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Falcons host Saints in NFC South rivalry with playoff implications on NBC's 'Thursday Night Football'

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Tue, Dec 5th 2017 02:25 pm
NBC's "Thursday Night Football" features an NFC South rivalry with playoff implications, as Drew Brees and the division-leading Saints (9-3) travel to Atlanta to face Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons (7-5) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. ET with "Football Night in Atlanta" on NBC.
"Thursday Night Football" will also be televised by NFL Network, and streamed live on Amazon Prime Video, NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app, NFL Mobile from Verizon, Watch NFL Network, the NFL app on Microsoft, and NFL Game Pass (International).
The Saints are in the No. 4 position in the NFC Playoff picture following a win over the Panthers (8-4) on Sunday, and look to maintain first place in the NFC South. Despite a loss to the Vikings (10-2) on Sunday, the Falcons remain in the hunt for a playoff berth. Atlanta is currently the No. 7 seed, only one game behind division rival Carolina, and will face every NFC South opponent over the season's final four weeks.
New Orleans improved to 9-3 with a 31-21 win over Carolina, as Brees completed 25-of-34 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown. With the performance, Brees (6,127) surpassed Peyton Manning (6,125) for the second-most completions in NFL history. Rookie RB Alvin Kamara totaled 126 scrimmage yards - 66 receiving and 60 rushing - in the victory. For the season, Kamara has amassed 614 receiving yards and 606 rushing yards, and is just the third rookie in NFL history to record at least 600 rushing and receiving yards (Hall of Famer Charley Taylor and Billy Sims).
The Falcons boast the eighth-best offense in the league (365.2 yards per game), led by Ryan, whose 3,057 passing yards rank ninth among all quarterbacks. Against the Buccaneers on Nov. 26, WR Julio Jones had 12 catches for 253 yards - becoming the only player in NFL history with multiple 250-yard receiving games.
Calling Saints-Falcons are Mike Tirico (play-by-play) and 16-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, joined by sideline reporter Heather Cox.
Liam McHugh will serve as the host of the "Football Night in Atlanta" pregame show from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. He will be joined on-site by Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy and two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison.

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