Vick Waltzes With Saints On Monday Night Football
Defense can't hang with punches, offense shut out in second half

posted December 13, 2005 - print me!
neworleansprofootball.com
By Chris Pika - courtesy of neworleanssaints.com

ATLANTA, Ga.--QB Michael Vick ran for a pair of scores and threw for another as Atlanta defeated New Orleans, 36-17 in a Monday Night Football matchup in the Georgia Dome.

The victory was the second in the last five games for the Falcons (8-5) while the Saints (3-10) dropped their second straight game.

Vick completed 12-of-23 passes for 231 yards and a 54-yard TD pass to WR Roddy White in the second quarter. Vick also rushed six times for 38 yards and two TDs.

The Saints forced Atlanta to punt on their first possession of the game and the Saints faced a third-and-10 at their 15. QB Aaron Brooks threw to WR Joe Horn on the right side for a 19-yard gain to the New Orleans 34. Horn was wrestled to the ground and had the ball stripped by Atlanta CB DeAngelo Hall. Hall recovered the fumble and raced 20 yards to the Saints' 12.

New Orleans challenged the fumble call, but after review, the decision was upheld with 11:19 left in the first quarter. The Falcons took only three plays to score as RB Warrick Dunn gained three yards to the nine, Vick hit FB Justin Griffith for eight yards and a first down at the one. RB T.J. Duckett gave Atlanta a 7-0 lead on the next play as he bulled over the left side for the touchdown with 10:22 remaining.

The Saints offense went on a long drive to cut the deficit to 7-3 on their next possession. An illegal contact call on the Falcons got New Orleans out of a third-and-9 situation at their 21. Two plays later, Brooks found Horn for an 11-yard gain to the Saints' 42. WR Donte' Stallworth gave New Orleans another first down at the Atlanta 44 after a nine-yard catch. A defensive offside on the Falcons on third-and-3 at the Atlanta 26 gave New Orleans a first down at the 21. The drive stalled and K John Carney made a long 47-yard field goal with 3:05 left in the quarter.

Saints CB Jason Craft got New Orleans' first takeaway as he intercepted Vick at the Falcons' 25 and returned the pick 19 yards to the Atlanta 6. RB Antowain Smith gave the Saints a 10-7 lead on the first play after the turnover as he went up the middle for a six-yard score with 11:13 to go in the second quarter.

Atlanta came right back to grab a 14-10 lead with 6:06 remaining in the half. Vick hit WR Brian Finneran on a 36-yard pass to the Saints' 18. On second-and-4 at the 12, Vick found WR Michael Jenkins for a 10-yard pass play to the Saints' 2. Two plays later, Vick scrambled and headed for the goal line. He dove and touched the pylon with his right hand and landed out of bounds with the ball in his left hand. The play was originally ruled a one-yard gain to the Saints' 1, but the Falcons challenged the call.

During the television timeout, the officials reviewed the call and ruled that Vick scored on the play. In an explanation given by NFL Director of Officiating Mike Pereira, "If a runner leaves the field of play by leaping towards the pylon, and any part of his body goes over the top of the pylon, by rule, the goal line extends. If the ball has broken the plane of the extended goal line once the runner lands out of bounds, by rule, the play is ruled a touchdown."

Late in the half, Atlanta extended their lead to 21-10. With 2:00 left, the Falcons had first-and-10 at their 46 after a 26-yard run by Dunn. On the following play, Dunn took a direct snap and lateraled the ball back to Vick, who threw deep downfield to White, who leapt over a pair of Saints defenders, came down with the catch and raced the remaining yards for a 54-yard TD with 1:49 to go.

New Orleans cut into the lead again after the score as the Saints used nine plays to go 90 yards in 1:38. Stecker took the first handoff from Brooks and scampered 32 yards to the Saints' 42. Brooks then completed consecutive passes to Stallworth for 10 yards and Horn for 11 to the Falcons' 37. After a three-yard gain by Stecker, Brooks threw an eight-yard strike to Stallworth, who was pushed out of bounds at the 26.with 35 seconds left.

Brooks hooked up with WR Az-Zahir Hakim on a 12-yard pass to the Falcons 12. On the next play, Brooks was ruled to have intentionally grounded the ball. The 14-yard penalty put the ball back to the Atlanta 28. Since the penalty came with under a minute to play in the half, the penalty also called for a 10-second runoff, but the Saints were able to use their last timeout of the half to keep the runoff from occurring by rule.

Stallworth caught a 10-yard pass to the 18 and the Falcons were whistled for roughing Brooks after the throw. The half-the-distance penalty of nine yards gave New Orleans a first-and-goal at the Falcons' 9. Hakim then caught a nine-yard TD pass from Brooks with 11 seconds to play before the half as the Saints trailed, 21-17.

Midway through the third quarter, Vick threw a 31-yard pass to TE Alge Crumpler to the Saints' 17 and then Vick used his feet on the next play as he went around the right side for his second scoring run of the game for a 28-17 lead with 7:50 to go.

Atlanta pushed the lead to 30-17 in the final minute of the third quarter. The Saints got the ball after a Falcons punt at their 10. Brooks was sacked for a six-yard loss by DT Darrell Shropshire back to the Saints' 4. Brooks was chased from the pocket into his own end zone on the next play and DT Antwan Lake tripped him up short of the goal line for a safety with 40 seconds to play.

A 43-yard field goal by Atlanta K Todd Peterson extended the Falcons' advantage to 33-17 with 8:33 remaining in the fourth quarter. Peterson's second field goal of the game, a 20-yarder with 3:01 to play was the game's final points.

Brooks was 27-of-46 passing for 219 yards and one TD for the Saints. Horn caught five passes for 54 yards while Stallworth added five receptions for 43 yards. Smith led all New Orleans rushers with 11 carries for 60 yards and one TD.

Crumpler led the Falcons receivers with three receptions for 94 yards. Dunn had 14 rushes for 73 yards for Atlanta.

The Falcons out-gained the Saints, 406-332.

The Saints return to Baton Rouge next Sunday (Dec. 18) as they take on the Carolina Panthers (Noon CT; FOX, WWL 870-AM, KGLA 1540-AM [Spanish], Saints Radio Network) in LSU's Tiger Stadium.

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