Week 4 ends in New Orleans on Monday night with an NFC South meeting that already has plenty of juice built in. The Falcons arrive rested after not playing since last Thursday’s 35-14 win over the Packers, while the Saints come in at 1-2 and still searching for a cleaner performance on defense.
Atlanta’s win over Green Bay was more than just its first of the season. It also marked quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s return after he tore his ACL in 2025, and he looked sharp in his first game back. The 26-year-old completed 72% of his passes for 256 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, averaging 10.2 yards per attempt.
New Orleans, meanwhile, has put together one of the league’s best passing attacks through three weeks, but the other side of the ball has dragged them down. The Saints are allowing 27.7 points per game and have forced only three turnovers.
A big reason the Saints’ passing game has been humming is the connection between Tyler Shough and Chris Olave. Heading into Week 4, Olave was tied for first in the NFL with 27 catches and ranked second in receiving yards with 375, behind only Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has 405.
“Every single rep, him and I are getting closer and closer from a chemistry standpoint,” Shough said this week on his growing on-field relationship with Olave. “...
I have full trust in him. I think he’s the best in the league.
So I’ve got to do my job to make sure he’s getting the ball and make sure I’m protecting him.”
That kind of usage points to another big night for Olave, and it’s easy to see him pushing past 150 receiving yards for the third time this season.
The Falcons have their own receiver who looks ready to explode. Drake London broke out in Penix’s debut, going for a career-high 194 yards on nine catches against the Packers. That performance was his third career prime-time game with at least 150 receiving yards, tying Julio Jones for the most in Falcons franchise history.
The one thing missing from London’s start to the season has been a touchdown. He’s been held out of the end zone through Atlanta’s first three games, but the chemistry he’s built with Penix suggests that streak may not last much longer. Through 15 games with Penix starting, London has 100 catches for 1,480 yards and nine touchdowns.
Monday also carries a special weight in New Orleans. It marks the unofficial 20th anniversary of The Domecoming, the Saints’ first game back at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. That night featured a first-quarter Steve Gleason blocked punt that lit up the crowd before the Saints beat the Falcons 23-3.
With that backdrop, the atmosphere inside the Superdome is likely to be charged again. And if the Saints feed off it the way they did two decades ago, they could be in position to deliver another memorable result.
So the call here is a Saints win by the same 20-point margin as The Domecoming, with New Orleans taking it 30-10 to move to 2-2.
In Other News...
Joe Horn Opens Up About The Saints Moment New Orleans Needed Most
When the Saints finally walked back into the Superdome for that 2006 Monday night game against Atlanta, it was bigger than football. For Joe Horn, who was one of the franchises defining voices at the time, the return carried the weight of a city trying to find its footing again after Hurricane Katrina. It was the kind of night that reminded New Orleans what the team meant, and what the team could mean for the community beyond wins and losses.
Horn has spoken candidly about how strongly he felt the Saints needed to be back in New Orleans, helping give the city something to rally around when it mattered most. The game itself became a turning point in the rebuilding story, with the Saints beating the Falcons and setting the stage for a stretch that eventually turned the franchise into one of the NFLs better teams, capped by the Super Bowl title in 2009. [Read more 🡒]
Saints First-Round WR Return Timeline Just Got More Complicated
Jordyn Tysons path back onto the field has already stretched longer than the Saints likely wanted when the first-round wide receiver went down with a hamstring injury in camp. He is making progress, but the current expectation is that he remains weeks away from game action after initially being projected to miss around two months.
The return picture now points at at least Week 7, with a later comeback in Week 9 also in play because of scheduling considerations. For New Orleans, it leaves Tyson as a player to keep tracking rather than counting on just yet, especially with the team trying to map out how soon its top rookie receiver can realistically be part of the offense. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Get An Early Chance To Change A Familiar Falcons Problem
The Saints get another crack at a problem that has lingered for years when Atlanta comes to town, and this one arrives with a little extra weight attached to it. New Orleans is still sorting through its own identity, but the matchup also comes against a Falcons team quarterbacked by Michael Penix Jr., while the Saints are expected to turn to Tyler Shough, giving the meeting a fresh layer beyond the usual NFC South friction.
It is the kind of game that can tell the Saints a lot about where they are headed and whether some of the old frustrations against Atlanta are starting to fade. The timing adds to the mood, too, with this week marking the 20th anniversary of the Saints' return to the Superdome, a reminder of how often this franchise has used the building as a backdrop for turning points and trying to reset familiar narratives. [Read more 🡒]