Best Football Talk

The New Orleans Saints outlasted the Atlanta Falcons 29-25 Sunday afternoon, behind another great performance from Drew Brees and a shot in the arm from Reggie Bush. This was another one of those back and forth games that was very exciting. Brees finished the game 18-32 for 230 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bush had 10 rushes for 80 yards, to go along with 3 catches for 26 yards and 1 touchdown.

Brees got the scoring underway with a 5-yard pass to Bush to make the score 7-0 Saints. After a New Orleans field goal made it 10-0, the Falcons came storming back with Matt Ryan hooking up with sharp passes to wide-out Roddy White. Michael Turner finished off the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 10-7.  The score was 16-14 Saints at the half, after the two teams continued the scoring.

In the last quarter, Drew Brees hooked up with Pierre Thomas on a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it 22-17 Saints with 12:55 left. Thomas was a big part of the Saints offense, finishing the game with 16 carries for 102 yards and 1 touchdown.  However, Matt Ryan would not go quietly. He lead the Falcons down the field and with 7:51 left, he ran it in from 12 yards to score,  making it 25-22 Atlanta. With 5:47 left, Drew Brees would do his part and lead the Saints down field as well. He finished the drive off, handing the ball to Pierre Thomas who ran it in from 5 yards for a touchdown, to put New Orleans up 29-25 for good.

The Saints kept their fading playoff hopes alive and are now 7-6. Atlanta must now regroup at 8-5 and watch the outcome of the Carolina, Tampa Bay game. Rookie Matt Ryan finished the game 24-33 with a season high 315 yards passing with 1 touchdown. Roddy White had a monster game for Atlanta, catching 10 passes for 164 yards.