Mission: Stop ground game

The Falcons’ run defense is coming off two strong performances, in which the team held the Eagles (92 yards) and the Cowboys (65 yards) to under 100 yards rushing.

The Falcons have climbed from 28th against the run to 24th, and the continued improvement of second-year middle linebacker Akeem Dent is a factor.

“I thought Akeem played a good game (against Dallas),” Falcons defensive coordina- tor Mike Nolan said. “He did a nice job. The atmosphere of a Sunday night, Dallas Cowboys, lots of noise, (but) a lot going on didn’t disrupt him. He was very much into the game. I was really pleased. His (position) coach, Glenn Pires, said the same thing.”

The Saints will try to unleash their three-headed running back monster of Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory and Mark Ingram. In their win over the Eagles on Monday night, the Saints had 25 rushes and 27 pass attempts.

Ivory, who was wasting away on the bench over the first seven games, had 10 rushes for 48 yards and a touchdown. Ingram had seven rushes for 44 yards and Pierre Thomas had six for 44 yards.

“They bring some uniqueness to the table,” Saints interim coach Joe Vitt said. “While they are all productive and kind of the same, they all have a little niche. So moving forward, we just have to make sure that we keep them involved in the offense.”

Some contend that Ingram, the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner and a firstround pick (28th overall), has been a disappointment.