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| Akeim Hicks (sacking Ryan) and John Jenkins were a big part of a defensive line that was in Matt Ryan's face for the better part of Thursday night. |
Cory Puffett
A game of inconsistency on both sides; that’s the best way I
came up to explain this game in one statement.
There were plays when Atlanta’s defense played great. On
other plays, it was just poor play calling or poor execution by the Saints’
offense.
New Orleans’ defense played pretty well for the most part,
but it didn’t always feel that way, especially early in the game. The Falcons
scored on each of their first three drives, combining for 31 plays, 190 yards
and 13 points.
They almost scored again late in the fourth quarter, but in
a rare case of successful icing, Sean Payton called a timeout before Matt
Bryant made a 52-yard field goal. After the timeout, Bryant missed his kick
wide left.
With the exception of that drive, the Saints played great
defense after giving up those 13 points to Atlanta, putting a lot of pretty on
Matt Ryan in the pocket and forcing a turnover on one promising Atlanta drive.
As for the Saints’ low score, it’s as I said above. It was a
mix of some poor offensive plays by New Orleans and some great defensive plays
by Atlanta, though rarely on the same play; if you follow that, kudos.
Despite both quarterbacks seeming to struggle at times,
their stats don’t reflect it. Several of Drew Brees’s passes appeared to be
nearly intercepted, but he completed 23 of 33 passes for 278 yards and a pair
of touchdowns.
Matt Ryan completed 30 of 39 passes for 297 yards. The only
turnover of the day was a fumble by rookie Atlanta wide receiver Darius
Johnson.
Jimmy Graham set a record for tight ends with his sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season.
The Saints should have won by more, but the win improves
their record to 9-2 and helps them to keep pace with the Seahawks, who are 10-1
and on their bye week. If they can take advantage of any possible slip-ups by
Seattle, they could earn home field advantage. In fact, in a way they control
their destiny since they play at Seattle next week on Monday Night Football. A
win there would put the Saints in the driver's seat of the conference with just
four games remaining.
Final Score:
New Orleans Saints – 17
Atlanta Falcons – 13
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