Saints 17 Falcons 27 The Saints defense scored 2 TDs but yielded over 500 yds in a loss to division-leading Atlanta. The game began with an 8 yd catch by Cam Cleeland, followed by four runs by Wilmont Perry behind the blocking of H-back Josh Wilcox. Kerry Collins hit Eric Guliford for 18 to move the sticks on 3rd & 6, but a play later Collins fumbled after being hit behind the line. Atlanta recovered at the 50. Chandler hit Martin for a 1st on 3rd & 7, then threw a perfect strike to Mathis, who ran out-of-bounds at the 1. Christian powered it in for the TD on the next play. On the second play of the next possession, a Collins misfire was intercepted at the Falcon 38. On the very next play, Mathis caught a throw, survived a sandwich of Saint defenders, then ran all the way in for a score. Less than nine minutes in, the Saints trailed 14-0. Collins moved the team to midfield with a throw to Andre Hastings, but on the following play he threw another INT. Atlanta moved from its 17 to the NO 30 with 8 runs by Anderson, a pair of catches by Martin, and a defensive holding penalty. The drive ended when Fred Weary grabbed a Chandler overthrow. In the following two possessions, neither team managed a 1st. The O then moved to the Falcon 45 before Collins threw his third interception of the game. After an Atlanta punt, Ditka yanked Collins in favor of Billy Joe Tolliver, but the QB switch failed to move the chains- Mark Royals' punt was fair-caught at the NO 49. On the next play, the D took matters into its own hands- Weary picked off Chandler and returned the ball all the way for a TD. The Falcons took possession at the 25 with 1:19 left before the half. Chandler threw to Christian for 7 on 3rd & 6, then hit Martin for 18. With 12 seconds remaining, Atlanta faced 4th & 1 from the NO 37. The Falcons put the FG on hold and tried a running play. It worked- Christian gained 6. Morten hit a 49 yarder to make the halftime score 17-7. In the opening possession of the second half, the D scored again- Keith Mitchell separated Chandler from the ball, and Mark Fields grabbed the pigskin and ran in for a TD. In the following possession, the D hounded Chandler repeatedly while pushing Atlanta from the 30 back to the 7. The Falcons were happy to escape with a punt. Tolliver led the O to the Falcon 42 but no farther. Royals punted to the 5. Four consecutive plays took Atlanta from the 7 to the NO 25- Anderson 13 run, Mathis 12 catch, Mathis 19 catch, Anderson 24 run. The drive ended on the second play of the fourth quarter with a 33 yd FG. Both teams went 3 & punt. A 17 yd Sean Dawkins catch, a 13 yd Tolliver scramble, a 4 yd Hastings catch, and a personal foul put the team at the Atlanta 18. Three incompletes followed, so Doug Brien kicked the 36 yarder. On 2nd & 5 from the Atlanta 37, Chandler hit Mathis on a slant. The WR made a move to get by Chad Cota and ran the distance for the score. With 6:50 remaining the Saints trailed by 10. Aaron Craver gained the necessary yardage on 4th & 1 from the NO 40, but on 3rd & 7 from the Atlanta 35 Keith Poole was bounced back behind the 1st down marker. Tolliver's 4th & 1 throw fell incomplete. Atlanta killed the final 3 minutes with Anderson runs. stats & yardage histograms (from my "le Stat" system, not official) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ note: this stuff is meant to be read using a fixed-width font, like Courier note: the capital letters in the stats are used in the histograms and the drive chart to identify the players ..runnin'....../.......throwin' & catchin'........ Kerry collins 1-13 billy Joe tolliver 4- 5 1-19 1- 3 Lamar smith 5-20 Aaron craver 2- 6 3- 0 troy Davis 5-14 Wilmont perry andre Hastings 1-17 1- 4 Sean dawkins 2-26 2-30 eric Guliford 1-18 2- 6 keith Poole 2-27 brett Bech 1-11 cameron Cleeland 1- 8 1-(5) incomplete 5 11 1 intercepted 3 0 0 18-52 6-14-88-0-3 12-23-82-0-0 0-1-0-0-0 A A D A <--runs D L L A L W WDW WW LA J ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** C A GH A CS B S SGL P G P S L H <--passes ..runnin'......./.......throwin' & catchin'................. 4- 24 chris Chandler 27-150 jamal Anderson 1- 3 4- 11-1 Bob christian 2- 11 1- (1) ken Oxendine terance Mathis 6-197-2 Tony martin 8-108 todd Kinchen 1- 4 o.J. santiago 1- 19 incomplete 7 intercepted 2 36-184-1 19-28-342-2-2 C B O AA A AAABC A <--runs A AAAAA A ABAAAAABAACCA A A A A ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** AKT T MM TM M T MM B T TT J B T <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * a loss to Arizona next week eliminates the Saints from playoff contention ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu