I was dreading the first game in this little series, and it turned out to be the most joyous game imaginable. I’m dreading this one, too, and hoping my expectations will be upended yet again.
Let’s set the stakes here: There are none for the Falcons besides pride and not making us unhappy on a national holiday. That pride is a big deal, though, for a team that was building a little something with wins over the Saints and Panthers, only to fall embarrassingly flat against the Buccaneers. With the Saints coming to town and promising they won’t lose this time, Atlanta has a chance to play spoiler again and put one more point of pride forward for the year.