The Falcons will have to chase a division win without getting the reunion they were set up to see.
New Orleans linebacker Kaden Elliss has been ruled out for Monday night’s Week 4 NFC South matchup because of a calf injury, wiping away a key matchup against the team he called home for the previous three seasons. Elliss was announced as out last Friday, Oct. 2, three days before the game.
That absence matters because Elliss knows Atlanta as well as just about anyone in the Saints’ building. He played for the Falcons from 2023 through 2025, piled up 380 tackles in that stretch, and led the team in tackles in both 2024 and 2025. He returned to New Orleans in March on a three-year, $33 million deal after the Saints drafted him in the seventh round out of Idaho in 2019.
His role in this one would have been obvious. Elliss was expected to be a major piece of the Saints’ answer for Bijan Robinson, who enters Week 4 with an NFL-best 467 scrimmage yards and just earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week after Atlanta’s 35-14 win over the Green Bay Packers. With Elliss out, New Orleans will likely lean on reserve inside linebackers Danny Stutsman and Isaiah Stalbird to help patch the middle.
The Saints’ injury list does not stop there. Edge rushers Carl Granderson and Anfernee Jennings are also out.
Granderson has 11 tackles and a sack this season, while Jennings has seven tackles and a forced fumble. Linebacker Pete Werner is questionable with a shoulder injury, which leaves New Orleans thin in the exact spots it needs the most help against Robinson and Atlanta’s run game.
Atlanta has some uncertainty at linebacker too. Divine Deablo is questionable with a hamstring, and that could open the door for rookie Harold Perkins Jr. to pick up more snaps. Perkins has already seen work in passing situations, and his speed could become useful against Saints quarterback Tyler Shough when he starts to scramble.
The Falcons and Saints have met 114 times since the 1967 season, with Atlanta holding a 58-56 edge in the series.
Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. Eastern at Caesars Superdome on ESPN, in a game that will also mark 20 years of the Saints’ “Domecoming” celebration after their return to the Superdome following Hurricane Katrina.
In Other News...
Michael Penix Jr. Just Raised The Stakes For Falcons Vs Saints
Michael Penix Jr. is walking into one of the biggest spots of his young Falcons career, and he is not treating Monday nights trip to New Orleans like just another divisional game. Fresh off returning from an ACL injury, the quarterback is set to start against the Saints in a matchup that carries real weight for Atlantas NFC South hopes, with the Falcons still trying to establish themselves in the division race.
The setting only adds to the pressure. The game also lands on the 20th anniversary of the Saints first game back at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, giving the night an extra layer of emotion and attention. Penixs recent critical remark about New Orleans has already sharpened the edge of the matchup, and now he has to back it up in one of the leagues more charged road environments. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Fans Remember The Steve Gleason Play For A Different Reason
Two decades later, Steve Gleasons blocked punt still looms large over the Saints return to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, a snapshot that became bigger than the play itself and a symbol of recovery for a city and a franchise. For Falcons fans, it remains one of those moments that lives on for more than the football, a reminder of how one snap can take on a meaning nobody could have scripted.
Gleasons story did not stop there, of course. After his ALS diagnosis in 2011, he turned the visibility from that night into something far more lasting, becoming one of the sports most recognizable advocates for ALS awareness while continuing to share his life publicly. He now has an album, titled "Rebirth," on the way, drawn from the years since his diagnosis, and he has said that the blocked punt ended up giving him a platform that proved important in a fight much bigger than football. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Face A Saints Problem Fantasy Players Already See
Monday nights meeting between the Falcons and Saints has plenty of real football tension, but fantasy managers are looking at it through a different lens. Alvin Kamaras role has become even more interesting with Travis Etienne Jr. out injured, while Bijan Robinson remains the obvious focal point for Atlanta in a matchup that should keep both backfields busy. Around them, the lineup conversation stretches into the passing game, where Chris Olave and other skill players are being weighed as potential starts in a game that could turn into a slate-breaker for the right reasons.
There is still some uncertainty baked into the setup, though, which is part of what makes this one tricky for fantasy players. Tyler Shough is in the mix as a possible factor, and Fant is listed as questionable, leaving one more name for managers to monitor before kickoff. Even the game odds could move, which only adds to the sense that this one may not settle into a clean script until the action actually starts. [Read more 🡒]