Saints 23 Falcons 3

For the third week in a row, the Atlanta Falcons played a team out of the NFC South, but for the first time in those three weeks, they were outplayed, outcoached, and outmotivated.

I must admit that I was emotionally and mentally drained even before the game started. Monday Night's game at the Superdome didn't feel like a game to me. It was reminiscent of last year's contest in New York between the Giants and the Saints when all game long, former players and coaches took donations via phone and that's all that was talked about. The really bad part was the fact that the game was played in New York and yet it was a "home" game for New Orleans. Yeah, quite the "home" game indeed. Last night's game had a somewhat similar feel to me, where it was more of a Hollywood picture with a game being shown in the background. It felt like a neverending soap opera and I was exhausted by 7:30 CST. The fans and people of New Orleans have been through enough as it is. Let them escape from reality for three hours and just enjoy their stadium, their team, the music, and the game. While I think it was a good night to hopefully get donations for the city of New Orleans, I just wish ESPN, the reporters, journalists, and announcers would allow the fans their moment to shine. When a mother loses her child one year and on that very same day the next, she wins $62 million dollars in the lottery, let's not keep reminding her and the public of her tragic loss. Trust me, she knows. Allow her a moment to smile and feel good after the tragedy. Hopefully, she'd put the money to good use, by perhaps donating to good causes and attempting to find a cure for what killed her child. If these announcers, reporters, and journalists truly want to do some good instead of appearing to be good people through talk and face time, they should donate money and help out around the community.

But, back to the game. What can I say? It seemed almost too scripted to be real. The Atlanta Falcons went three and out on their first drive and when punter Michael Koenen (boy has he had a rough three weeks) was set to kick the ball away, New Orleans blocked the punt and took it in for the game's first score to go up 7-0 early in the contest. Their only other touchdown came on a double reverse deep in Atlanta territory.

Never in my life have I seen a crowd that into the game and never have I seen the Saints play that emotionally for sixty minutes. Heck, I don't know if I've ever seen any team play with that kind of emotion for an entire football game. It was tough for us Falcons fans to witness, but was really quite something to watch at the same time.

Overall, Atlanta's defense played allright. They were in bend but don't break mode last night. In all honesty, the D only allowed 16 points, as the special teams gave up the 7 on the blocked punt. Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush had more success on the ground against Atlanta than Carolina or Tampa. McAllister was the more effective of the two on the ground. Atlanta's secondary played allright. They gave up a couple of fairly big plays, but overall, they played allright. DeAngelo Hall left the game early with a calf injury, but returned to play in the second half and looked fine. So, overall, with the level of emotion and intensity that the Saints played with all night, I'm not disappointed with the defense. They played well enough to keep the Falcons in the ball game.

Again, Atlanta's special teams were anything but special, the kicking game in particular. Atlanta's kickers this year are now a combined 3 for 10 on field goal attempts, as the newly-acquired Morten Anderson made 1 of 2 last night. Atlanta kickers (place kickers and punters) have also had 5 of their kicks blocked in three games this season, including two last night. Return and coverage wise, the Falcons did pretty well. They gave the Falcon offense some pretty solid starting field position on several drives, but the offense couldn't take advantage of that, which brings us to the offense.

What can I say? It appeared as if at every snap that quarterback Michael Vick dropped back to pass, the offensive line fell down and in rushed 5-6 Saints right at Vick. Last I saw, Vick had been hurried 17 times, hit 9 times, and sacked 5 times. No, I'm not making those numbers up. The line's zone blocking scheme wasn't very effective either, as Warrick Dunn was limited to 44 yards rushing and Michael Vick scampered for 57, those yard coming mainly on set passing downs when he improvised. So, if there was anyone I was most disappointed with last night, it was the offensive line. No, Dunn didn't have great numbers and neither did Vick, but it's hard for anyone to run or throw very effectively when the offensive line is losing the battle up front. The receivers didn't do much either. Outside of one long pass early in the game from Vick to Ashley Lelie, the Atlanta receivers didn't create much (any) space for Vick to throw to. Commentator and former quarterback Joe Theisman even made this statement. Whenever Vick threw the football, the Saints defender was right there when the ball hit the receiver's hands. That's another thing. I think I witnessed 3 passes that weren't catchable by the receiver. So, while Vick's 12-31 passing night looks dreadful on paper, most of those incompletions were catchable. Tight End Alge Crumpler dropped three passes, including one in the end zone for a touchdown. Michael Jenkins dropped two or three, including a deep pass that would've brought Atlanta in scoring range. Roddy White dropped a couple. The only receiver who I didn't witness dropping a pass was Ashley Lelie.

The only individual I may have been more frustrated with than the offensive line was offensive coordinator Greg Knapp. I have no idea what is gameplan was for last night, but the guy just tried to get too cute on offense. On the first play of the game, Warrick Dunn ran for six yards. That's a very positive start for the ground game. What's he call next? A pass, which was incomplete and then a Vick boot on 3rd and 4, which the Saints were expecting. Knapp never tried to establish the ground game and Atlanta rushed for 588 yards in their first two contests. The worst play call in the game came late in the 2nd quarter with the Falcons down 17-3. Atlanta drove down to the New Orleans 2-yard line for a 1st and goal. What does Knapp call for the top rushing team in the league? A play action pass which ended in a sack, setting up a 2nd and goal from the seven. Atlanta then had a field goal attempt which was blocked. That was it right there. That was the game. Instead of Atlanta closing the gap to 17-10 at the half and feeling pretty good about themselves, they were down 20-3.

There's a lot to work on in the upcoming week to prepare for Arizona. First off, they need to protect the quarterback, the punter, the field goal kicker, and open some holes for Dunn. The receivers need to give Vick some space to throw to and show some effort in getting to the football. When the ball hits their hands, the receivers have to hand on to the dang thing. Finally, Knapp needs to learn from his past mistakes, not get cute, establish the ground game, and be more efficient in the red zone.

How good are the Saints? Only time will tell. They were extra juiced up for this one, that's for sure. As I've always said, their offense is good enough now to make them a contender. It's just their defense that's been a question mark. Was last night an aberration, with it being the first game at the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina? Is that performance going to be consistent from here on out? Or, is their D somewhere in between those two extremes? Only time will tell. I don't think it mattered who they played on Monday night. Whether it was the Colts or the Texans, the Saints would've won the football game. Nobody in the league, including the Falcons (as we saw) could've matched the Saints level of emotion and intensity. The Saints have Carolina, Tampa, and Philly up next on the slate, so we may find out just how good and solid that defense is in the near future. For Atlanta, they host the Cardinals before a bye week. While Falcons fans may be disappointed with last night's performance, they still hold a 2-1 divisional record with two of their final three coming at home.