THE Atlanta Falcons went to the Big Easy this weekend knowing that the New Orleans Saints were going to be a dangerous opponent. They had just been embarrassed by the Carolina Panthers and fired their coach.

Think back to 2000 season when the Falcons started 0-5 and fired Dan Quinn. Raheem Morris took over and the Falcons quickly hung 40 on the Vikings en route to a three-of-four victory after Quinn was removed.

However, the The Falcons dominated the Saints in virtually every metric except the scoreboard.. Their inability to turn red zone trips into touchdowns and Younghoe Koo’s inability to turn his field goal attempts into points ultimately doomed them in the 20-17 loss.

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Atlanta fell to 6-4 but still holds a 2.5 game lead in the NFC South as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost to the San Francisco 49ers, falling to 4-6. However, looking at the rest of the NFL landscape, ESPN hit the Falcons in their Week 11 NFL Power Rankingsmoving them from No. 10 to No. 14.

Their four-spot drop was tied with the New York Giants for the biggest drop of the week. The Giants fell from No. 27 to No. 31 at the bottom of the table. This was the second straight time that ESPN gave up on the Falcons the most in the week of a loss, with their last loss coming against the Seattle Seahawks.

ESPN’s theme of the week in its power rankings, rather than justifying its picks, was naming a non-quarterback MVP for each team. The Falcons beat writer Marc Raimondi and made a likely unanimous pick for Atlanta.

Run back Bijan Robinson,” Raimondi wrote. “No sophomore slump here. Instead, Robinson has become one of the most talented running backs in the NFL. He’s fourth in the league in all-purpose yards (1,079) and fifth in rushing yards (748) despite giving up 35% of the team’s carries to Tyler Allgeier. Robinson played a big role in the passing game, with the second-most yards after the catch (413) among running backs. Atlanta gambled that a running back would take the No. 8 spot in 2023, but the 22-year-old is already a potential franchise player.”

The Falcons will travel to Denver on Sunday to face a surprising 5-5 Broncos team. The Broncos rank just behind the Falcons at 15th in the power rankings, but are currently 1.5-point favorites to open the week.

The Broncos, like the Falcons, were victims of the running game on Sunday. The Kansas City Chiefs summoned another guardian angel and blocked a 35-yard field goal at the end of regulation to remain undefeated and escape with a 16-14 victory.

THE Broncos play spectacular defense under Vance Joseph. He trusts his secondary, including the game’s best cornerback Pat Surtain, and puts pressure on the quarterback. THE The Broncos have 35 sacks this seasonwhile the Falcons would need a nearly 50% increase in sacks just to move out of last place (Atlanta has 9, Carolina has 12).

Beginner Bo Nix has played well in recent weeks, and without the threat of a big play, the Broncos offense is content to methodically prepare for practice. The Falcons have generally conceded the running game and underneath passes to avoid giving up big plays, but they will need to dedicate more bodies to the line of scrimmage to beat the Broncos.

Sean Payton and Nix will be perfectly happy to play 14 8-minute games and turn the game over to their defense. Atlanta could count on the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys to make mistakes while sitting in their soft zone.

If they want to stay above the Denver Broncos in the power rankings, they will not be able to play passive defense.

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