Saints 14 Falcons 19 summary ....... A late Saints rally came up short, as a big Morten Andersen performance gave the Falcons their first-ever season sweep of a Mora-coached team. play-by-play ............ The Falcons came out throwing- George hit Mathis for 8 on the first play from scrimmage, then hit him one play later for 23 more and a 1st in Saint territory. Following a throwaway incompletion, a screen to Metcalf gained 11 and another catch by Mathis gave Atlanta a 1st & goal at the 9. The home team was unable to get a TD, though, and settled for a 25 yd Morten Andersen FG. Jim Everett hit Wesley Walls for 5 on 3rd & 1 and hit Early for 12 on 3rd & 7 to give the Saints a 1st at the Falcon 49, but the team was unable to get another 1st. The punt was fair-caught at the 18. A pass interference call on Tyrone Legette got the Falcons out of 3rd & 11. A Wayne Martin sack on the next play helped bring up 3rd & 19, but George hit Emanuel for 25. One play later Brown took a screen to the NO 47. A good pass defense by Legette was followed by an 11 yd run by Heyward. Andersen came on and made a 51 yarder after Shane Pahukoa couldn't hold on to a potential interception on 3rd down. Following a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the O moved quickly with an 11 yd Quinn Early catch & a 12 yd Mario Bates run on the drive's first two plays. Unfortunately, the team couldn't pick up another 1st. Klaus Wilmsmeyer's punt bounced into the endzone. George hit Metcalf for 18 on the Falcons' next play from scrimmage, but they failed to move the sticks a second time. Tyrone Hughes fair-caught the punt at the 12. A catch and a run by Bates gave the Saints a 1st, but the drive stalled, in part to a no-call on what looked to be downfield pass interference. The punt was muffed, but the Falcons recovered. Atlanta went 3 & punt, then so did the Saints. The Falcons used a pair of Heyward runs and a Metcalf catch to get to midfield, but they failed to make it to FG range. Following another fair catch at the 12, Michael Haynes gained 9 yds on a crossing pattern. Walls could've gained 10 or 15 yds on the next play, but he started running before he had secured the ball and produced an incompletion. After Bates couldn't get the yard needed for the 1st, Metcalf returned the punt to midfield. A couple of Falcon forays into Saint territory were negated by penalties, but on 3rd down George hit Emanuel for 14 to set up a FG. Andersen nailed it from 55 yds out, and the rather boring first half was soon over. On the second half's third play from scrimmage, another drop by Walls produced a 3 & punt series. The Falcons took over at their 28 and started marching- Heyward 5 run, Heyward 3 run, Heyward 25 catch for 1st; Emanuel 7 catch, Mathis 7 catch for 1st; incompletion, Heyward 5 run, Brown 10 catch for 1st; Heyward 5 run, Heyward 5 catch for TD. The PAT made it 16-0 Atlanta with 7:43 left in the third quarter. The lethargic Saints then finally put together a scoring drive. Derek Brown took a dump pass 14 yds on 3rd & 6, then Walls caught one for 11 on the next play. After an incompletion, Irv Smith caught one for 11 and Haynes grabbed one for 7. Haynes couldn't handle a throw into the endzone on the next play, but Early moved the sticks with a catch at the 16 on the play after that. A Richard Cooper false start backed the team up a bit, but a Bates run and an Early catch gave the visitors 1st & goal at the 2. On 1st Bates came up inches short of a TD. On 2nd the Saints were lucky a tipped pass wasn't intercepted. Ray Zellars failed to get in on 3rd. On 4th, a Falcon defender was called for faceguarding Walls, so a fresh set of downs was awarded. A QB sneak failed on 1st, and Bates was knocked back on 2nd. Finally, Everett found Smith just over the goal line to put the Saints on the board. A successful 2-point conversion could've put the Saints within a score of the Falcons, but Mora elected to kick the PAT. A throw to Emanuel and a pair of runs by Heyward moved Atlanta from their 27 to the NO 45 in three plays, but the drive stalled after that. The punt was fair-caught at the 14. Everett found a wide-open Haynes down the sideline for 39 on the first play of the ensuing possession. Two plays later he went back to the WR for 10 on 3rd & 3. Two plays after that Everett hit Torrance Small for the needed yardage on 3rd & 8. He then hit Smith on two plays in a row- the first for 15, the second for 5 and a TD. With 6:05 remaining, the PAT cut the deficit to two. Metcalf returned the ensuing kickoff to the NO 45. The Falcons couldn't get a 1st, but Morten came on and nailed his second 55 yarder of the game. The Saints took over at their 18 with just over 4 minutes remaining. On 3rd & 4 Everett scrambled for 7. He then hit Early for 24 and Small for 20 on consecutive plays. One play later he hit Walls down the middle to give the Saints 1st & goal at the 6. On 1st down Everett threw the ball away when he couldn't find an open receiver. On 2nd down Derek Brown worked himself open, but the probable TD vanished when Everett made a bad throw. On 3rd down Everett forced a throw into the endzone. Tuggle picked it off and returned it to the Atlanta 47. The Falcons ran out the clock and ended the Saints' playoff hopes. drive chart & stats ................... (P)unt, (M)issed FG, (E)nd of period, (F)umble, (I)nterception, out of (D)owns 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 5:09 A >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 2:54 I >>>>>>>>>>P 2:52 N >>>>P 2:21 T >>>>>P :37 S E :05 | ....................................................halftime | >>>P 1:46 | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 8:25 Smith | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 3:49 Smith | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I 3:17 | ....................................................gameover | 31:15 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G F >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 3:46 Andersen A >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>3 4:45 Andersen L >>>>>>>>>>>>P 1:44 C >>>>P 1:59 O >>>>>>>>>>>>>P 2:51 N >>>>>>>3 :57 Andersen S ....................................................halftime | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>7 5:31 Heyward | >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>P 4:24 | >>>3 1:48 Andersen | >>>>>>>>>E 1:00 | ....................................................gameover | 28:45 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1 G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 G .......throwin' & catchin'...../...runnin'.... Everett 2- 8 Bates 3- 11 14-45 Brown 3- 23 1- 2 Zellars 1- 0 Walls 4- 37 Smith 7- 45-2 Haynes 6- 77 Early 6- 66 Small 2- 28 incomplete 15 intercepted 1 31-47-287-2-1 18-55 Falcons: George 20-39-251-1-0, Heyward 19-93 run & 3-42-1 catch notes ..... * I don't think having Morten on our side would've changed the outcome of any of the Saints' previous games. This one, however, was definitely decided by Andersen. By the way, media, please spell his name correctly (both of his names end in -en). * Other than a 5-second possession following a squibbed kick before the end of the first half, the Saints' best starting field position of the day was their own 31. ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu