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They were displaced to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for a month at
the start of the season and had to move their opener from the
Caesars Superdome to Jacksonville because of damage Hurricane
Ida did to New Orleans.
Star wide receiver Michael Thomas has missed the entire season
because of foot surgery, starting quarterback Jameis Winston was
lost for the season in October because of a knee injury and more
than a half dozen other key players have missed significant time
due to injury.
Head coach Sean Payton, several assistants and about two dozen
players have missed games because of multiple COVID-19 surges.
Yet despite all that, the Saints (8-8) head into the
regular-season finale at Atlanta (7-9) on Sunday with an
opportunity to earn a wild-card playoff berth. If they beat the
Falcons and the Rams beat the 49ers on Sunday, the Saints are
in.
"We have managed to keep our head above water, keep grinding,
and keep fighting," said Payton, whose team has won three of its
last four after a five-game losing streak. "The number one goal,
outside of winning the division, is making it to the postseason.
"We have the opportunity to do that this weekend, and you just
want to find a way to get into the tournament."
The Saints stayed alive in the playoff race with an 18-10 home
victory against Carolina last Sunday.
Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who has missed the last seven games
because of a knee injury, returned to practice on a limited
basis Wednesday after being removed from the reserve/COVID list.
Right tackle Terron Armstead (knee) and defensive end Marcus
Davenport (ankle) missed practice.
"When you go all the way back to the start of the season,"
Payton said, "it feels like two and a half years ago we were
evacuating to Dallas during the hurricane. It doesn't feel like
that's part of this season."
The five-game losing streak began with a 27-25 loss to the
Falcons on Nov. 7 in the Superdome.
Atlanta stayed alive in the playoff race until a 29-15 loss at
Buffalo last Sunday.
"Obviously we wanted to get into these playoffs," Falcons
first-year coach Arthur Smith said. "We didn't. So we've got to
deal with reality and we've got to finish this season strong."
The Saints and the Falcons are each other's most frequent
opponents, having met 104 times.
"You need division rivalries," Smith said. "You want people to
be excited about a game."
Matt Ryan passed for a season-high 343 yards and two touchdowns
in the first meeting. He also ran for a touchdown and the
Falcons prevailed on Younghoe Koo's 29-yard field goal as time
expired.
"It's always disappointing when you don't have the opportunity
to get into the playoffs and keep going," Ryan said. "But we
still have one more opportunity to go out there and try and play
as well as we can against a division opponent, a good rival
who's playing for a lot."
The Falcons have dealt with COVID issues of late as well. At one
point they had 13 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but
they're down to three after activating six this week.
Kyle Pitts is the second rookie tight end in NFL history to have
1,000 receiving yards. He needs 59 more against the Saints to
break Mike Ditka's NFL record of 1,076, but he missed practice
Wednesday because of a hamstring injury that sidelined him
during the game in Buffalo.
--Field Level Media
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