The New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons are ready to return to a familiar setting, paying tribute to a notable moment.
“Monday Night Football.” In the Superdome. Twenty years after a historic night for the hosts.
The Falcons visit the Saints 10 days after the 20th anniversary of the most memorable of their 113 regular-season meetings: the Saints’ 23-3 victory in the first game inside the renovated Superdome 13 months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the building and the Crescent City.
The Saints have scheduled special musical performances at the game and will acknowledge key players from the 2006 team, which brought New Orleans its first trip to the NFC Championship Game less than four months later.
It figures to be an emotional night for the home team, even though Saints coach Kellen Moore was a high school senior when the “Domecoming” game was played and most of the players on this year’s team were in elementary school or younger.
“I remember it well,” Moore said of watching the game after football practice. “That was one of the top ‘Monday Night Football’ moments of all time. It allowed you to see the impact of how tied the community was (to the team) and how important that game was to the community.”
The Saints can even the all-time regular-season record between the two teams at 57-57 by winning Monday. That closeness is mirrored by the fact that New Orleans (1-2) and Atlanta (1-2) are part of a three-way tie with Carolina (1-2) atop the NFC South.
The Saints have played three one-score games and are coming off a 35-27 loss to Las Vegas in their home opener on Sept. 27. The Falcons are playing the middle game of three straight in prime time, the first being a 35-14 win at Green Bay on Sept. 24.
New Orleans’ passing offense and Atlanta’s run game will be the focal points of the respective defenses. Quarterback Tyler Shough and star wideout Chris Olave have the Saints third in the NFL in passing offense, and the Falcons are 29th in pass defense. But the Falcons are second in rushing, and Bijan Robinson will test a New Orleans defense that is 27th against the run.
The Falcons have by far the best run defense in the NFL, yielding just 47.7 yards per game, nearly 30 yards per game better than No. 2 Tampa Bay. Atlanta set a franchise record when it held the Packers to 17 rushing yards. The Saints are tied for 16th in rushing (101.3 ypg).
New Orleans placed top rusher Travis Etienne Jr. on injured reserve Thursday because of a hamstring injury, ruling him out for at least four weeks. In his absence, Alvin Kamara, the franchise’s all-time leading rusher, and Kendre Miller will be the primary ball-carriers.
“We feel fortunate that we have Alvin,” Moore said. “Fortunately we have some guys who have played some football that can handle the load.”
Shough is coming off a game in which his career-high four touchdown passes were tarnished by two lost fumbles and an interception.
Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was solid in his season debut and return from knee surgery against the Packers, completing 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The longer-than-normal practice week that comes with playing on Monday follows Atlanta having a short week to prepare for the Packers game, which was on a Thursday night.
“It’s unique going from the short week and working at breakneck speed to going into a long week,” Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said. “You really have to guard against doing too much as a coach and filling up that yellow legal pad with too many drawings. You’ve got to really make sure that you’re focused on things that your players can execute.”
Four Saints players missed practice on Thursday — defensive ends Carl Granderson (ankle) and Anfernee Jennings (knee) and linebackers Pete Werner (shoulder) and linebacker Kaden Elliss (calf). No Falcons sat out the Thursday practice because of injury.