'Have Our Hands Full!' Falcons QB Taylor Heinicke Preparing for Stout Saints Defense

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke is preparing to face a strong New Orleans Saints defense on Sunday.

The Atlanta Falcons are attempting to keep their playoff hopes alive on Sunday when they travel to face the New Orleans Saints, and they will have their hands full with a talented defense in NOLA.

Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke was made available to the media this week where he discussed the challenges that the Saints defense will present when they square off in Week 18.

Dec 31, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke (4) drops back to pass against the Chicago Bears during the first half at Soldier Field / Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

"It's a good defense," Heinicke said. "Those two guys at linebacker, they've been together for a good number of years now. Cameron Jordan's a good player, you've got [Carl] Granderson at the other end, he's a really good player. 

"They've got some vets in the back, they have Tyrann Mathieu, some good corners. Again, we're going to have our hands full offensively, hopefully, we can just do the same things that we did in the previous go around."

The Saints defense ranks sixth in the league in scoring defense, but teams have been able to execute in the run game against them this season. That's something that Heinicke is preparing for, calling the unit a "bend but don't break" defense.

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"You see that with a number of teams on defense, they're bend don't break on defense, and we tried to call it," Heinicke said. "They're going to give up yards, but when you get in the red zone, they're going to make it really hard to score six, and any defense will say, ‘We'll give up 400 yards, but if you're kicking field goals, that's fine.’ 

"That's going to be the challenge. Hopefully we can move the ball, but when we get in the red zone, we've got to be able to punch it in."

The Falcons are still alive in a race for the NFC South title, and kickoff on Sunday is set for 1 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CBS.