What Do the Atlanta Falcons Think of Saints RB Alvin Kamara?
The Atlanta Falcons take on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. With the quarterback situation in flux with the loss of Jamies Winston to injury, running back Alvin Kamara is likely to be an even bigger part of the Saints offense.
Kamara has been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons in the NFL, and the Norcross, Ga. native is on pace for a fifth trip in 2020.
Kamara is an x-factor weapon out of the backfield that the Falcons are using Cordarrelle Patterson to replicate. While his rushing touchdowns are down so far this year with just two in seven games, he's on pace for a career-high in touchdown receptions. He has four touchdown catches against a career-high of five, a feat he accomplished in 2017 and 2020.
Falcons defense coordinator Dean Pees considers Kamara to be among the elite players he's faced in his career. When asked how to handle Kamara, Pees liked the terminology, because he admits stopping him is a tall order.
"It's kind of like when you say 'How do you stop Tom Brady?' There are special guys that are just special, special guys," said Pees. "Whether it be running back. Whether it be a tight end type guy, Tony Gonzalez when he played."
"There's always these guys that are just a notch above seems like everybody."
"'Handle' is probably a good work. Look, it's hard to stop them. What you've got to do is control them. Just don't let the guys get loose on you, take you for forty yards, thirty yards."
"Is he gonna get open probably against anybody that you put on him? Yeah, we just gotta be there to tackle him and not give up the big play. There's just guys like that."
"We gotta control him."
Pees recalled playing against Gonzalez, a former Falcon and Hall of Fame tight end.
"We had a call called 'triple', we had one guy hit him at the line and two guys covering him," said Pees with a laugh.
Asked how the coverage worked against Gonzalez, Pees said it went well.
"Good. Good, now the other guys were open all the time," said Pees with a big laugh."
The Falcons have done a decent job of holding Kamara in check in the past for the most part. In two games last season, both Saints wins, Kamara rushed 28 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns, but only had two catches for nine yards, including being shutout in their first meeting.
Atlanta enters the game a six-point underdog to the Saints despite losing Winston last week to an ACL tear. "Handling" Kamara will go a long way to the Falcons getting an upset in New Orleans on Sunday.
