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| ARI at WAS | ATL at NO | BAL at BUF | CHI at PHI | IND at JAX | KC at OAK | MIN at DAL | NE at MIA |
| NYJ at CIN | PIT at DEN | SF at NYG | STL at SEA | TB at DET | TEN at HOU | ||
Week 7 Game Recap: Atlanta Falcons 16, New Orleans Saints 22
What you need to know
| Atlanta Falcons |
Though Byron Leftwich was playing pretty well through the first 35 minutes of the game, he took a hard hit and suffered an ankle injury, forcing him out the game in favor of Joey Harrington. Before exiting, Leftwich completed 15 of 23 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown. Harrington entered down 14-13, and nearly brought the team back to victory, finishing 12 of 18 for 128 yards.
Both quarterbacks distributed the ball to four different receivers in Bobby Petrino's offense, though Roddy White made the most of those opportunities, catching eight passes for 110 yards and a touchdown. Michael Jenkins led the team in targets, and caught six balls for 64 yards. Rookie Laurent Robinson accounted for three receptions and 53 yards, while Joe Horn pulled in three balls versus his former team for 25 yards. With Alge Crumpler on the sideline, rookie Martrez Milner caught two balls for ten yards and Dwayne Blakley had one reception for four yards. Both Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood picked up one receiving yard, with Dunn catching one ball and Norwood pulling in three receptions.
The Falcons struggled to get a running game going, with Warrick Dunn gaining just 28 yards on thirteen carries, while counterpart Jerious Norwood gained 38 yards on six attempts. Ovie Mughelli gained three yards on his only carry from the fullback position, while Byron Leftwich was credited with six yards on three attempts and Joey Harrington gained nothing on one official attempt.
| New Orleans Saints |
The Saints picked up their second win of the season with a home victory against their division opponent. Drew Brees led the team with 219 yards passing by completing 22 of 34 passes, including two touchdowns and one interception. The Saints leading receiver was tight end Eric Johnson, who caught five balls for 54 yards. Wide receiver Marques Colston led the team in targets, but finished with just 45 yards on three receptions. Devery Henderson caught only one ball, but took it for a 37 yard touchdown. Lance Moore started the game opposite of Colston, but caught only one pass for ten yards. David Patten pulled in two balls for 29 yards, while backup tight end Billy Miller had one reception for seven yards.
Out of the backfield, Reggie Bush caught five balls for 19 yards and a touchdown on a nice second effort. Aaron Stecker pulled in two passes for eleven yards, while Matt Karney finished with two receptions for seven yards.
Reggie Bush wasn't able to get much going on the ground, finishing with 17 carries for 54 yards, though Pierre Thomas made the most of his opportunities, bouncing his first attempt outside for a 24 yard touchdown and finishing with 28 yards on two carries. Aaron Stecker gained one yard on his only attempt, with Drew Brees credited with eight yards on two attempts.
What you ought to know
| QB Byron Leftwich, Pass: 15 - 23 - 145 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 6 - 0 |
Trying to complete a deep pass, Leftwich held onto the ball too long and took a hit which caused him to suffer an ankle injury and exit the game. Prior to departing, he completed 65% of his passes for an average of 6.3 yards per attempt. While in the game, he threw five passes to Roddy White and Michael Jenkins, with four passes intended for Joe Horn and three for Laurent Robinson.
| QB Joey Harrington, Pass: 12 - 18 - 128 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
Harrington entered the game following an ankle injury to Byron Leftwich and completed 67% of his passes for an average of 6.6 yards per attempt, but couldn't find the end zone or lead the Falcons to victory despite not turning the ball over. Harrington distributed the ball fairly evenly and in similar distributions to Byron Leftwich, throwing five passes to Michael Jenkins, four passes to Joe Horn, three passes to Roddy White and two passes to Laurent Robinson.
| RB Warrick Dunn, Rush: 13 - 28 - 0, Rec: 1 - 1 - 0 (3 targets) |
Dunn struggled to get things going on the ground, gaining just 2.1 yards per carry, and was outgained by Jerious Norwood despite Norwood receiving fewer carries. Dunn was also absent in red zone formations late in the game. Two of Dunn's three targets came from Joey Harrington.
| RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 6 - 38 - 0, Rec: 3 - 1 - 0 (3 targets) |
Norwood averaged 6.3 yards per carry, but received less than half as many carries as counterpart Warrick Dunn. Norwood received two carries inside the ten yard late in the game, but found little room on first and second down. Norwood three targets were split with two coming from Byron Leftwich and one from Joey Harrington.
| WR Roddy White, Rec: 8 - 110 - 1 (8 targets) |
White caught every pass intended for him, and nearly caught a second touchdown, just barely stepping on the sideline on what would have been a 39 yard touchdown from Joey Harrington late in the game. White's touchdown came on a nine yard slant route over the middle where Byron Leftwich threw a sharp pass into a tight spot.
| WR Michael Jenkins, Rec: 6 - 69 - 0 (10 targets) |
Jenkins saw five targets from both quarterbacks, with a number of targets in the red zone, though none of which were in the end zone. Jenkins was active both over the middle of the field, on the sidelines and as a deep threat in this game.
| WR Joe Horn, Rec: 3 - 25 - 0 (8 targets) |
Horn ran a number of different types of routes in this game, but only pulled in two short passes. He was targeted four times by both Joey Harrington and Byron Leftwich versus his former team.
| WR Laurent Robinson, Rec: 3 - 53 - 0 (5 targets) |
Robinson made a very nice catch on a timing pattern from Joey Harrington as he slipped behind the defender, though saw fewer targets than his counterparts in this game.
| TE Martrez Milner, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
Filling in for the injured Alge Crumpler, Milner caught both passes thrown his way. Dwayne Blakley caught one pass.
| TE Dwayne Blakley, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Blakley caught one pass.
| PK Morten Andersen 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Andersen connected on field goals of 21, 33 and 38 yards and was successful on his only extra point attempt.
| ATL Rush Defense |
For the most part, the rush defense shut down Reggie Bush, but were unable to contain Pierre Thomas when he entered the game and bounced one outside for a rushing touchdown. The Saints accumulated 91 yards on 22 carries from the running backs.
| ATL Pass Defense |
The secondary came up with two interceptions, though one was called back due to an offsides penalty. Though they didn't let any one receiver beat them, they gave up 219 yards through the air including two touchdowns.
| QB Drew Brees, Pass: 22 - 34 - 219 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 8 - 0 |
Brees connected on 65% of his passes for an average of 6.4 yards per attempt. The interception by Brees occurred near the end of the second quarter on a fourth and two play where he tried forcing the ball on a play where could have easily run for the first down. He still doesn't look like the player from 2006 but he did enough to help his team win.
| RB Reggie Bush, Rush: 17 - 54 - 0, Rec: 5 - 19 - 1 (6 targets) |
Bush's biggest contribution came on a screen pass to the outside with five minutes remaining in the game, where he was initially stopped at the two yard line, but fought for the extra yards and spun out for a touchdown. His longest run on the day was for nine yards, as he averaged just 3.2 yards per carry against the Falcons defense.
| WR Marques Colston, Rec: 3 - 45 - 0 (7 targets) |
The Saints tried to get Colston involved in the deep passing game, though were unsuccessful in doing so. Most of his other targets were over the middle of the field where he is expected to make a play after the catch.
| WR David Patten, Rec: 2 - 29 - 0 (5 targets) |
Patten saw consistent action throughout the game, and is asked to find the hole in the zone in three and four wide receiver sets.
| WR Devery Henderson, Rec: 1 - 37 - 1 (1 targets) |
Henderson made the most of his one target catching it for a score. Henderson was penalized following his touchdown, and did not receive another pass all game.
| WR Lance Moore, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Despite starting, Moore was not targeted often in this game. One of his targets was an intercepted pass called back due to a penalty.
| TE Eric Johnson, Rec: 5 - 54 - 0 (5 targets) |
Johnson caught each of the passes intended for him and was the Saints leading receiver against the Falcons.
| PK Olindo Mare 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Mare did not attempt a field goal in this game, but connected on both extra points attempted. In a 20-16 game, the Saints opted to go for a two point conversion to extend their lead.
| NO Rush Defense |
The Saints held the Falcons duo of Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood from moving the chains, allowing only 75 yards on the ground on 24 team carries.
| NO Pass Defense |
Though they knocked starter Byron Leftwich from the game, the Saints pass rush failed to consistently pressure the passer, and gave up 273 yards and a touchdown through the air on 27 of 41 passes.
