WR Devery Henderson carried the ball on the first play

Payton Smashes Falcons on MNF
Aggressive play-calling from the start, never backing down in 34-14 win

posted December 10, 2007 - print me!
neworleansprofootball.com
by neworleanssaints.com

For the second time in the past three weeks, the New Orleans Saints traveled to the east and convincingly handled a divisional opponent, keeping their pursuit of a coveted playoff spot very much alive. The Saints defeated the Falcons, 34-14, just two weeks after traveling to Carolina and defeating the Carolina Panthers, 31-6.

The Saints, who improved to 6-7 with the victory, picked up their fifth conference win of the season, an important tie-breaker that could come into play if the Saints are able to match another team’s win tally. Of the team’s vying for a postseason bid, the Vikings also own 5 conference wins, while the Redskins and Lions each have four. Arizona, also 6-7, owns three wins and travels to New Orleans for a huge game next Sunday afternoon in what should be a raucous Superdome.

“I thought this was a really good team effort,” said Head Coach Sean Payton. “Our guys really battled them defensively and our defense played well. Offensively I thought we had good balance. Heading into the game we knew that Atlanta had a very good third down defensively and I thought we did a good job. I tip my cap to our offensive line, they did a great job protecting Drew and giving Aaron and Pierre room to run.”

The Saints were highly efficient throughout the night in virtually every category. On offense the team racked up over 400 yards of total offense, including over 100-yards rushing and didn’t allow a sack. QB Drew Brees completed 28-of-41 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns and the Saints didn’t allow a sack in a game for the sixth time this season. It marked the third time this season that Brees eclipsed the 300-yard mark. WR David Patten set career-highs in receptions (9) and receiving yards (122), with second-year receiver Marques Colston added 9 receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns. The Saints rushed for a season-high 136 yards, largely behind the efforts of RB Aaron Stecker, who had 100-yards on 20 carries.

Defensively, the Saints swarmed to the ball all night and sacked Redman three times and intercepted and forced a fumble that was recovered by an Atlanta offensive lineman.

RB Aaron Stecker also set a career-high in rushing attempts with 20 carries for 100 yards, his second career 100-yard game. DE Will Smith had a team-high eight tackles and S Kevin Kaesviharn added five stops and two passes defensed.

The Saints eased off the gas pedal late in the third quarter and ran the ball against the Falcons for the majority of the time, save for a perfectly thrown 32-yard pass to Devery Henderson on a third down to the Atlanta 35 that set up an Olindo Mare field goal that put the Saints ahead 34-14 with just over 2 minutes to play in the game.

The Saints opened the late in the first quarter, driving 99 yards in six plays late in the first quarter and opened the scoring on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Brees to veteran receiver Patten down the sideline.

Patten, in his 11th NFL season, was matched up against rookie CB Chris Houston and Brees lead the speedy veteran right into the end zone for his second touchdown of the season. On the drive, Brees completed five-of-six passes for 99 yards, with long completions for 21 yards to Patten, a 36-yarder to reserve TE Billy Miller and the 25-yarder to Patten for the score.

The Falcons responded with immediately with a 5-play, 80-yard drive on their ensuing possession and score on a 33-yard pass from QB Chris Redman to WR Roddy White that tied the game at 7.

The Saints’ defense had stopped the Falcons on their first three possessions but the Saints were victimized by two long pass plays, including the 33-yard score that knotted the game at 7 all.

The Saints came right back, though. The Saints got to work and picked up big plays from Brees and Colston on a 3rd-and-7 that went for 25 yards, and then a 20-yard completion to Patten. Brees and Patten then converted a 3rd-and-3 with a seven-yard completion to the Atlanta 17 early in the second quarter and then Stecker picked up 5 yards on a hard-hitting inside run to the 12. Stecker again pounded his way inside with a four-yard gain before being stopped by LB Keith Brooking. Stecker then bulled his way for 3-yards and the first down to the Atlanta 5. Brees tried to connect with Patten on a fade route into the corner of the end zone, but the pass was defensed by CB DeAngelo Hall on first down. Patten needed assistance from the Saints trainers but jogged back to the bench under his own power. Atlanta brought a blitz on second down and Brees’ pass fell incomplete and a third down pass for TE Eric Johnson fell to the ground and the Saints settled for a 23-yard Olindo Mare field goal.

