Salvage a sliver of the season.
Salvage some respect.
Salvage a chunk of NFC South football dignity.
That’s all on the line for the Falcons (2-8) when they face arch-rival New Orleans (8-2) at 8:25 p.m. Thursday at the Georgia Dome, in a game that will be televised by NFL Network.
“I know that we don’t like them,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “They don’t like us, and I think that’s all that you really have to say about the ballgame.”
The Falcons are pretty amped up and are trying to forget about their recent struggles, when they’ve been outscored by 74 points over their past four games.
“For the Falcons fans, we know it would make their season,” safety William Moore said. “We’re going to give it everything that we’ve got.”
While the overall season isn’t salvageable, the Falcons, who have lost seven of their past eight games, know there’s plenty at stake.
“It would be somewhat of a silver lining because it’s such a huge division game,” safety Thomas DeCoud said. “It’s a big rivalry game. I don’t want to say that it would save the season, but it would be a good one to build off of for the rest of the season.”
Center Joe Hawley is expected to make his second start.
“Obviously, it’s not a hard game to get up for,” said Hawley, who replaced Peter Konz at center last week. “They are our rivals. We enjoy playing them. It’s going to be a tough game back in the Dome. We obviously, want to get back to our winning ways.”
There is always something a little extra going on before or after this matchup. Before the Saints stopped the Falcons’ eight-game winning streak 31-27 last season, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux were accused of walking through the Saints warmups to taunt ex-teammate Curtis Lofton.
Last season, the Saints’ bus was egged in Atlanta.
“It’s always pretty spirited when we get together,” guard Justin Blalock said. “I don’t see why this should be any different. I know the Dome is going to be electric. There’s always fantastic energy associated with this game.”
Weatherspoon pleaded innocent to the taunting charges.
“Around here, you know that you just inherit (the hatred for the Saints),” he said. “We don’t like them.”
The Falcons hope that their fans have not bailed out on the season.
“We certainly hope that they’ll be out there supporting us this week,” Smith said. “It’s a big division game. We need their help, and we need their support.”
The Falcons won the previous meeting at the Georgia Dome, 23-13 on Nov. 29. In that game, the Falcons made Saints quarterback Drew Brees look ordinary. The defense was stealth in coverage and intercepted five passes. Moore had two picks, DeCoud, Weatherspoon and Babineaux also had interceptions.
“Well, as we all know, we were playing good football overall at that time, in particular on defense,” Falcons defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said. “That had a lot to do with it. There was a lot more confidence going on. There were a lot of tangible and not so tangible things that were going on at the time. Again, we were just mixing things up more than anything else.”
But that defense hasn’t showed up much this season.
A lot would have to happen for the Falcons to pull off the shocker.
Quarterback Matt Ryan, who tossed nine interceptions in the past four games, would have to get back on track. Roddy White, who’s been slowed all season, would have to return to form.
“I just want to play like ‘Old Roddy,’” said White, who has battled through ankle and hamstring injuries this season.
The defense, which has given up 900 total yards over the past two games, would have to come around.
Also, the special teams, which had a punt blocked and failed to recover an onside kick against Tampa Bay, likely would need to manufacture some big plays.
“We want to beat them,” Smith said. “They want to beat us. The fans here don’t like ’em. It should be a fun night. We need to go out and compete and play the type of football that we know we are capable of playing.”
