Saints 35- Falcons 27
This was one exciting game that I enjoyed. It was great to see the Falcons fight after halftime and not lay down. Even though they lost, the Falcons proved that they still can play with the best and very well can beat the best. Turner had a huge game and really made me proud. Gonzalez and White both had huge games, while Jenkins was the head of the chat room hate. The defense played better than expected. They were getting some shots on Brees and really impressed me with the 4 turnovers. A feel good game to say the least with the bad result.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=291102018Passing
C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT RATING
M. Ryan 19/42 289 6.9 1 3 46.6
I still would say this that Ryan played better in this game than against the Cowboys. He threw a sweet deep ball to White on the touchdown. He made some gun slinging throws to Jenkins and Gonzo. His first two picks was just him being impatient. I wrote a whole blog about his performance, so yeah.
Rushing
CAR YDS AVG TD LG
M. Turner 20 151 7.6 1 37
M. Ryan 3 9 3.0 0 5
E. Weems 1 1 1.0 0 1
Team 24 161 6.7 1 37
Turner became a beast again. This guy was just a mad man out there. He wouldn't be stopped and I really can't remember him being stopped for less than 3 yards. He just got it going when the Falcons needed him. He really showed his toughness in the 4th quarter turning a no gain play to a 26 yard gain. That was just completely on effort and heart.
Receiving
REC YDS AVG TD LG TGTS
R. White 4 108 27.0 1 68 13
T. Gonzalez 6 89 14.8 0 27 9
M. Jenkins 4 66 16.5 0 29 9
A. Stecker 2 12 6.0 0 7 2
V. Haynes 2 10 5.0 0 6 2
J. Peelle 1 4 4.0 0 4 1
Team 19 289 15.2 1 68 36
Let me say this, Jenkins is a strange player. He makes some pretty good catches like the catch on the sidelines in garbage time. He drops the simple balls like that 3rd down. It really got on my nerves and really needs a wakeup call. Gonzalez played solid making some decent catches. White on the big stage again making a huge play in primetime when the Falcons need one. His TD catch wasn't PI on him at all, there was little contact. White made some clutch catches and got screwed big time on what could have been in a 2nd TD. White clearly didn't catch it, but he got hit by Porter and really got me bad. Nice to see Stecker out there as well.
Blocking
Run Blocking
They were really playing well. Clabo and Baker stood out the most as Turner ran really well on the outside. The whole line deserves credit, but Turner's pop and effort was the real difference. The return of Ovie really helped big time, as I have been saying for weeks. The man is a key player.
Pass Blocking
It was better than last week, but still not that great of a performance. The Saints got pressure, which hurt Ryan big time. Baker really had problems with Smith, it was obvious Baker was hurt. He allowed 2 sacks. The other sack was allowed by Dahl on Hargrove.
TACKLES MISC
TOT SOLO SACKS TFL PD QB HTS
C. Lofton 14 12 0 0 0 1
E. Coleman 10 6 0 0 0 0 1 FF
B. Grimes 8 8 0 0 2 0 1 INT
M. Peterson 7 4 0 0 0 0
S. Nicholas 6 6 0 0 1 0 1 FR
T. DeCoud 5 3 1 0 0 1 1 FF
C. Houston 4 4 0 0 1 0
T. Hill 4 4 0 0 0 0
J. Anderson 3 3 0 1 0 0
J. Babineaux2 2 1 1 0 1
C. Jackson 2 2 0 0 0 0
V. Walker 2 1 0 0 1 0
K. Biermann 2 1 0 1 0 0 1 FR 1 TD
R. White 1 1 0 0 0 0
J. Fudge 1 1 0 0 0 0
C. Wire 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 FF 1 FR
O. Mughelli 1 1 0 0 0 0
M. Koenen 1 1 0 0 0 0
M. Schneck 1 1 0 0 0 0
Team 75 62 2 3 5 4
Run Defense
The run defense was once again on and off. Pierre Thomas is the Falcons killer and continued his wrath. He gashed the Falcons, while Mike Bell was shut down. A shaky performance to say the least. Anderson and Bierrmann had each a tackle for a loss. Pierre's first touchdown was completely pathetic. Chevis Jackson's attempt was just awful and Abraham simply got faked out.
Coverage
The coverage was once again not as bad as I expected. The Saints made numerous big plays, but you expected that. Hill made his debut, he did get benched, but he looked solid. He was making an effort for the ball compared to Houston, who once again got targeted. Why he was covering a burner like Henderson is beyond me? Grimes easily had his best game. The pick was just completely out of the world. His wingspan is just off the charts. He did get targeted when covering Colston, but he had no chance. Grimes also had 2 pass defensed, which really was encouraging. Nicholas, DeCoud, Walker ( interesting), and Houston.
Pressure
Abe was getting held massively, which didn't surprise me. The pressure was on and off, but at least it was there. DeCoud delay blitz was just beautiful. How he sold it and then just sparked up just makes you pump your fist. Props to Bierrman for his awareness and for the easy run in. 2008 DRAFT AT IT'S FINEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, Babs got a sack that was impressive. The only two other players that got hits on Brees was Wire and Lofton.
Special Teams
Elam was awful. He missed a chip shot at 33 yards and wasn't even close from 51 yards. It wasn't good that the Falcons have very little confidence in him. I hope he bounces back. Koenen punted 3 times and wasn't anything special. Weems didnn't do much on returns.
Offensive Player Of The Game
Turner: He's back and it was great to watch.
Runerup: White- He made that huge catch to get them back in the game and made some clutch catches.
Defensive Player Of The Game
Lofton: He led in tackles and really set the tone out there.
Runnerup: Wire: The man single handly made the ending of the game exciting.
I hope you guys enjoyed it.
