Best Bet FALCONS at SAINTS Time: Noon. Line: Falcons by 31⁄2. Total: 461⁄2.
Records (overall/ATS): Falcons 6-3/5-4; Saints 2-7/3-6. Not getting the Bears’ offensive coordinator job looked like the best thing to happen to Klint Kubiak. The son of Broncos Super Bowl-winning coach Gary Kubiak landed with the Saints under Dennis Allen.
Instead of mentoring Caleb Wiliams, he was paired with veteran quarterback Derek Carr. For two games it was a thing of beauty. The Saints’ offense with Carr and running back Alvin Kamara, was an unstoppable machine in dominant wins against the Panthers (47-10) and Cowboys (44-19).
The Saints scored on their first nine possessions against the Panthers (five touchdowns, four field goals). They topped that by scoring touchdowns on their first six possessions against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Week 2. The rout of the 1-0 Cowboys looked especially impressive at the time against a team that went 12-5 and was fifth in scoring defense last season.
The Cowboys haven’t been the same since getting cold-cocked by the Saints — losing four of six games to fall to 3-5. The Saints’ 91 points against the Panthers and Cowboys were the most in the first two weeks of an NFL season since 2009, when Sean Payton’s Saints scored 93 points in victories over the Lions (45-27) and Eagles (48-22) on their way to winning the Super Bowl. But that meteoric rise burned out quickly.
Carr and the Saints were stymied by Vic Fangio and the Eagles in a 15-12 loss t.