Revenge is always sweet, and the Falcons looked to get revenge on the New Orleans Saints on Monday night at the Superdome. The Saints defeated the Falcons 26-23 in overtime at the Georgia Dome in October. The Falcons would not get their revenge, though as the Saints blew past the Birds 45-16.
The Falcons were able to get on the board on the opening drive, putting together an 11-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a Matt Bryant 34-yard field goal.
The Saints were able to answer quickly with an 8-play. 84 yard drive and Pierre Thomas ended the series with a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Saints the lead.
However, the Falcons scored on the ensuing drive as Matt Ryan and company put together an 8-play, 72-yard drive which ended with Ryan 21-yard touchdown strike to Julio Jones.
But the Saints picked up the tempo in the second quarter.
Starting at their own 21 yard line, Drew Brees led the Saints downfield and ended the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Marques Colston, which gave them the 14-10 lead.
The Saints scored again with 24 seconds left in the second quarter when Brees found Jimmy Graham for a 9-yard score to give them the 21-10 lead going into halftime.
The Falcons looked to take back the momentum at the start of the third quarter as Dunta Robinson picked off Brees at the Falcons 16 yard line. But the Falcons offense could not turn the turnover into points and went three-and-out.
That proved costly for the Falcons because Darren Sproles returned the Matt Bosher punt for 36 yards and that led to a Brees 24-yard touchdown pass to Robert Meachem which increased the lead to 18..
After another Bryant field goal on the ensuing drive, the Saints answered with a John Kasay 29-yard field goal to make the score 31-13.
Early in the fourth quarter, Bryant scored another field goal to cut the Saints lead by 15. The Falcons forced the Saints to punt on the ensuing drive and looked to mount a comeback with 11:20 left in the game. But on the Falcons first play from scrimmage, Ryan threw an 8-yard pass to Jones, but Jones fumble the ball and was recovered by Malcolm Jenkins and was returned for a 30-yard touchdown to ice the game.
The Saints scored later in the fourth when Brees found Sproles for a 9-yard touchdown. The reason that score was important is Brees broke the single season passing record and now has 5,087 yards. Bress finished the night with 307 yards four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Ryan had a strong performance for the Falcons, going 34-of-52 with 373 yards and one touchdown. The problem for the Falcons was they were inconsistent one they got into the red zone. Every time they would be in position to score a touchdown, they would get hit with a penalty or Ryan would get hit trying to complete a pass.
The Falcons held the ball longer than the Saints, won the turnover battle and had more total yards of offense. But the Saints scored touchdowns on five out of 10 possessions while the Falcons scored only one touchdown in 12 possessions.
The Falcons (9-6) have already clinched a playoff spot, but now drop to the No. 6 seed. They have a chance to clinch the No.5 seed with a win on Sunday against Tampa Bay and a Detroit loss to Green Bay.
It’s important to for the Falcons to get the No. 5 seed because they would not have the Saints who would be a No. 3 seed if San Francisco wins on Sunday. Regardless who they play in the playoffs, they have to play a lot better than what they showed on Monday night.
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