Atlanta, trailing 10-7, came out and picked up a first down on a Redman pass over the middle for WR Michael Jenkins. Saints DT Kendrick Clancy tossed Jerious Norwood for a 2-yard loss and the Falcons were stopped 2-yards shy of a first down on a third down pass when Kaesviharn and Marc Simoneau stopped Jenkins shy of the first down marker, bringing up a 4th down and a chorus of boos from the home fans after the punting team ran onto the field.

The Saints averted a potential catastrophic play on the punt when rookie CB Usama Young inadvertently ran into return man Lance Moore and knocked him down. Luckily for the Saints, the ball didn’t touch a Saints player and instead the ball was downed at the Saints’ 6 yard-line.

Stecker picked up seven yards on an inside run and then was halted for no yards on a screen pass. But the hard-nosed runner took a toss and bolted off right tackle for 6 yards and a first down. The Saints again faced a 3rd-and-2 from their own 25 and Brees bit Moore for his first completion of the game for a 7-yard gain. Brees then drilled a pass over the middle of the field to a wide-open Colston for 15 yards, marking his fifth reception of the game. Brees then eluded an intense pass rush and lofted a pass over the middle of the field and into traffic that Johnson made a leaping reception for 13 yards, followed by a 4-yard completion to Colston right before the two-minute warning.

Coming out of the 2-minute warning, the Saints had the ball at the Atlanta 35 and all three timeouts remaining. Brees hit Patten for a 3-yard gain on second down, bringing up a third-and-3 and Brees hung in the pocket for a 17-yard completion to Patten over the middle of the field before Sean Payton called for a timeout with 1:43 remaining and the ball at the Atlanta 15. With the reception, Patten hit the 100-yard receiving mark in the game, the third time this season he hit the mark.

Stecker was stopped for no gain on first down but it hardly mattered as Brees found Colston down the middle for his 7th TD of the season, catching the ball over the out-stretched hands of Brooking.“We came into the game knowing they were going to play a lot of man to man defense and we would opportunities to make plays and I thought we really did that on third downs and I thought that was a big key to us winning here tonight," said Colston.

The Saints began the second half with as good looking a drive as they have put together this season. The Black-and-Gold drove 80 yards in 11 plays, capped off by a two-yard Td pass from Brees to Colston. On the drive, Stecker had 41 yards rushing, including a season-long 17-yard rush. Brees completed four-of-five passes for 34 yards, with his biggest play coming a 3rd and 6 to Patten for 17 yards.

Two plays later, S Roman Harper intercepted a pass and returned it 31 yards for his first professional score. Harper kept the football and ran over to the sideline and handed it to his mother. Coincidently, the 31-yard return gave the Saints a 31-7 lead.

Facing a 24-point deficit, Atlanta methodically put together a drive and moved into Saints’ territory on an 11-yard screen pass to Dunn. Will Smith seemed to have timed out Redman’s cadence perfectly, but was flagged for an encroachment foul. On a 3rd-and-7, Smith sniffed out a draw and dropped Dunn for a 3-yard loss. The Falcons’ 4th down pass fell incomplete, as both Kaesviharn and CB Jason David blanketed their receivers and Redman’s pass fell incomplete and the Saints took over at their own 35.

The Saints twice stopped the Falcons on fourth downs in the fourth quarter. The Falcons took advantage of a Moore fumbled punt and turned it into a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter on a Redman pass to Jenkins for 13-yards.

Notes: Starting FS Josh Bullocks tweaked a quadriceps muscle in pre-game warm-ups and was deactivated for the game and replaced in the starting lineup by Kevin Kaesviharn … Patten had his 3rd 100-yard receiving game of the season … Brees eclipsed the 20,000 yard passing mark in the first quarter on a 36-yard completion to Billy Miller. Brees became the 86th player in NFL history to accomplish the feat … Harper’s last touchdown came on Nov. 29, 2003 when he returned a blocked field goal 73 yards for a score against Hawaii during his sophomore season … S Chris Reis, a former Falcon, received his most playing time as a Saint … former Saints WR Joe Horn recorded his first reception of the night in the third quarter on a five-yard pass from Redman … the attendance was announced at 69,553, many of whom were cheering for the Saints.

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