The game that was
Despite the fourth-down call that failed in overtime, the Falcons had their chances before succumbing to the New Orleans Saints 26-23 in a battle for first place in the NFC South. They were 0-for-3 in the red zone against a team that was ranked 31st in the league in red-zone defense. If they score on one of those opportunities, coach Mike Smith is off the hook.
What we learned
1. The pass rush needs to pick it up. Saints quarterback Drew Brees dropped back to pass 43 times and the Falcons came near him just a few times. The Falcons had no sacks and were credited with just two quarterback hits; defensive tackle Peria Jerry and defensive end John Abraham had the hits. The Falcons pride themselves in batting down passes, but they had only two passes defensed. Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and cornerback Brent Grimes broke up a pass each. The Falcons have just 15 sacks this season, tied with three teams for 27th in the league.
2. The penalty bug bites them again. A week after committing just one penalty, the Falcons returned to their undisciplined ways. The Falcons were called for 12 penalties, and 10 were accepted for 85 yards in losses. Last season, the Falcons were the least-penalized team in the league with 58. With seven games to play, the Falcons have 58 penalties for 493 yards. The offenders against the Saints: Roddy White (unnecessary roughness), Will Svitek (false start), Eric Weems (unnecessary roughness), Kroy Biermann (ineligible player downfield), Weems (fair catch interference), John Abraham (neutral zone infraction), White (offensive pass interference), Dunta Robinson (illegal contact), Jonathan Babineaux (encroachment) and White (false start).
3. Harry Douglas can get open. Douglas, the third-year wide receiver, had his best day in the NFL. His eight catches for 133 yards were both career highs. He accounted for 66 yards on the game-tying drive at the end of regulation. "I think they were blowing the coverage or they were just pushing to double Tony [Gonzalez]; one of the two," Douglas said. "I think they may have blew the coverage because I don't think there is no way possible that you're supposed to leave a receiver that open, especially a slot receiver."
Injury report
Wide receiver Julio Jones (right hamstring) left the game late in the second quarter and did not return. Running back Jason Snelling (hamstring) left the game but returned.
The numbers game
7
Snelling ran through seven tacklers on his 21-yard touchdown run. “Oh, my goodness,” Smith said. “It was almost super human the way that he ran the ball in. He was hit by a number of Saints players and he was able to get in the end zone.”
4.66
Rookie punter Matt Bosher’s hang time on his 51-yard punt in the first quarter was 4.66 seconds. On his 41-yard punt in the third quarter, he had hang time of 4.15 seconds.
9
Middle linebacker Curtis Lofton led the defense with a team-high nine tackles.
31
The defense held the Saints to 4 of 13 (31 percent) on third-down conversions.
18
In 41 games with the team, Gonzalez has 18 touchdown catches, which ranks third in team history behind Alge Crumpler (35) and Jim Mitchell (28).
Sound bite
“It was absolutely the right thing to do. You can’t keep giving the ball back to that offense.”
-- Falcons owner Arthur Blank on the fourth-down call.
Loose ends
The Falcons streak of 27 games in coming up with a turnover ended. The Saints did not have any fumbles and the Falcons got their hands on two of Brees’ 43 pass attempts but didn't intercept either one. ... Matt Bryant missed a 41-yard attempt to the left at the end of the first half to snap his team-record streak of 30 consecutive made field goals. ... During the Falcons' three-game winning streak they averaged 152.7 yards rushing per game. Against the Saints they had 32 rushes for 138 yards.
What’s next
The Falcons (5-4) will face the Tennessee Titans (5-4) at 4:15 p.m. Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
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