Gregg Rosenthal pick in the Saints-Falcons game Sunday (1 Viewer)

[the-commish]

Rosenthal picked the Saints to beat the Falcons 27-23. Of course, this prediction means nothing, the game has to be played. But his analysis perked my ears and eyes up.

I picked the Falcons to win this matchup two weeks ago and was spectacularly wrong. Last week, Taysom Hill struggled in Denver, while the Falcons improved to 4-2 under interim coach Raheem Morris with another convincing win. Weird things happen when division opponents play twice in three weeks (SEE: Titans-Colts), yet I can't bring myself to pick against the most complete team in the NFL, even versus its feisty rival.


"...the most complete team in the NFL." Someone else has jumped on the Saints' bandwagon.

 

[Saint Kamara]

I'm thinking 23-20 Saints.

Taysom with a late 4th quarter game winning drive, ala Drew Brees.

Lutz with the 55 yarder with no time remaining.

 

[Saint Taysom]

Saints roll... Taysom throws for his first.. not 1... not 2.... but 3 TD passes, and scores another TD on the ground. Michael Thomas and AK41 catch TDs.

Saints 38
Clowns 20

 

[Zack Lee]

I think people are waking up to this. If they have happened to just catch parts of our last four games then they have to think, wait this D is paired with a Sean Payton offense? Stay healthy guys, sky is the limit.

 

[Magic_Leather_Jacket]

I'm thinking 23-20 Saints.

Taysom with a late 4th quarter game winning drive, ala Drew Brees.

Lutz with the 55 yarder with no time remaining.

Not sure Taysom has the grit and moxie for late game heroics. It’s the only thing I see missing from him being a true nfl qb. But like some other minor concerns I have, time will tell.

 

[mambodeath]

If the Saints lose, will the board jump on him for being wrong like they did for the Tampa game?

 

[WinAnother]

Saints 27-13 Saints down 10-3 at half, Payton make the QB change in the 2nd half and Jameis tears it up for a 27-13 win.

 

[St. Pike]

Around the NFL guys are probably the only show out there that give honest opinions rather than try to shock and dismay you like the other shows out there.


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[Super44]

Saints 27-13 Saints down 10-3 at half, Payton make the QB change in the 2nd half and Jameis tears it up for a 27-13 win.

There are dreamers...and that is ok. Just don’t sleep too long during the game. You’ll miss another Saints win, with Hill at QB.

 

[Sumdude34]

My gut is telling me to be scared of this game. Not because of the Falcons or anything, just because of the nature of running it back against a team you played so recently. It's the same reason I don't want to play Tampa in the playoffs even though we have dominated every second of the two games against them this year.

But the fact remains, ATL D is soft. They cannot stop the run. Taysom went off agaisnt them because that is his game. Whether it ends up being him, AK, or Murray - we will put up over 150 rush yards on them grab a victory. It won't be flashy, but it will be effective.

For all the years we have complained about it, SP showed last week that he will stick to the run game for a W if he has to. And he is going to have to this week.

 

[Saint Taysom]

My gut is telling me to be scared of this game. Not because of the Falcons or anything, just because of the nature of running it back against a team you played so recently. It's the same reason I don't want to play Tampa in the playoffs even though we have dominated every second of the two games against them this year.

But the fact remains, ATL D is soft. They cannot stop the run. Taysom went off agaisnt them because that is his game. Whether it ends up being him, AK, or Murray - we will put up over 150 rush yards on them grab a victory. It won't be flashy, but it will be effective.

For all the years we have complained about it, SP showed last week that he will stick to the run game for a W if he has to. And he is going to have to this week.

I heard a stat that goes back a good way... around 25 games or so (occurrences)...

Teams that play the same opponent twice over a 3 week span... the team that won the first contest have only one the second contest 30% of the time (7 wins out of approx 25 games).

 

[Saint Taysom]

GMF Weekend just now... Every host just picked the Failclowns to win vs the Saints. Notice I did not say “expert”.

MeAngelo Hall picked the Saints, but said he was only picking the Saints because he’s so bad at picking winners that he picked the Saints because he really wants the Falcons to win.
“Too much Matt Ryan; too much Julio Jones; Falcons win”

It’s rare for a team with the best record in their conference, and on an 8-game winning streak, to get so much disrespect and doubt when facing an opponent 2 games under .500.

 

[boutrous]

I'm actually glad Falcons won big last week because it does 2 things:

1) It makes them overconfident that they are a good team and don't need tricks to beat us.

2) It makes us not see them as cellar dwellers and have us play down to their level.

I'm confident that they can't beat us unless we turn the ball over too much. Secure the ball, harass Matt Ryan, win the game. Just don't get cute or play uninspired.

 

[Richard]

Not sure Taysom has the grit and moxie for late game heroics. It’s the only thing I see missing from him being a true nfl qb. But like some other minor concerns I have, time will tell.

I must say I have to disagree MLJ. Taysom has an abundance of grit. He's a doggone QB that doesn't go down on first contact, will initiate contact and fight for the extra yards. I am not sure how to define moxie, so I'll give you that one. The thing that I believe separates him from a dependable QB is his slowness in going through his progressions and his ability (or lack thereof) in making quick decisions in finding the open man. I think those are things you can only develop through game experience, so I expect that his decision-making should improve with more time under center during games and practice time with the first team. He will still make mistakes and hold the ball too long, but I view him like I would a rookie QB in the NFL thrust into starting without the benefit of OTAs, training camp and an expectation of being "the guy."

I don't know if Hill will ever be a reliable starting QB in the NFL, but I believe he has the tools to be successful, especially the grit (moxie notwithstanding).

 

[the-commish]

My gut is telling me to be scared of this game. Not because of the Falcons or anything, just because of the nature of running it back against a team you played so recently. It's the same reason I don't want to play Tampa in the playoffs even though we have dominated every second of the two games against them this year.

But the fact remains, ATL D is soft. They cannot stop the run. Taysom went off agaisnt them because that is his game. Whether it ends up being him, AK, or Murray - we will put up over 150 rush yards on them grab a victory. It won't be flashy, but it will be effective.

For all the years we have complained about it, SP showed last week that he will stick to the run game for a W if he has to. And he is going to have to this week.

I agree. However, look for TH#7 to be given a bit more leeway to throw the ball this game than he had in Denver.