ATLANTA — The New Orleans Saints looked dominant the first two weeks of the season.
Then, a jarring dose of reality.
As for the Atlanta Falcons, they're still trying to establish an identity.
The NFC South rivals meet Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in a game that poses more questions than answers.
Which Saints (2-1) are going to show up? The team that blew out Carolina and Dallas by a combined score of 91-29? Or the team that struggled offensively and gave up two fourth-quarter touchdowns a week ago in a loss to the Eagles?
Which Falcons (1-2) are going to show up? The team that lost at home to both Pittsburgh and Kansas City? Or the team that pulled off a gritty win at Philadelphia with a last-minute drive that was downright perfection?
Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins struggled to cope with a 22-17 loss to the two-time reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who twice stopped the Falcons on fourth down inside the red zone in the closing minutes.
“I was pretty sick to my stomach walking off the field,” Cousins said. But, he quickly added, “This is all stuff that you go back, you talk about it, you resolve it and you’ll be better the next week.”
His New Orleans counterpart, Derek Carr, insisted that his team's true nature showed in the first two games.
“Hopefully, when you get into a good building like we have here, you’re always just trying to find answers,” he said. “We have those answers. We have those things that we’re holding onto.”
Center of attention
Keep an eye on the guys handling the snaps for both teams.
The Saints took a major hit when Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy sustained a groin injury against the Eagles that required surgery. He is expected to be sidelined at least six weeks.
Lucas Patrick shifted from left guard to center after McCoy was hurt. Another option is Shane Lemieux, who was added to the active roster from the practice squad
Atlanta also lost its starting center last week.
Drew Dalman went out in the second quarter of the loss to the Chiefs with a high ankle sprain, landing him on injured reserve. Ryan Neuzil will handle the starting job while Dalman is out.
“There’s a lot that goes into that position," Falcons coach Raheem Morris said.
Running up the score
The Falcons may still be a bit salty about the way last season's final game played out.
With a comfortable lead and backup quarterback Jameis Winston on for mop-up duty, the Saints pushed across a touchdown with 1:10 remaining after lining up like they were taking a knee in the victory formation.
Winston said the team wanted to get running back Jamaal Williams his first TD of the season. Allen's attempts to apologize after the 48-17 victory were spurned by then-Falcons coach Arthur Smith, who was fired after the team got back to Atlanta.
Williams, who is backing up Alvin Kamara, called it no big deal.
“It’ll be forgotten soon," Williams said. "It’s just something you think about like, ‘Oh, yeah, remember that?’ And then you forget about it again. That’s how I feel like my touchdown should be. ... It’s just a football play.”
Morris, the new Atlanta coach, said he wasn't planning to use last season’s game to fire up his team.
“I don’t go with motivation that I wasn’t a part of,” he said. “If you need any more motivation than playing against a division rival for the South, that you’ve got the pen in your hand to be able to write your own story, then you’re probably in the wrong building anyway.”
Copycat league
The Saints figure they better be ready to see more of what Philadelphia’s defense did so well to slow down New Orleans running game.
The Eagles had six players on the line of scrimmage and one linebacker pursuing the ball carrier. They limited the Saints to 89 yards rushing after New Orleans had gone for 180 yards on the ground in Week 1 against Carolina and 190 in Week 2 at Dallas.
“It’s a copycat league,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said. “Any time we see something that gives us problems, we can guarantee we’re going to see something similar."
Complementing Cousins
Allen sees Atlanta running an offensive scheme that fits its new quarterback Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million deal in free agency.
“This scheme fits what he likes to do — all the things he’s really done over the past few years that he’s had so much success with,” said Allen, who designs and calls the New Orleans defense. “He does some good stuff at line of scrimmage in terms of getting them in the right plays.”
Allen has noticed the Falcons running a series of plays with a relatively quick tempo, while at other times providing the “illusion of tempo” by getting up to the line of scrimmage quickly but “really just trying to gather information and see what you’re doing.”
Bitter rivals
These teams have been bitter rivals since the Saints entered the league as an expansion team in 1967, one year after the launch of the Falcons.
As of the 1970 merger, they have been in in the same division and met twice each year — 110 times in all.
The series can't get any closer. Each team has 55 wins.
“Every parent and every kid knows what week it is. It’s Falcons week," Carr said. "It’s a big deal, definitely a big deal.”
(AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed to this report.)
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