Atlanta Falcons: 3 Bold predictions in Week 11 vs. Saints

2. Atlanta’s run game will struggle, forcing it to air it out

One area of the Falcons offense that has been somewhat subpar so far during the 2020 season has been their running game and trying to balance that aspect of the offense to counter the high-powered passing attack led by quarterback Matt Ryan and company.

On Sunday afternoon on the road in New Orleans, Atlanta’s run game will struggle yet again against a solid run defense on the side of the Saints, which will result in the Falcons turning to air the ball out through the passing attack.

Entering Week 11, Atlanta has tallied 961 yards on the ground, which ranks 12th-lowest in the NFL. On a total of 260 rush attempts, the Falcons are averaging just 3.7 yards per carry although they have managed to get into the endzone 11 times on the ground.

On the other side of the field, New Orleans has arguably the best run defense in the league through the midway point in the season. Going into Sunday’s game, the Saints have given up an NFL-low 691 yards on the ground, which is nearly 80 less than any other defense in the league.

Teams have also run the ball just 208 times against New Orleans, which is the second-lowest total in the NFL. The Saints defense has given up an average of 3.3 yards per carry and five touchdowns via the run.

Oftentimes, Atlanta tends to air the ball out during the course of the game anyway. But a mix of the struggles on the ground while facing a top-notch run defense on the other end of the field will result in Ryan and company getting a large number of plays in the passing game.