An Exhausting Effort
For those that stayed awake into Tuesday morning to see if the Falcons could finish off an unlikely comeback and tie the game off an improbable Saints turnover and successful onside kick recovery, here’s what you missed.
In one word.
Effort.
Undying, unbridled, passionate, effort.
This game was more than an NFC South rivalry duel. It was also more than a simple loss, which is what got recorded to the Falcons schedule in New Orleans: 35-27.
Effort manifested itself in a number of ways, including four Saints turnovers forced by the defense, halftime adjustments that resulted in closing a two-score gap to just four points in the final quarter and reserve linebacker Coy Wire coming out of the pile for what could have been a game-changing fumble recovery and exploding from another mass of bodies with the football on what could have been a game-altering onside kick recovery.
All experts polled on ESPN prior to the game picked the Saints. Many thought the contest — pairing one of the league’s top offenses against a young, in many ways unproven defense — would be over quickly.
Not the case.
The Falcons defense played with heart and put pressure on Saints quarterback Drew Brees, even scoring off a sack-forced-fumble combo and intercepting the Pro Bowler to end another scoring chance.
That created opportunities for the offense, led by a resurgent Michael Turner (151 rushing yards and a score).
But it doesn’t take long for a game to take a sudden — and frustrating — turn.
For close to 55 minutes the Falcons (4-3) were in a position to give the Saints their first loss of the 2009 season. But for two brief stretches at inopportune times with unfortunate moments, victory was unraveled.
In the matter of 24 seconds in the second quarter of Monday’s game at New Orleans (7-0) the Birds watched as tie game devolved into a 14-point deficit. That’s what happens when Reggie Bush has an opening for a touchdown run and, two plays from scrimmage later, Matt Ryan throws an interception to Jabari Greer that’s returned for a score.
After solid halftime planning, the Falcons closed the gap to 28-24.
Then, more pieces fell into place.
A Saints turnover. A chance to take a fourth-quarter lead.
But that, too, was vanquished with a tipped pass and goal-line interception. The Saints attempted to put the game to bed with another touchdown, but the Falcons effort does not know quit.
It is ironic that, for the most part, each team did what it set out to do. There will be positive with negative to review on film and plenty learned for when these teams meet again in December.
It wasn’t the shootout experts suggested or the defensive battle that can arise from spirited play.
It was an in-between game between teams with something to prove.
And they did it with effort.
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We may have lost that game, but this team showed the kind of effort and heart that makes you believe it’s on the right track. Could not have been prouder of the birds tonight. This team won’t quit until the very last whistle. They may be taking a few lumps right now, but I have no doubt they’ll overcome and shine through. Hold your heads up high Falcons, you played one heck of a game tonight.
I agree!!!! I am proud of the way we played tonight!!!! I just wish the O and the D were in tuned with one another, when that happens we will go all the way… WTG Falcons!!! I am proud, you went away and made the Saints nervous……GO FALCONS!!!! Good game d-fense!!! Houston is still not turning aroung looking for the ball but Grimes showed some heart to-night and made plays he should of……That is what happens when coach has the 1st string positions up fro grabs…
*for
I agree with the both of you. If you ever have a loss you wanna be able to focus on some of the good for the next game, and the falcons have no reason to be down on there selves. Yes it was a loss and it hurts at the moment, but when you look at the big picture i love the direction the falcons are headed and the big picture of things. We might not be winning the division but we will definatly get a wild card like last year (the 5 seed) we will probably end up with the same record as we did last year, but seeing the way injury’s have killed us this year it almost seems like a better season because we will have so much depth. WTG Falcons, Keep those heads high and lets go defend the dome against them redskins
TO ALL FALCON FANS…I do not want anyone to even start thinking about throwing this season away because we are 4-3. you could not ask for anymore heart than the falcons gave last night. like tony gonzo said,” if this is the best team in the nfl right now, i like our chances”… we will end up 12-4 this year, mark my words, and listen well to this quote from the greatest boxer of all time, muhammad ali… ” a true champion is not measured in if you get knocked down or not, it is measured in if you get back up”… Take pride falcon fans for we WILL FINISH 12-4 AND WILL GET INTO THE PLAYOFFS!!! TRUST ME AND NEVER STOP SUPPORTING OUR FALCONS…
WAY TO GO FALCONS! NOW THATS HOW YOU SHOW HEART. THATS HOW YOU SUPPOSED TO PLAY WIN OR LOSE EVERYGAME. NOW LETS GO GET THEM REDSKINS IN OUR DOME. LETS GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have to agree with all of you. The Falcons played their heart out and just about came out of NOLA with a W. If they continue to play that well the rest of the season, no doubt they will be in the playoffs. And it was very refreshing to see Turner have a great game! And boy that D looked tough and thank God Curtis Lofton was ok! We surely do not need him getting injured!
