The Atlanta Falcons[5-6] defeated the New Orleans Saints[5-6] 24-15. Next Week, the Saints host the Lions while the Falcons travel to play the Jets.
1st Quarter: Saints Kicker Blake Grupe kicks a 25-yard field goal. Saints Quarterback Derek Carr throws an interception returned 92 yards for a touchdown to Falcons Safety Jessie Bates III.
2nd Quarter: Blake Grupe kicks a 52-yard field goal. Falcons Running Back Bijan Robinson runs in a 10-yard touchdown. Blake Grupe kicks a 41-yard field goal. Falcons Quarterback Desmond Ridder throws an interception to Saints Safety Tyrann Mathieu who returns it to their own 4-yard line. Falcons lead 14-9 at halftime.
3rd Quarter: Blake Grupe kicks a 45-yard field goal. Desmond Ridder throws another interception to Tyrann Mathieu who returns it to the Saints 47-yard line. Saints Taysom Hill fumbles the ball and the Falcons recover at their own 5-yard line.
4th Quarter: Desmond Ridder throws a 26-yard touchdown to Bijan Robinson. Blake Grupe kicks a 39-yard field goal. Falcons Kicker Younghoe Koo kicks a 39-yard field goal. Rushing into the field, Blake Grupe misses a 54-yard field goal. The Falcons won 24-15.
Saints Notes:
This was probably the most frustrating game I have watched with this team in a while. The offense can not get anything going. Despite Taysom Hill, Alvin Kamara, and Chris Olave doing what they needed to, and Juwan Johnson finally getting involved, there was no flow to the offense. Taysom Hill finally made a mistake this year by fumbling. Kamara did not get the ball on the ground enough with only 15 carries. The designed Taysom Hill plays were not great and many went outside instead of between the tackles. Derek Carr has not been given great plays to work with and I get that. But he needs to read the defense better than what we saw in this game. Jessie Bates’ interception was a mistake you see in High School. The Offensive Line was much better this game. As you can see I have not discussed Pete Carmichael. I am just done talking about him. Dennis Allen will not make a change which means Allen will likely have to go in order for Carmichael to go. On defense, Dennis Allen has lost this team, especially this defense. He is such a great defensive mind but with the issues surrounding other parts of this team, it seems he has been spread thin. Only three sacks through three games is not good enough. Cameron Jordan has defended himself saying he is great at stopping the run as he is at pass rushing but he is so much more than that. Dennis Allen can not get anyone to the Quarterback. The run defense played like they have the past couple of years. Unable to slow down anyone running the ball. The secondary is up and down. Sometimes people are locking down and getting interceptions while other times they give up open passes to anyone. Rashid Shaheed got hurt which removed a key threat in deep passes and as a return specialist. Taysom Hill became more of a receiver in this game because of it. A.T. Perry was supposed to fill in for Michael Thomas but he saw minimal action. Lynn Bowden Jr. saw more time with the offense which is hard to picture if you told me at the beginning of the year. Penalties continue to be an issue but Dennis Allen will not do anything about it. The Saints lose the division lead and Dennis Allen is doing nothing to change the issues he has created.
-Jordan Burden