Matt Ryan, Younghoe Koo Keep Falcons From Late Fall: Atlanta 27, Saints 25
Great quarterbacks don't always play well. But they usually avoid playing poorly two weeks in a row.
A week after posting one of the worst statistical games of his career, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan bounced back in a huge way, throwing for 343 yards with three total touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints in Week 9.
The Falcons needed every bit of it too, as the defense blew an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter. Behind Ryan's fantastic game, the Falcons made a bit of a statement, escaping with a last-second field goal, 27-25, at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday.
New Orleans scored 19 straight points to take a one-point lead with a little more than a minute to go in the fourth quarter. But after a quiet fourth quarter, Ryan responded, tossing his longest completion of the season to Cordarrelle Patterson to begin Atlanta's next drive.
Even inside the red zone, the game apparently wasn't safe, as Mike Davis fumbled on the next play. But the Falcons wisely kneeled down on the ball and then kicked a 29-yard field goal to win.
Ryan was on from the start Sunday. He also connected with Patterson for a 34-yard completion on Atlanta's first third down of the game.
Ryan looked down field for big plays all afternoon. He had three passes greater than 30 yards to three different receivers -- Patterson, Olamide Zaccheaus and Kyle Pitts. Zaccheaus hauled in a 49-yard catch in the third quarter, which is tied for the longest play of the season for Atlanta. Russell Gage also had a 20-yard reception.
Gage led the Falcons with seven receptions while Patterson finished with a game-high 126 receiving yards, 64 of which came on the key late fourth-quarter play.
Zaccheaus had his best game of the season. In addition to the long reception, he caught a 3-yard touchdown in the final seconds of the first half and a 6-yard score during the fourth quarter.
Ryan orchestrated all of that without his top receiver Calvin Ridley, going 23 of 30 with the two touchdowns to Zaccheaus. Ryan averaged a season-high 11.4 yards per pass.
The Falcons needed Ryan too. In addition to the struggling defense, Atlanta's ground game was nonexistent, averaging 1.4 yards per carry. In fact, what little the ground game contributed came from Ryan. The 36-year-old was tied with Mike Davis with the Falcons' longest run of the day (five yards) and scored his first rushing touchdown of the season.
The game appeared to be finished when linebacker James Vaughters had a clean shot at Trevor Siemian with about 11 minutes remaining in the fourth and the Falcons leading by 11. While sacking Siemian, Vaugthers striped the ball, which Steven Means picked up and returned to the Saints 6-yard line.
Zaccheaus scored his second touchdown on the next play.
But that's when the comeback began for the Saints. Siemian threw for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
If not for so many mistakes early in the game, New Orleans wouldn't have found itself in such a big hole. In addition to the giveaway, the Saints had five drops, including one that would have been a fourth-down conversion, in the first half. New Orleans also committed 10 penalties. A majority of those fouls were either holdings or false starts.
Thankfully for the Falcons, Younghoe Koo was true on his final attempt. Otherwise, Atlanta would be talking about another colossal collapse.
But even with the victory, major question marks remain for the Falcons, particularly their defense. They can't stop the run or backup quarterbacks. Atlanta also now has a minus-57 point differential in the fourth quarter this season.
With the victory, the Falcons improved to 4-4, including 3-1 on the road. The Falcons will visit the Dallas Cowboys, who lost Sunday for the first time since Week 1.
The loss dropped the Saints to 5-3, but they remain in second place of the NFC South.
PHOTO RECAP: Falcons @ Saints
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