Atlanta Falcons 27-25 New Orleans Saints: It's Koo, It's Damn Koo

The New Orleans Saints fanbase have a chant that goes like this "Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?". Well New Orleans, WE DAT!

Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo kicked a 29 yard field goal as time expired to give the Falcons a dramatic road win over their arch rivals New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome. The Falcons squandered a 4th quarter 24-6 lead to trail the Saints by a point with 61 seconds left on the clock. Just as the whole Atlanta Falcons fanbase began to think we had lost another game having had a big 4th quarter lead, Matt Ryan found Cordarelle Patterson open down the sideline for his longest and most important completion of the season to set up the game winning kick.

The Game

In a first half where both offenses struggled; The Falcons orchestrated a magnificent 92 yard touchdown drive to put them 10-0 up at half time. The key plays on this drive were three consecutive 3rd down conversions. The biggest a 20 yard Ryan to Gage completion that got us to the New Orleans 20 yard line. The drive was capped off with Ryan completing a 3 yard pass to Olamide Zaccheaus on 2nd and goal. The Falcons had successfully forced them into passing situations in the first half. They were assisted by the Saints getting several costly penalties. I named Cordarelle Patterson as my Falcons offensive MVP so far this season in my preview of this game and he continued to reek havoc for the opposition in the pass game as the Falcons had success throwing his way when lined up at receiver or in the backfield.

In the 3rd quarter between two Saints field goal drives, the Falcons went on a 7 play 81 yard touchdown scoring drive which was completed by a Matt Ryan 1 yard rush into the end zone. The Saints secondary done a good job of covering Ryan's passing options but nobody accounted for the Falcons quarterback going himself. Falcons were up 17-6. Things got even better for the Falcons in the 4th quarter when James Vaughters forced a fumble after sacking Saints quarterback Trevor Siemian at the Saints 38 yard line.  Falcons edge rusher Steven Means scooped up the loose ball and returned it 32 yards to the Saints 6 yard line before being tackled by Saints WR Tre'Quan Smith. The Falcons wasted no time getting into the endzone again; extending their lead to 24-6. This time Ryan hit Zaccheaus for his 2nd touchdown of the day at the back of the end zone after the wide out ran an amazing route on Saints pro bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore to get open.

With 10.39 left in the 4th quarter, the Falcons were cruising up 24-6 and then their defence crumbled. Siemian got hot and he began to find the holes in the Falcons defence. He threw to an open Marquez Callaway to narrow the gap to 11 points. A lack of discipline had set in. Back to back penalties; one on special teams and one on the defence (15 yards on Richie Grant for unnecessary roughness and 27 yards on Fabian Moreau for defensive pass interference) and a later flag for roughing the passer on Foye Oluokun costing the Falcons 14 more yards helped gift wrap a 54 yard touchdown drive which Alvin Kamara ran in. The Falcons prevented the Saints from making it a three point game as Duron Harmon broke up a pass intended for Troutman on the two point conversion attempt. 

With the score at 24-19 in the Falcons favour the last thing they could afford with the Superdome crowd loud and rocking was a three and out and what followed? A strange quarterback designed run play for Feleipe Franks that gained nothing, then back to back sacks. Three and out. Falcons punt. A good punt return by Harris gave Siemian great field position. One minute and 45 seconds later the Saints had their 3rd touchdown of the quarter. Kenny Stills breaking the plane on this occasion after an 8 yard pass from Siemian. The only saving grace for the Falcons was that they stopped the Saints two point conversion attempt again as Kamara slipped as he ran into a wall of Falcon defensive linemen so they trailed by only 1. 

With the Saints up 25-24 and the Falcon facing 1st and 10 from their own 25 yard line; Matt Ryan dropped back and threw a beauty to Cordarelle Patterson who was working on cornerback Paulson Adebo that resulted in a 64 yard pass play. Patterson hauled in all six of his targets for a team high 126 receiving yards. The inexplicable nearly happened on the following play as Mike Davis fumbled after Marcus Davenport punched it out of his hands but luckily Davis managed to fall on the ball and recover it. The Falcons kneeled on the ball twice leaving it down to Younghoe Koo to be the hero. His kicked sealed an important week 9 divisional win improving the Atlanta Falcons record to 4-4.

Falcons Offensive Star

Quarterback: Matt Ryan: This one could of gone a couple of ways but I have to give it to our quarterback Matt Ryan. To deliver a performance without Calvin Ridley against the 4th best scoring defence in football like he did shows why Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenout decided to build around him rather then replace him in the off-season. Ryan was pressured 19 times but completed 23 of his 30 attempts for 343 yards for 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He finished the game with an average depth target of 10.3 yards. and a 135.8 passer rating. He also had a rushing touchdown.

Falcons Defensive Star

Cornerback: AJ Terrell: Terrell is a pro bowl cornerback. Whether he gets voted to it or not I couldn't care less, he has been amazing this season for talent poor Falcons secondary. PFF have him ranked as their 7th best cornerback this season. He allowed just two receptions for 19 yards on five targets. 

Falcons Positives

Wide Receivers: Russell Gage and Olamide Zaccheaus: The duo took advantage of coverage's being rolled Patterson and Pitts way by catching 10 of their combined 11 targets for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. A huge improvement by the Falcons new top 2 receivers given Calvin Ridleys absence.

Falcons Negatives

The Offensive Line: Although Matt Ryan was only sacked twice, he was pressured 19 times. This must improve if the Falcons are to win more football games. Jalen Mayfield gave up a team high 4 pressures as he continues to struggle in his rookie season at guard. The Falcons couldn't run the ball effectively. They gained a pitiful 34 yards on 25 carries for 1.4 yards per attempt. 

What I Would Like To See

Give Richie Grant and Jaylinn Hawkins more game time, I know Grant had a silly penalty on special teams but starting safety Erik Harris allowed 8 of the 9 targets thrown his way to be complete for 98 yards. 

Box Score

Atlanta Falcons
Passing: Matt Ryan 23/30, 343 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, passer rating 135.8.
Rushing: Mike Davis 9 carries for 13 yards.
Receiving: Cordarelle Patterson 6 receptions for 126 yards.

New Orleans Saints
Passing: Trevor Siemian 25/41, 249 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, passer rating 94.5.
Rushing: Alvin Kamara 13 carries for 50 yards and 1 touchdown.
Receiving: Kamara 4 receptions for 54 yards.

Highlights

The highlights are available here on youtube


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