I agree with all. Atl played a great game against the undefeated saints. 4-3 going into a soft spot of the season is not so bad. Great game atl! But…however I feel that we lost this game due to one person. #1 jason elam needs to sink those kicks against a team like the saints. Its not the blame game but come on man. This guy was one of the best kickers in the league. If those field goals were made the final score last night may have had a different ending
I agree with all. Atl played a great game against the undefeated saints. 4-3 going into a soft spot of the season is not so bad. Great game atl! But…however I feel that we lost this game due to one person. #1 jason elam needs to sink those kicks against a team like the saints. Its not the blame game but come on man. This guy was one of the best kickers in the league. If those field goals were made the final score last night may have had been different adidifferenstending a.aadifferent.Hoending.howeve Howe
We’re the best 4-3 team in the NFL! The Birds are going back to the playoffs! GO FALCONS!!!
That was a close game. I was very impressed by what the Falcons did. I have to say while still a loss we won some moral victories. We can’t cover the mistakes of Chris Houston and the lack of size by Brent Grimes every play but we can hang in a game with Heart. That is what is going to make a good team great in the years to come.
The Falcons played with heart. The game could have been easily a win Thanks team for the great effort! We’ll still end up in the playoffs.
Keep up the good work.
10 year season ticket holder
Quick thoughts. Mike Mularkey is one of the best at scripting an opening drive. But why did he not give the ball to Michael Turner more than he did in end zone? The Saints could not stop him all night. I think he was cocky trying to show the saints they can pass on them with a young QB. And Mike Smith come on. You are still being too conservative with points. Pin the ears back and get them. We need TD’s not FG’s.
You all have great comments and as a loyal Falcon Fan (for Life) I must say i was absolutely proud of what this team did. They fought and scratched the entire 60 minutes and if not for the tipped interception they would have won this game. It is often hard to find good in a loss but in this case the Falcons can!! from the running of Turner thru the hard play of the defense and the determination of a Reserve linebacker Coy Wire. So lets take it to the house and win on Sunday against the Redskins.
i also agree with all n not to make excuses but the p.i. vilma shoulda been called on the greer pick 6 n the holding on peterson on the saints last td drive shouldnt have period.
great game falcons but come on jason elam we needed those 2 field goals but its ok we will see them again in our dome
Monday night game showed me few things, Hill should replace houston at corner eventhough our corners got light up but who’s corner didnt get lit up by brees this year?? Another thing, we cant not make mental errors against a good team. miss FGs, int in the redzone, and miss eventhough the def stepped up we cant miss tackles! We have to convert on 3rd downs on both side of the football. Missing Norwood and Douglas i believe is the most important aspect of the passing game. If matt ryan can throw a deep ball like that why wouldnt we let our pro bowler go make plays? I saw couple of time where white was getting one on one coverage down the field. He needs to learn how to pump fake more and move the safety out of postion to open up the outside. What i saw in the game im very proud of turner finally get his game on and i believe we will beat the saints when they come to our dome!!
