Rating: (0 votes - average)

NEW ORLEANS — It wasn’t a masterpiece of a football game.
It fact, it was quite gruesome at times, as the Falcons, the defending NFC South champs, lost 23-17 to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at the Superdome.

“If we score 17 points, I’m just saying: That’s terrible,” Falcons receiver Roddy White said. “You know? I’m just telling the truth. All of the guys that we have we should be able to score a lot more points than that.”

Yet, on a day when the offense was sputtering and couldn’t protect quarterback Matt Ryan, the Falcons still somehow had a chance to win.
A fourth-and-goal pass from the 3 intended for a smothered Tony Gonzalez was tipped and intercepted by Saints safety Roman Harper with 43 seconds left.

The Falcons, considered Super Bowl title contenders in some quarters, dropped to 0-1. The Saints, trying to rebound from a down season, got off to 1-0 start as head coach Sean Payton returned to the sidelines after a year-long suspension for the Bounty Gate scandal.

Ryan was under duress for most of the game as he was either sacked or hit on almost a fourth of the Falcons’ 38 pass attempts.

Before the key interception, the Falcons lost a chance to tie the game on third down, when running back Steven Jackson dropped an apparent touchdown pass in the end zone.

“When my number is called, I expect to make plays,” Jackson said. “Difficult, easy or whatever. That’s the expectation that I have of myself. I don’t live in a ‘what if’ world. I expect to make the play… I expect to make the play … I expect to make the play. I dropped the ball. ”

Ryan completed 25 of 38 passes for 304 yards, two touchdowns and had the interception on his final toss. He had a passer rating of 96.8.
Overall, Jackson, signed to replace Michael Turner, had a strong debut. He rushed for 77 yards on 11 carries and caught five passes for 45 yards. The Falcons have lauded his pass-catching ability as an upgrade over Turner, but he had two drops on eight targets.

The Falcons didn’t appear to be in sync offensively.

Read more: Falcons

|Mitch|

um... choke?

Mardigras9

So neither the Falcon or Saints offense played to their potential and the Saints won, story over.
There is always some excuse for why the Falcons didn't win, still don't understand why everyone is so sold on these guys.

Rugby Saint II

Ricolla!!!

homerj07

We did not look in sink as an offense either. Missed blocks, under thrown passes, overall poor run game. We still have a lot to work on also.

SloMotion

... in the world of statistical analysis, it's what is called a "disturbing trend", ... Can'tlanta just can't hold onto a lead against a good team.