For the second straight year, the Falcons open the regular season with a game against the division and heated rival Saints.
In 2013, the Falcons started with a 23-17 loss to the Saints in New Orleans to begin a 4-12 campaign. On Sunday, 363 days later, the Falcons will host the Saints to kick what they hope will be a much better season.
Wouldn’t it be better to start the season against a different opponent? Wouldn’t the Falcons like to have a game or two in the books before playing such an important game?
Julio Jones said he would just as soon start the season with an important victory.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jones said Thursday. “We have to play them anyways. It’s good for us too though. We are just going to get a win out of the way. A divisional game and we win, we are up in the division.”
Fellow receiver Roddy White said the team has been focused on the Saints since the start of training camp.
“No,” receiver Roddy White said emphatically when asked he would rather have an different season-opening opponent. “I think last year was perfectly fine when we had to go to New Orleans right off the bat. It kind of speeds up the tempo and everything at practice. Everybody is locked in. Everybody is geared in. You need that kind of focus during Week 1.
“We’ve kind of had those (opening) games where we played Kansas City and stuff like that. We kind of just got into groove as the week of practice went on. Since we’ve known we are playing the Saints, everything has been zoom focused. Everybody has been on time, doing what they need to do, getting in their work and preparing themselves for this game. I think that was really good.”
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