The New Orleans Saints took better control of the NFC South with their 26-23 overtime victory over the Falcons on Sunday, increasing their lead to 1 1/2 games, which might be sign of things to come.
Over the past two seasons, the winner of the first regular-season matchup between these teams has gone on to post a 13-3 record and win the division.
In 2009, the Saints parlayed a victory in the rivalry to a division title and a Super Bowl ring.
Last season, the Falcons won the first matchup with the Saints and went on to win the division and produce a conference-best 13-3 record. It appears to be a two-team race after Tampa Bay dropped to 4-5 once it was pummeled 37-9 by Houston and Carolina dropped to 2-7 after losing 30-3 to Tennessee.
"We are behind and we have some ground to make up," Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson said. "We can't lose any more divisional games."
The Falcons are 1-2 in the division, with losses to the Saints and Tampa Bay.
“We definitely want to be a team that’s relevant in December,” Robinson said. “We can’t lose any more divisional games. We really don’t want to lose any more games, period.”
Jones leaves game
Falcons rookie wide receiver Julio Jones left the game late in the second quarter and did not return. He finished with two catches for nine yards.
Jones was coming off his best game in the NFL: three catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-7 win over the Colts.
Jones suffered a right hamstring injury last week after missing two earlier games with a left hamstring injury.
With Jones slowed, wide receiver Harry Douglas caught eight passes for 133 yards.
Penalty total matched
The Falcons can’t shake their season-long problem with penalties: They picked up 10 more for 85 yards against the Saints.
Last season, the Falcons were the least penalized team in the league with 58. With seven games to play, they have 58 penalties for 493 yards.
"It was very disturbing in terms of the personal-foul penalties. ... You can't have that," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "Some of them, we were able to overcome. But when you play a good football team like the New Orleans Saints, you can't have those types of penalties."
Veteran tight end Tony Gonzalez cited the penalties as a major issue that will be addressed.
“We made some silly mistakes out there; silly, silly penalties that we do not need,” Gonzalez said. “If we do that in the playoffs, it’s going to end up like this today. We can’t do that. We are kind of developing a little trend and we can’t do that. Every guy who did it knows what they did.”
Onside kick attempt
After Gonzalez's 20-yard touchdown catch pulled his team within 23-20 with 4:18 to play, the Falcons went for an onside kick. Saints receiver Lance Moore recovered a ball that didn't travel 10 yards.
Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said this of the play, "I'm out there trying to get that ball. I was excited about that aggressive playcalling. That's what you have to do in these type of games. You have to take those chances."
Snelling’s extra effort
When running back Jason Snelling scored on a 21-yard touchdown in the third quarter, his teammates admired the effort.
"He made a really good play," quarterback Matt Ryan said. "We saw them check out to a cover two [defense] and they got good depth underneath our pass routes and I checked the football down. Jason just made a great play."
Etc.
The Falcons opened the game with a 16-play, 61-yard drive that took 8:40 off the clock. Matt Bryant capped it with a 36-yard field goal. The drive was the season's longest, in terms of plays and time of possession. ... The Falcons averted disaster on their first kickoff when Saints returner Darren Sproles caught the ball four yards deep in the end zone, came out, faked a handoff and darted to the Atlanta 35. Kicker Matt Bosher, the last defender, put a hit to Sproles to knock him down. ... Bosher had good hang time on his punts. His first punt of 51 yards was airborne for 4.66 seconds. He averaged 45.4 yards on five punts.
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