Chris Olave has been on a tear this year. He and Tyler Shough are both near the top of the league in yards, and there’s no reason to believe the New Orleans Saints duo will slow down against the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons enter this week with a bottom-five pass defense in the NFL.
Comparatively, the Saints played the Las Vegas Raiders a week ago. They have the 9th ranked pass defense in the league, and Olave still found success. It may not have been the 182 yards he had against the Lions, but he still crossed the century mark with 107 yards.
The thing is the Falcons are much closer to the Lions than they are Raiders. Detroit is the worst pass defense in the NFL, and the Falcons are 29th. They also just put A.J. Terrell on injured reserve, so they'll have to stop Olave without their best cornerback.
Saints' clear mission should be exploiting the Falcons' through the air
C.J. Henderson had a good performance on Thursday Night Football against the Packers, but that hasn't been his history in the league. Henderson has bounced around, and New Orleans should force him to prove last week wasn't a flash in the pan.
Shough has shown that when he gets rolling, he can sling it all over the field. He's done it in each of the first three games, though we still need to see it for four full quarters. Olave has been his most frequent target.
Together the pair has been electric, especially in the big moments. Plays like Olave's two 40 yard receptions were a critical moments in the comeback rally in Week 1, and he scored the game tying touchdown versus the Ravens.
It doesn't have to be Olave doing the damage either. The Saints have Devaughn Vele and tight ends Juwan Johnson and Noah Fant as quality players underneath.
It's so many options that Shough has at his disposal that there's no reason not to lean on the passing attack. It's been critical to their success in the first three weeks, and it'll be the key to victory over the Falcons.
Obviously, the other option is for the Saints to run the football. The Saints just lost Travis Etienne Jr., and they haven't been consistent running the football when at full strength. The Falcons have the best run defense in the league.
Teams haven't ran against the Falcons often, but when they have, the Falcons have been stiff. They've allowed only 2.9 yards per carry, and they're one of a few teams that haven't allowed any rushes 20+ yard rushes.
The combination of a Falcons strength against a Saints weakness versus the combination of a Saints strength against a Falcons weakness. The choice doesn't seem that complicated.
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