With Matt Ryan picking up where he left off against Carolina, the Falcons opened with 41 unanswered points against the Jacksonville Jaguars on their way to a 41-14 rout in their last outing.
He has the Falcons (9-5) in position to defend their NFC South title if they win out and the Saints lose to Carolina on Jan. 1.
Here’s a brief Q&A with Ryan and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s D. Orlando Ledbetter.
Q: How do you prepare for the Saints’ switching between the 4-3 and 3-4 on defense?
A: It makes your homework a lot harder, that's for sure. When they change their fronts and they do as many things as they do, you have to be prepared for all those things. I think our coaches do a great job of making it simple for us, understanding kind of what they're doing, understanding how we're going to go against it. We've been pretty good against their pressure package the last couple of years.
Q: Are they a tougher defense with three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Jonathan Vilma in the lineup? (He missed the last meeting on Nov. 13 with a knee injury.)
A: Jonathan's a great player. I mean, there's no two ways about it. He's a very, very good player; kind of the heart and soul of that defense. Makes a lot of communication calls for them. So he's certainly somebody we have to be aware of where he's at.
Q: Two members of their secondary (Jabari Greer and Roman Harper) have been accused of being dirty players by Minnesota and Tennessee. Are they dirty?
A: I think they're just physical. They play to the whistle and they play hard. That's what makes it fun playing against them. You know you're going to get their best effort and they're going to play physical and so are we.
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