It was "Up with the White & Gold, Down with the Red & Black" as the Saints
moved into second place in the NFC West by winning in Atlanta for the 8th time
in nine tries under Jim Mora.  Morten Andersen didn't kick a last-second FG for
the win this time, but his 5-5 performance was a large factor in the team's
victory.  Turnover-free execution by the offense and big play prevention by the
defense added up to a season sweep of the hated division rival.

After Tyrone Hughes (back from last week's minor knee injury) returned the
opening kickoff to the 21, Jim Everett's incomplete pass on the third play from
scrimmage forced a punt (Ronnie Dixon made a good tackle at the Atlanta 23).
The Falcons reached their own 44, but Jeff George overthrew his intended
receiver on a deep pattern on 3rd & 1.  The punt went out of bounds at the 12.

Two plays later, Quinn Early dropped a sure first down ball on 3rd & 5, so the
Saints punted again (a fair catch at the Atlanta 38 was the result).  The
Falcons moved to the NO 44 on Emanuel's 3rd down catch, but three straight
incompletions brought about a punt (it went into the endzone).

Following a 2 yard run by Mario Bates, Derek Brown ran up the middle to the 31.
However, right tackle Richard Cooper dislocated his elbow on the play and left
the game (Willie Williams replaced him and played the rest of the way).  Facing
3rd & 2 from the 39, Everett hit Torrance Small, who turned upfield and ran to
the Atlanta 42.  On 3rd & 7 from the 39, Everett went back to Small, who again
got the first down (this time at the 18).  Two Bates runs moved the ball to the
13, but a false start by Dombrowski and a sack (Williams got beat) forced the
Saints to settle for a 45 yard FG, which Andersen hit perfectly.

Starting from their 26, Atlanta ran off nine consecutive successful plays en
route to a TD: Heyward 6 run, Rison 18 catch, Heyward 4 run, Heyward 5 run,
Sanders 5 catch, Sanders 5 catch (again), Heyward 14 run, Sanders 7 catch,
Heyward 10 run for TD.  With 9:55 to go before the half, the Falcons led 7-3.

The Saints struck back fast.  On the first play of the ensuing possession,
Everett hit Michael Haynes with a medium length pass.  Case accidentally
knocked cover man Walker of off Haynes at the NO 45, and the WR ran the rest
of the way for a fairly easy 78 yard TD.  It was the old switcheroo: following
a patient, ball-control drive by the Falcons, the Saints got a quick, long TD.

Not to be outdone, the Falcons rapidly regained the lead.  Following Verdin's
kick return to the Atlanta 43, Sanders caught a 10 yard pass.  Heyward ran for
6 on the next play, and Rison took a slant pass to the 24 on the play after
that.  Mathis gathered in a floater at the one on the fourth play of the drive,
and Rison caught a TD pass on the next play.  With 7:06 to go before halftime,
the Saints were again down by 4.

A holding call on the kickoff return forced the Saints to start at the 18, but
the ensuing drive started with five successful plays: Early 17 catch, Bates 4
run, Small 8 catch, Brown 10 run, Brown 5 run.  An incomplete pass broke the
string, but Brown took a dump pass 13 yards to the 25 on the play after that.
Facing 4th & a foot from the 15, Bates gained a yard but fumbled the ball.
The Saints were lucky to recover the ball (and still get the first down).  The
team wound up settling for a 33 yard FG anyway with 39 seconds left.  The
Falcons moved the ball into Saint territory late in the first half but didn't
make it into field goal range.

On the opening possession of the second half, George threw to Rison for 12 on
3rd & 10 from the 18.  A 2nd down throw to Mathis moved the ball to the Atlanta
47.  One play later, however, George lost track of Sam Mills and threw the ball
right at the Field Mouse to give the lone Saint LB a rare interception.

Starting from the Falcon 46, Bates ran for 11, then 7, then 1.  On 3rd & 2 from
the 27, Everett hit Haynes for 10.  On the next play Everett went back to the
WR in the endzone, but the ball bounced off his hands.  Chad went to the former
Falcon for the third time in a row, but this time he dropped a ball on a
crossing pattern that probably would've been good for a 1st.  The team settled
for a 31 yard FG.

