Falcons Fall to Saints

The Falcons suffered their first loss today to the New Orleans Saints. It was a high scoring affair but the Saints held the Falcons late and won 31-27.
Drew Brees extended his NFL record to 52 straight games with a touchdown pass. Two of his three touchdown passes went to tight end Jimmy Graham who caught seven passes total for a career-best 146 yards receiving. The biggest play of the game for the Saints happened when Jabari Greer knocked away a pass intended for the Falcons' Roddy White, which if caught, would have put the Falcons on top and they would have most likely won. Greer dove and barely got his hand on the ball to save the game for the Saints. The win gives the Saints a 4-5 record now on the season.
The Falcons had a 10-0 lead in the beginning, fell behind and came back to lead 17-14 but then fell behind again for good. The offensive line provided little protection again for Matt Ryan or for running back Michael Turner, who amassed a grand total of fifteen yards rushing on thirteen carries. Ryan moved the ball effectively, but they couldn't score late from inside the red zone. They had first and goal from the one, before Greer's heroics occurred on fourth and one. The defense picked off a Brees' pass, but did nothing after that giving up almost 300 yards passing and 150 yards rushing, including a 56 yard touchdown run by Saints' running back Chris Ivory.
Other than suffering their first loss of the season, the biggest news for the Falcons was tight end Tony Gonzalez caught his 100th career touchdown pass. He became the first tight end ever to accomplish the feat in the history of the NFL. He finished the day with eleven catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns. White ended the day with seven catches for 114 yards and Ryan threw for a career-high 411 yards along with three touchdown passes and an interception. Kicker Matt Bryant had a perfect day this week, kicking two fields goals. Corner back Dunta Robinson led the team with seven tackles and fellow corner back Asante Samuel had the interception on Brees.
The rival Saints were the last team the Falcons wanted to lose their perfection to, but now they can forget about that and just focus on winning the division and making the playoffs. They will continue their quest for the division against the Arizona Cardinals next week at the Georgia Dome. The game will be at 1 p.m. The Cardinals are currently 4-5 on the year, they had their bye week this week.

The Saints' Jabari Greer knocks the ball away from the Falcons' Roddy White to seal the win for New Orleans.
Photo Courtesy of images.yahoo.com