Hey yall Jason Elam and the guy before him were both old dirt. His nerves arent good enough for high profile monday night games where his productivity could give us a win. Dont b surprised if Dimitroff looks for the best kicker in Ncaa. Special teams could have come thru a lil stronger. The saints number 15 did a great job of starting drew at good field position. But Weems wasnt that explosive, but thats to the defense. We minimized as many of their opportunities as we could. I see it really came down to ball control and who would finish with the ball n their possession. We got our chance from the onsides and kinda blew it. But its otay, I aont mad at em. Lets bring that momentum home (if you can make it to the dome sunday, then go and lets beat the red off the skins! GO FALCONS!!!
@Alex
@Alex
HOW CAN YOU SAY IF NOT FOR THE TIPPED INTERCEPTION YALL WOULD HAVE WON. ARE YOU A FREAKIN FORTUNE TELLER. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE SAINTS WOULD HAVE DONE AFTER THAT?
@badchad
perhaps Alex was biased in his assessment of that interception. It would be more prudent to say that the game would have been even more close than it already was, for the saints would have been down by 3 (assuming that elam makes the extra point), and they would have been the team that was behind. The realization that one is the leader or trailer in the game does wonders for adrenaline and effort (and thats not to say both teams were not giving it 110% effort), and if the falcons had been up by 3 as opposed to down by 4 and were faced with engineering a new orleans stop, the falcons D would have been pumped like no other to stop that surging new orleans offense, despite the fact that, on paper, the falcons D is shoddy at best. Just take a chill pill and be wary of the panthers when they come face yall in the dome. If michael turner can rack up 151 yards and TD (should have been more, if mike mularkey had called for more redzone runs) on 20 carries, i would hate to think what the double-edged sword in deangelo williams and jonathan stewart will do to the new orleans run D. Yes Jake Delhomme has been off as a QB ever since they played the cardinals in the playoffs last year, but they still managed a win against the cardinals last week. Be wary of them. GO FALCONS!!!
By halftime the game looked to be getting really ugly, but thanks to the heart of our players and staff, the Birds made it a real ballgame again. Like Tony G said, the Falcons are heading in the right direction even judging from this loss (he’s a real class act, by the way. Great player and provides great veteran leadership).
Also, before we get crazy and start making prediction (like 12-4, whatnot), let’s just focus on the game in front of us. I know that no one expect the Birds to lose to the Redskins, but we still have to evaluate this as a game we need to win, not one we are already bound to win. I say let’s forget about the Saints until we play them again.
I agree with the fact that this is probably the best I have ever felt about the birds after a loss. I saw effort and intensity and a “no quit” attitude that made me proud. The second int was just a good play by vilma. if he doesn’t tip that pass, it is a touchdown. I am also very proud of that defense that most predicted would be in serious trouble. The saints scored one touchdown in the second half, and that drive got sustained because of a phantom holding call on mike peterson. That took some of the steam out of the defense because they did their job and got robbed on a bad call. I’m looking forward to seeing how this team reacts after suffering back to back losses for the first time under Mike Smith.
Can’t wait to see yall again. Win or lose no excuses about the referees or anything like that just the best team on “THAT ONE DAY” wins. Cause we all know any team can lose on any given day.
If Elam would of made his fgs or if Jenkins would have caught that pass or vilma didnt tip that ball the Falcons would of probably won. The good news is our secondary looked pretty solid at times against Brees. And Grimes showed hes probably our best corner and Hill looked really good in his first game. So Houston should be benched for Hill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na4K266bGlo
new dirty bird song
The team did play with real effort on both sides of the ball. That’s great and it does matter, but they don’t give you an “E” for effort; you either get a W or an L next to your name.
The truth of the matter is that New Orleans deserved to win. They outplayed Atlanta and held together when Atlanta was just four points behind and threatening to score a TD.
There’s often a very thin line between winning and losing in the NFL and the Falcons are having too many lapses at critical times to be much more than a dangerous 8-8 team. Hopefully they’re young and they’ll learn and get past this in the next few seasons.