Saints News Network

Saints Survive Miscues and Late Falcons Surge, Clinch Playoff Berth

The Saints are in the playoffs after surviving the Falcons and some team miscues.

John Hendrix

ATLANTA -- The Saints are in the playoffs after knocking off the Falcons 21-16 and having the Lions beat the Bears on Sunday. The team sweeps Atlanta, improving to 5-0 on the season against the NFC South. It wasn't pretty, and the game was a lot closer than it should have been. However, New Orleans is 10-2.

Game Recap

The Saints won the opening coin toss and elected to defer, giving Atlanta the first opportunity with the football. New Orleans forced a 3-and-out to start the game, but the Falcons eagerly returned the favor on their opening offensive possession after facing bad field position from a Ken Crawley penalty on the punt return. The Saints looked like they could have picked up the first down on the drive, but Tre'Quan Smith could not get the Taysom Hill pass.

The New Orleans defense again stopped the Falcons, and looked like they were going to give it right back to Atlanta on a 3-and-out, but a personal foul roughing the passer penalty on Grady Jarrett gave the Saints new life and helped them get out of the shadow of their own goal post. Taysom Hill helped pilot a 7-play, 87-yard drive that took 3:33 off the clock that ended with him throwing his first touchdown pass to a wide open Tre'Quan Smith from 15 yards out. Hill also had a big 43-yard scramble on the drive to help give the Saints a 7-0 lead.

The Falcons would put together a scoring drive, answering with a 53-yard Younghoe Koo field goal after going 40 yards in 7 plays. The Saints had lost Patrick Robinson due to injury, and P.J. Williams went in for him. Matt Ryan found Julio Jones for a big 20-yard hookup that put the Falcons into Saints territory, but stalled out after not being able to convert a 3rd down attempt.

New Orleans would start to move the ball on their next possession, and converted on a big 3rd-and-13 when Hill found Tre'Quan Smith for a 21-yard pickup to get into Falcons territory. The Saints would also pick up a big 3rd-and-17 conversion from Hill to Michael Thomas to keep the drive going, but would eventually face a third 3rd-and-long situation and not be able to convert. New Orleans kept the offense on the field for a 4th-and-4 to try and draw the Falcons offsides, but it didn't work. In the end, Wil Lutz would miss from 40 yards out and the game stayed 7-3 with 11:56 left in the half. Thankfully, it didn't cost the Saints anything but field position, as Atlanta went three-and-out again.

The Saints would again put together a nice-looking drive, but would come up short in the end after going for it on a 4th-and-7 from the Falcons' 36-yard line. Hill appeared to have Jared Cook for a conversion, but he could not get it. The drive started great after Tommylee Lewis took a jet sweep for a first down, however it stalling out led to the Falcons capitalizing, getting a 30-yard field goal from Younghoe Koo. Ryan was finding success to Julio Jones working against P.J. Williams. A 15-yard run by Ito Smith set the Falcons up at the Saints' 11-yard line, but New Orleans would tighten the clamps to force the field goal, making it 7-6 with 4:51 until halftime. Marshon Lattimore helped break up a would-be Calvin Ridley touchdown in the end zone after forcing him out of bounds.

New Orleans responded quickly on their ensuing possession, getting a 37-yard run out of Alvin Kamara to start the drive. They'd quickly get backed up due to a Nick Easton holding penalty, but convert on a 3rd-and-8 when Hill found Emmanuel Sanders for a gain of 18 to set them up inside the red zone. Just a few plays later, Hill found Cook for an 11-yard touchdown that put the Saints up 14-6 with 1:45 left in the half.

Atlanta would add a field goal before the half after being assisted by some Saints penalties, going on a 9-play, 48-yard drive. New Orleans wouldn't break, but Koo would add a 28-yard field goal to make it 14-9 at halftime. The Saints had committed 7 penalties for 54 yards compared to the Falcons' 1 for 15 yards.

Entering the third quarter, the Saints rattled off a dominant drive, going 75 yards in 12 plays that took 5:59 off the clock. New Orleans capped off the scoring drive with an 11-yard Kamara rushing touchdown. Hill hit Thomas early on the drive for a couple of good gains, while getting a 4th-and-1 conversion from a Hill keeper and a 3rd-and-7 pickup to Jared Cook to help extend the drive. It was 21-9 Saints by 9:01 of the third.

The Falcons moved the ball early on their first possession of the half, with two nice runs by Brian Hill to start, then Ryan hooking up with Calvin Ridley for 18 yards. However, that'd be all she wrote there, as Atlanta would have to punt after crossing into Saints territory. New Orleans kept things moving offensively, but stalled out after crossing into Atlanta territory. Facing a 3rd-and-3, a Hill keeper went for no gain, which sent Thomas Morstead in to punt and pin the Falcons back at their own 13-yard line. On the drive, Thomas became the fastest player to reach 500 receptions in his career. 

The Saints would get the ball right back with a single second left in the quarter after a three-and-out by the Falcons. However, New Orleans would give it right after a quick three-and-out of their own. Hill had Jared Cook for a sure first down on second down, but misfired and threw it behind him. It was short-lived for the Falcons, as Carl Granderson would make a big sack on Matt Ryan that resulted in him getting stripped. The play was reviewed further and determined to be Saints football.

New Orleans would take over and faced a 4th-and-inches play, converting with a Hill keeper. The Saints were poised to take it in the end zone or at least get some points, but Hill would fumble similar to what happened to Ryan to give Atlanta new life. They'd march down the field in 8 plays, going 85 yards to get the first touchdown scored on a Saints defense in a while. Ryan found Russell Gage from 10 yards out, making it 21-16 Saints with 7:43 left in the game.

The Saints would give the ball back to Atlanta after just five plays, pinning them at their own 15-yard line. The Falcons would put together an impressive drive, but could not finish. They marched down the field and seemingly looked to score and take the lead, but would come up short after going backwards on 3rd-and-2 thanks to Demario Davis and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. The 4th-and-9 end zone shot would go incomplete, and New Orleans would run the clock down to under 40 seconds, and survive the late surge from the Falcons to hold on and win the game.

New Orleans finishes up their three-game road trip by taking on the Eagles in Philadelphia next Sunday in a late afternoon kickoff.

Published
John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net

Home/Game Day