The road to last season's Super Bowl went through the NFC South. The Atlanta Falcons see no reason to deviate from that path.
Atlanta can wrap up the No. 1 overall seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs Monday night when it hosts defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans.
The Falcons (12-2) enter the game on an eight-game winning streak and hold a two-game division lead over the Saints (10-4) as well as a two-game cushion over Philadelphia for the best record in the NFC.
The deck appears to be stacked in favor of Atlanta, which is 6-0 at home this season and needs either a victory Sunday or next week against visiting Carolina (2-13) to secure the No. 1 seed.
The Falcons are gunning for a season sweep of the Saints, having won in New Orleans 27-24 in Week 3.
New Orleans also has postseason implications, needing one victory or a loss by Tampa Bay to wrap up a wild card berth for the playoffs.
The Saints are the last team to take down the Falcons at the Georgia Dome, beating the Falcons 26-23 on Dec. 13, 2009, en route to the first Super Bowl championship in franchise history.
The Falcons can point to a pair of huge excuses for that loss, having played without quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner.
Ryan is 19-1 at home in his career and has won his last 15 consecutive starts at the Georgia Dome. He threw for 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Week 3 matchup with New Orleans.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 draft, Ryan matched a career high with three scoring passes in last week's 31-10 romp at Carolina. He has 25 touchdown passes against only nine interceptions and can eclipse his previous season high with 120 yards passing Sunday.
Turner is coming off a three-touchdown, 112-yard performance against the Panthers. It was his sixth 100-yard game - including one vs. New Orleans - of the season and gave him 1,256 yards and 11 TDs.
The Saints' defense also will have to contend with Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, who leads the NFL with 106 receptions and 1,284 yards. He also has eight touchdown receptions, including one against New Orleans in Week 3.
Matching Atlanta’s firepower is not a problem for the Saints, who had a six-game winning streak snapped in last week’s 30-24 loss at Baltimore.
New Orleans, which had scored at least 30 points in five straight games prior to the defeat, was limited to just 27 yards on the ground by the Ravens. Leading rusher Christopher Ivory sat out the game with an injury but hopes to play Monday.
Drew Brees threw for three touchdowns and 267 yards against Baltimore to match Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning as the only NFL quarterbacks to surpass 4,000 yards in five straight seasons.
Marques Colston has five scoring receptions in the past five games and went over 1,000 yards for the fourth time in fifth seasons for New Orleans, which has won seven of the last nine meetings with Atlanta.