Good kick coverage and a holding penalty made Atlanta start from the 9.
Following an incompletion, Pegram ran for 10 and Rison caught one for 10 more.
Pegram was thrown for a 4 yard loss on 1st down from the 29, but a 10 yard
throw to Sanders and a 12 yard toss to Mathis moved the chains for Atlanta.
From there, Pegram ran to midfield, George threw to Emanuel for 24, and Pegram
ran for 9.  An 8 yard loss on a Pegram run brought up 3rd & 9 from the 25.
Steve Sidwell called the double Tyrone blitz: Hughes followed Legette through
the Atlanta line.  The Falcons picked up Legette, but pressure from Hughes
forced George to throw the ball incomplete.  Johnson kicked a 42 yard FG with
1:22 left in the third quarter.

Starting from the 31, a pair of Bates runs went 2 yards forward and 1 yard
back.  William Roaf (who performed well under the scrutiny of ESPN's 
"Spotlight") made his only mistake of the game by committing a false start,
but Everett saved the day by stepping up in the pocket and hitting Small (who
made a great catch) one yard past midfield.  Irv Smith caught a ball for ten
yards on the next play, and Bates ran for 3 on the play after that.  One play
later a 6 yard Bates run and a five yard facemask moved the ball to the 25.
Early nearly made a spectacular one-handed grab in the endzone on 3rd down, but
the Saints again had to settle for a field goal (this one from 34 yards out)
with 11:11 remaining in the game.

Good kick coverage by Joel Smeenge started the Falcons at their own 17.  George
hit Rison for 8 on 3rd & 3 from the 24 to move the sticks.  Emanuel beat Jimmy
Spencer down the sideline on the next play, but an underthrow by George
resulted in an incompletion (Spencer actually should've intercepted the ball).
Second down saw another incomplete pass, and pressure from Hughes on 3rd down
forced a third straight incompletion and an Atlanta punt.

Facing 3rd & 3 from the NO 48, Everett hit Early for a crucial first down: the
WR went up and got a jump ball at the Atlanta 23 (reminiscent of Tim Brown's
play against the Saints earlier this year).  After the big catch, Bates ran
for 5, then 11, then 2.  Everett got lucky when his worst throw of the night
(by far) went through the hands of a Falcon defender at the goal line.  Facing
3rd & goal from the 5, Everett took the snap with about .5 seconds left on the
play clock and threw outside to Early, who rotated in midair to snag the pass
for a TD.  Morten Andersen's PAT put the Saints up by 9 with 3:58 to go.

A fine kick return by Verdin gave the Falcons good field position at the NO 45.
On 3rd & 2 from the 37, George scrambled for the first down.  Ex-Falcon Vinnie
Clark (who was jawing with Rison all night) was called for hitting George out
of bounds on the play (a bad call- the QB was hugging the sideline), so the
ball was placed at the 15.  Following an illegal downfield contact penalty on
Clark, Heyward ran to the 3 (I think this was his only second half carry-
rather surprising, as he did well in the first half).  A blitzing Vince Buck
batted the ball incomplete on 2nd down, and pressure from Renaldo Turnbull made
George throw incomplete on 3rd.  June Jones elected to go for the FG (in hopes
of scoring a later TD).  Johnson's 21 yard kick was good with 2:37 remaining.

The Falcons lined up to kick the ball deep, but they shifted into an onside
formation.  The kick didn't bounce into the air, and James Williams gathered
it in at the Atlanta 39.  A six yard Bates run and 10 & 8 yard efforts by Brown
forced Atlanta to use their final two timeouts (and ran the clock down to the
2-minute warning).  The Saints were unable to pick up another first down, but
Morten's 35 yard FG iced the game with :28 left.

This was one of the team's best efforts of the season.  The Falcons were trying
to stay in serious contention for a wildcard, but the Saints' steady play
numbed the home crowd.  There were some costly drops by the receivers, but the
O played mostly mistake-free football.  Although George had quite a bit of
time to throw most of the night, some well-timed blitzes created pressure at
critical times.  A San Fran win next week will end the Cowboys' chances of
gaining home field during the playoffs, so maybe they'll take it easy against
us on Monday night (yeah, right).


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Frank Serpas III    serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu