The Atlanta Falcons were looking like a pretty potent team in the NFC with a run of 2 wins in a row and 4 out of their last 5 by a total of 129-85 until they ran into the buzz saw of the New Orleans Saints in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on a Monday Night Football game with playoff implications for only the Saints. Atlanta backed their way into the playoffs a night earlier by virtue of a Chicago Bears loss to the defending champion Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Christmas night.

New Orleans went on to light up the Falcons to the tune of a 45-16 victory that not only cemented the Saints as Champions of the NFC South and at least the number 3 seed in the NFC, but also celebrated Drew Brees as the new single season passing record holder over Dan Marino from 27 years ago. Marino‘s 5,084 yd record that was set in 1984 went down in style to the most deserving of people in Drew Brees with 5,087 yds for the New Orleans Saints so far this season.

Atlanta might have been thinking they were pretty hot stuff after a convincing win over a Jacksonville Jaguars team by the final score of 41-14 last Thursday night, but then they met up with the real cream of the crop in the NFC last night in the Superdome and had to realize just how much farther they have to go to become an elite team in this league.