New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons: Game Recap

1st Half:

The very first play for the New Orleans Saints was an electric 99 yard kick off return by rookie Jalen Saunders that was immediately capped off by a 1 yard touchdown run with Mark Ingram. After that, however, the game turned into a battle of defenses in the first half. Atlanta would take the lead before the half on a quick shuffle pass to Eric Weems that pushed the score to 13-7 after two quarters.

The Saints had four drives in the first quarter that combined for only 38 yards. With the exception of the one yard scoring play set up by the long kick off return, Drew Brees and company struggled to move down the field.  The Falcons, a team that had only forced 16 sacks all season, got to Brees three times in the first half.

Dwight Lowery, Ra’shede Hageman and Jonathan Babineaux dominated the Saints offensive line in the first half and grabbed the three sacks. Pierre Thomas did have success in the screen game early on as they tried to avoid the quick pass rush, but he would leave the game and not return due to a rib injury.

Atlanta saw success through the air early and often. Matt Ryan was masterful in picking apart a Saints defense that was unable to get consistent pressure without the blitz. Ryan led the rival Falcons to 223 yards of total offense in the first half, compared to the Saints 79, but the Falcons failed to capitalize on many opportunities leading to a marginal lead going into the half.

2nd Half:

For the Saints, when it rains, it pours. The 3rd quarter started off right where the 2nd left off as the Falcons received the ball. Keenan Lewis left at the end of the 2nd quarter to receive an IV and did not return till later. With the Saints star corner out, the Falcons were able to move down the field in their first drive, but were forced to punt.

The next drive, however, wasn’t as fortuitous for the winded Saints defense. With the Saints playing to stop the pass, Falcons RB Devonta Freeman burst through on a 31 yard scamper scoring an early touchdown. This would put the Falcons up 20-7.

What might be the most perfect example all season of how this year has been for New Orleans, a non-overturned ruling at the beginning of the 4th put the Saints in a deeper hole in terms of time remaining in the game. Drew Brees finally began to build a rhythm against the Falcons defense and drove the team into the red zone. A pass to Jimmy Graham at the goal line was ruled a fumble and forward progress (a TD) was not marked.

Here is a close up of the play:

Sean Payton and the Saints didn’t show any quit as they forced the Falcons to punt on their next possession and took the ball from their own 13 and drove the length of the field to score. Drew Brees would go 8/11 and a TD to Jimmy Graham to draw the score to 20-14.

With 4 minutes to go in the 4th, the Saints had a must stop 3rd down situation at their own 49, and a defense that had given up yards en mass all game held firm to force a Falcons punt. This set up the Saints to start on a potential lead-changing drive beginning on their own 10.  2:40 remained on the clock.

In dramatic fashion one would expect from a divisional rivalry such as this one, and with the Saints season on the line, Drew Brees would throw an interception to Robert McClain on 2nd down from his own 10. McClain made a great read and jumped the route to make the game-sealing play. Drew’s 14th interception of the season was undoubtedly his biggest. Pressure in his face proved to be an issue all day, and Drew had another costly game in the Superdome.

The turnover would result in a Falcons field goal by Matt Bryant that pushed the lead to 23-14 with under 2 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. Brees would once again drive the Saints down the field with time running out, but in what will be a play talked about for a long time a sack fumble was returned by Osi Umenyiora with 00:00 on the clock for a touchdown. The 84 yard rumble by the veteran defensive end immediately drew ire from Saints fans across Who Dat Nation.

With the Saints falling to the Falcons, and Carolina defeating the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans fate has been sealed for the 2014 season. They are officially eliminated from playoff contention. Watching this game, we saw what we’ve seen a majority of the season. New Orleans is simply not talented enough in every area to be contenders this year. Sunday’s loss was also the 5th straight for the Saints in the Superdome.

The team has young talent on both sides of the ball to build on, but the question remains will the Saints be able to make the necessary moves to bring them back to a point of dominance. As always, thank you for reading and I welcome your comments, critiques and all around banter. God bless, and Who Dat