Falcons Beat Rival Saints

The Atlanta Falcons took and early lead over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night, and hung on to win 23-13. With the win, the Falcons will clinch the division on Sunday if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose to the Denver Broncos.
The Saints' playoff hopes took a big hit as their record fell to 5-7 with the loss. They would basically need to win their last four games to have any hope of making the postseason. Drew Brees' NFL record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass came to an end in the loss, but he did set another personal record. He threw five interceptions in a game for the first time in his 12-year career. After the Falcons took a 17-0 lead, the Saints completely dominated the last half of the second quarter and most of the third quarter, but they could never pull even. Brees finished the night passing for 341 yards and receiver Lance Moore hauled in seven catches for 123 yards to lead the Saints.
Michael Turner and Matt Ryan staked the Falcons to their early lead. Turner ran the ball into the end zone from three yards out for his 58th career touchdown as a Falcon. It broke Terrance Mathis' old team record for touchdowns. Ryan then threw a seventeen yard pass to Tony Gonzalez in the end zone for another score. The rest of the Falcons' points came on three Matt Bryant field goals, including a 55-yarder to put the Falcons up by two possessions late in the game.
Ryan finished the night with only 165 yards passing and his touchdown, it was an off-night compared to his usual standards. Turner ended up having a decent game with 83 yards rushing and his record setting touchdown. Safety William Moore had a career game, leading the Falcons with ten tackles and picking off two of the five interceptions Brees threw. Thomas DeCoud, Sean Weatherspoon and Jonathan Babineaux had the other three interceptions. John Abraham also had a big sack late in the game on a third down play.
With this victory, the Falcons hope to have gained some respect and also hope that critics will begin to realize they are true playoff contenders. They will take their 11-1 record on the road next Sunday, December 9th, and take on Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers will play this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. The game between the Falcons and Panthers will be at 1 p.m. next week.

Falcons' safety William Moore picks off one of his two interceptions on Thursday night. Moore led the defense in the Falcons' 23-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
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