New Orleans Saints 26, Atlanta Falcons 23 - Final
Saints clip Falcons 26-23 in Atlanta
December 14, 2009
ATLANTA, GA - Saints running back Reggie Bush scored two touchdowns and quarterback Drew Brees threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns as the New Orleans Saints improved to 13-0 in narrowly escaping the Atlanta Falcons.
New Orleans clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs with the win, and swept their NFC South division rival for the third time in the last four years. The Saints won the teams' first meeting this season November 2, by a 35-27 score on Monday Night Football.
Atlanta fell to 6-7 overall with the loss, its fouth in the past five games, despite outgaining the Saints on offense and getting a stellar performance from backup quarterback Chris Redman. Redman completed 23 of 34 passes for 303 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Unlike the first meeting, this time the Saints held Atlanta's rushing game in check, holding the Falcons to 89 yards on the ground on 21 carries with a single touchdown. Falcons running back Michael Turner ran for 151 yards during the Monday night game, while quarterback Matt Ryan struggled, completing less than 50% of his 42 passes and throwing three interceptions.
The Saints appeared well on the way to putting the game out of reach six minutes into the third quarter when Drew Brees connected with Reggie Bush on a 21 yard touchdown pass that put the team ahead 23-9. However, the Falcons rallied on their next possession, which culminated with Redman hitting Michael Jenkins deep over the middle for a 50 yard touchdown, a catch that Jenkins had botched earlier in the game. Then, after forcing a punt, Atlanta tied the score at 23 on a 4 yard touchdown run by Jason Snelling and subsequent Matt Bryant extra-point.
However, the Saints would rally with a 16 play, 48 yard drive that chewed up over eight minues, eventually setting up kicker Garrett Hartley's game-winning field goal, a kick that may not have been necessary had he not botched an extra-point earlier in the game.
New Orleans set a franchise record for wins in a season with the victory, the team's 13th in 13 games. They are one of two unbeaten teams in the NFL, with the Indianapolis Colts also sitting pretty at 13-0.
Atlanta still had a chance to tie the game late, but Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma stuffed a fourth-and-two pass from Ryan to Snelling over the middle that gave the Saints possession, allowing them to run out the clock.
For the Record:
- Each team punted only once the entire game.
- The Saints set a franchise record with their 13th win this season.
- New Orleans also set a franchise record for points scored in a season with 466 with three games to go.
- Saints kicker Garrett Hartley, who last week replaced John Carney on the active roster, missed an extra-point in the second quarter that would have given the Saints a 17-6 lead.
- Atlanta would need to win all of its remaining games to finish with an above-.500 record. The Falcons have never posted consecutive winning seasons throughout all of the francise's 44-year history.
- With Turner sidelines with an injury, the Falcons were held to under 100 yards on the ground for the fourth consecutive game. Atlanta rushed for more than 100 yards in six of its first nine games.
Tags: News, Saints
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