The last time we saw the Saints, the Falcons rivals embarrassed them in the season finale. Let’s revisit.
Derek Carr was out of the game by this point as New Orleans continued to pile on Atlanta in front of their home fans. Backup quarterback Jameis Winston was in the game with an opportunity to ice the game inside of Atlanta’s 5-yard line.
While in victory formation, instead of taking a knee, Winston called an audible in the huddle, giving the ball to Jamaal Williams to score his first touchdown of the season. It was wildly disrespectful, but in a rivalry game, it wasn’t necessarily egregious. What a lot of Falcons fans had an issue with, other than being embarrassed, was how dangerous it was.
Typically, when an offense assumes victory formation, the defense will not come off the ball. The Falcons defensive line, unaware of the Saints’ intentions, could’ve been seriously injured as New Orleans fired off the ball.
Thankfully, nothing bad happened, but Falcons fans still remember that moment. Unfortunately, it seems the Falcons, as a team, are wasting an opportunity. Raheem Morris isn’t going to lean on last season to try to motivate his team.
“I don’t go with motivation that I wasn’t a part of,” Morris said. “If you need any more motivation than playing against a division rival for the South, that you’ve got the pen in your hand to be able to write your own story, then you’re probably in the wrong building anyway.”
I understand Morris not using last year, a team he wasn’t a part of, as a motivating tactic. And to a certain degree, if a Falcons player can’t get up for this kind of game, that’s a problem. However, it’s still a missed opportunity, and those involved in last season’s embarrassment aren’t capitalizing on it either.
Bijan Robinson said the players haven’t been “speaking on it” when asked about the Saints running up the score last year. The greatest teams and competitors find the smallest thing to drive them. Tom Brady is the perfect example.
The Falcons should be using the Saints running up the score as a motivating factor.
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Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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