Written by Robert Henry
New Orleans, LA – The New Orleans Saints hosted the Atlanta Falcons on this year’s Thanksgiving Day game. The Saints were looking to continue their run to the playoffs, while the Falcons were looking to turn their season around and position themselves as a playoff contender. The final score at the Mercedes Benz Superdome was Saints 31 Falcons 17. The game was controlled by the Saints pretty early on but that did not stop the Falcons from putting up a fight.
The Saints star running back Alvin Kamara had a great night with 14 attempts for 89 yards. Although he did not see the end zone he helped position his team to score. Drew Brees had a solid performance, completing 15 of 22 passes for 171 yards. Although Matt Ryan might have struggled a bit at times, he performed pretty well. Ryan completed 35 of his 47 attempts for 377 yards. Although he did have an interception and three fumbles, the interception was tipped away and the fumbles were the result of strip sacks. Julio Jones had a great night as well even though he was absent in the end zone. Jones caught 11 of his 14 passes for 147 yards of scrimmage. Right behind him is Calvin Ridley who had a solid showing as well. He caught 8 of his 13 targets for 93 yards, as well as a 50-yard catch and a touchdown.
At the start of the game, it looked as if the Falcons were ready to face this tough opponent in the Saints. However, the Saints were not going to make it easy at all. The Saints came out and within the first four minutes of the game, Brees was able to get the ball into TommyLee Lewis’ hands for a 27-yard pass putting the Saints up early. The Falcons came out on their first possession looking to score but the Saints defense had other plans for them. To end the Falcons first drive Ryan was sacked by the Saints’ safety Marcus Williams, who not only sacked Ryan but was able to force a fumble on the play and recover the ball himself.
This was not the start the Atlanta was looking for coming I off two straight losses. However, near the end of the first quarter, the Falcons were able to put points on the board and stay in this game. The Saints continued their drive to start the second quarter and on the first play, the Falcons defense showed Brees that they are to be feared by sacking him for a 6-yard loss. The Falcon’s defense was even able to hold the high-powered Saints offense to just a field goal on their first possession of the second quarter. Moving forward, however, Brees and the Saints were unrelenting when it came to driving the ball downfield. Brees was able to connect with Austin Carr for a touchdown, putting the Saints up 17 to 3 after Saints placekicker Will Lutz makes the extra point.
The start of the second half we saw the Falcons defense forced the Saints into a three and out on their first possession. The Saints on their next possession were able to put up some more points and extending their lead over the Falcons as Brees connected with a pass to Dan Arnold for 25 yards and a touchdown. After Lutz kicked the extra point the score was 24 to 3 giving the Saints a commanding lead. The Falcons though we’re not ready to give up, in fact, they never stopped trying to gain traction against the Saints.
The Falcons would essentially hold on to the ball until the end of the third quarter getting their first TD of the game as Ryan was able to connect with Ridley in the back of the end zone.
On the Saints ensuing possession, they would once again get into the end zone, this time with Brees connecting with Keith Kirkwood for a 5-yard touchdown pass putting the Saints up 31-10. That would be the last time the Saints would score in this game. The Falcons would end up with another scoring drive but it wouldn’t be until after the two-minute warning. Ryan was set in the shotgun position and made a beautiful pass to Tevin Coleman and this would put the Falcons score at 17. Atlanta then tried an onside kick, however, the ball went right into Kamara’s hands. Brees and the Saints ended the game by taking a knee to run the clock out.
The Saints were just too much for the Falcons on this Thanksgiving Day night. It wasn’t as if the Falcons didn’t show up to play but the Saints offense and defense were just running at a different level. The Falcons did have some great plays but there were some costly mistakes. However, in the game of football sometimes you have to take risks in order to come out on top. This was not the case for the Falcons, yet the fact that they never gave in or gave up is telling. It tells all their fans and their teammates that they will give 110% all the time and always look to win the battle even if the odds are stacked against them. The next Falcons game will be at home in Atlanta on December 2, 2018, as they face the Baltimore Ravens.
