The New Orleans Saints have the chance to take the all-time series lead over the Atlanta Falcons when the two teams face off on Sunday. As good as it will feel to say you lead the series against a heated rival, the game has more important impacts to the current season.
A victory would put the Saints up two games over the Falcons and they’d have the early tiebreaker. Week 4 may be a little early to be speaking about tiebreakers, but the Saints will have played two divisional games already by the end of the week.
It’s not too early to start calculating what a victory would mean from that perspective. A victory would keep Atlanta from winning the divisional series outright and give you the chance to complete a sweep at home later in the season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also have a tough game against the Philadelphia Eagles. A Saints win plus Tampa Bay loss would leave New Orleans all alone a the top of the division and end the streak of the Saints and Buccaneers mirroring outcomes.
A loss to Atlanta would drop the Saints to second at best in the division. New Orleans and the Falcons would have the same record with Atlanta holding the head to head victory. The Saints would have to then ensure they came down with the victory against the Falcons in Week 10 to avoid the season sweep.
