The Superdome has been the Temple of Doom for the Falcons under head coach Mike Smith.
They have dropped the last three meetings there and are 1-5 against the rival New Orleans Saints on their home turf since Smith took over in 2008.
That’s the backdrop as the Falcons and Saints will play what’s essentially an NFC South division title elimination game at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Superdome.
While the Saints have been dominant in the Superdome under head coach Sean Payton, they have dropped four-straight home games this season and will be primed to end the streak against the Falcons.
However, the Falcons are not stressing about their porous record in the Superdome.
“Historically, it’s always a tough place to go play,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “We’re a different team this year. They are a different team. We can’t worry about what happened down there before.”
Last season, with the Saints up 23-17, the Falcons were threatening before being stopped on fourth down-and-goal from the 3-yard line with under a minute to play. A pass for tight end Tony Gonzalez was intercepted by Roman Harper with 43 seconds left.
The Falcons only victory under Smith came on Sept. 26, 2010 when they pulled off a 27-24 victory in overtime. After Saints kicker Garrett Hartley missed a 29-yard field wide left, the Falcons, behind some power running by Michael Turner and Jason Snelling, drove down the field from the 10-yard line to get in position for Matt Bryant’s 46-yard game-winning field goal.
Five of the battles have been close, but the Saints did thrash the Falcons 45-16 on Dec. 26, 2011 and were accused of running up the score while trying to help quarterback Drew Brees get a passing record.
“We’ve talked about it for years,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “It’s hard to win on the road in this league, but we’ve gone down there and done it before, and that’s our intention to go down there and do it again.”
The Falcons control their own fate. If they can beat the Saints in the Superdome and win at home against Carolina, they will claim the NFC South title.
“If we win two games, then we’re in,” wide receiver Harry Douglas said. “There’s no better way to end the season by starting it off in New Orleans.”
Despite their record, the Falcons seem to relish playing at the Superdome.
“There’s no better way to set it up than to go down to New Orleans,” Douglas said. “You know it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
The Falcons haven’t been consistent this season as the offense has sputtered about and the defense has given up massive real estate. The defense remains ranked last in the league.
The Falcons have been able to cobble together two consecutive wins just once this season. They beat Tampa Bay and Carolina over Week 10 and 11. They will take a two-game losing streak into the Superdome.
Ryan believes that morale is high despite their losing record.
“We’ve got a good locker room,” Ryan said. “We all know where we’re at. We all understand the situation and we’ve got to go do our best.”
The Falcons have been rallying around going 1-0 each week. If they don’t achieve that goal this week, they can start getting ready for the offseason.
“We can’t really afford any more setbacks,” left guard Justin Blalock said. “We’ve had these comebacks that make you feel good about the game, but there can’t be any more moral victories from here on out.”
It’s ironic that last season’s loss to the Saints ended in the red zone. The Falcons were 1 of 5 in the red zone against Arizona on Nov. 30 and were 2 of 4 against Pittsburgh on Sunday.
“At this point in the season, you’re going to face offenses that are going to put up points,” running back Steven Jackson said. “We want to be 100 percent in the red zone. We want to put seven up and not three.
“In these times, you have to be able to give your defense a break. You’ve got to be able to put up points because these quarterbacks we are going against are pretty good.”
Douglas has a different approach on the red zone.
“We always preach touchdowns in the green zone,” Douglas said. “In my mind, it’s the green zone. It’s go time. It’s time to punch the ball in the endzone.”
If they don’t, the Superdome could be the site of another loss.
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