 years in Chris Redman. To throw more chaos into the situation the Vick sentencing will be shortly before kickoff( a few hours). Update: He recieved 23 months in prison. You would believe there are going to be some ATL players more focused on the sentencing then the GAME. Finally Jerious Norwood has been dubbed the starter , hopefully he continues to get more carries. Despite terrible QB play Roddy White has emerged with 62 catches and 900+ yards which include four 100+ yd recieving games including the last two games. One of which was the 1st meeting in NO when Leftwich and Harrington played. It appears Crumpler is back in form after 7 catches last week as well.

The bottomline is Redman. How do you put a value on this guy ?? He came into a game down 21-3 late 3rd quarter and moved the ball versus a very average defense that had probably grown complacent . You flip back to his BALT days and his numbers were decent when he started and they were fairly solid last week. Redman's play is so key beyond the obvious because even his offense said it felt some sort of confidence with him in there watching him make plays and move the ball. That NEEDS to carry over here.

How many times have we gone over the MNF angle which STATES that UNLESS the SPRESAD is DOUBLE DIGITS you simply need to pick the SU winner and forgo the spread. Meaning if you think the fav wins lay the points but if you think the DOG wins then take the ML!!

The Falcons after switching to Leftwich seemed to really fall apart. Looking at the Saints season besides that "ODD" massacre win @ Seattle on SNF what impresses you about this team? They are 1-3 past 4 games only winning at AWFUL Carolina while losing @ Houston and HOME vs STL and TB with Luke McCown and Earnest Graham !! On the season they snuck by ATL @ home , defeated Quinny Gray and the JAGS , and beat up on SF !! The Saints defense got back some of its missing pieces and were shredded by McCown and TB last week. They allowed 466 yards of offense compared to NO 246 and let the game get away late ! Now they MUST win out to have a shot at the playoffs. There defense didnt look so good @ Houston allowing Schaub in his return a solid afternoon. Redman seems comfortable due to his familiarity with Petrino from there Louisville days.

The key is simply Redman's play , ATL focus and the offensive play calling. With backs like Dunn and Norwood compared to Stecker and Thomas the Falcons should be able to control TOP. With 1 supposed shutdown corner they should also shrink the field of play for New Orleans. That should lead to better play by their defense.

Simply put the Saints have NOT played anywhere near the level it did last season. Thinking at 5-7 they have a shot at the playoffs seems like a fantasy to me. They couldnt defeat Luke McCown and the Bucs at home in a game to get to 500 and shrink the division lead. Now traveling to ATL and cause its LABELED a must win spot they will play well?? Nah !! However ATL has been great at self destructing see Car , NYG and Indy home losses and will be relying on Redman to lead !!!


Has anyone seen a sign that ATL has quit ? The rallied last week on the road when trailing 21-0 at half , they started good vs Indy leading 13-7 upon until the 23 minute mark ....the effort seems to be there.....

Not sure but the Falcons ML would have in my eyes more value then laying the points.....STRONG LEAN : ATL ML


You have to wonder who has more momentum if there is such a thing here....ATL rallying to almost comeback and win on the road now returning home Or New Orleans choking a way a key Win at home now traveling??????