1st Quarter
The Falcons received the opening kickoff and immediately you see three things.
- They can't run the ball
- They can definitely throw the ball
- The Saints defense is bad. Real bad.
First drive notes:
Falcons drive starts with Michael Turner being stuffed for a loss of 3. Then the Falcons passing offense goes to work. On 2nd and 13, the Falcons go 3 wide with Tony Gonzalez spread out right and Roddy White on the inside. After a quick drop by Ryan, he finds White for a modest 3 yard gain. On 3rd and 10.. Falcons come out in a Shotgun-Trips formation with Gonzalez lined up to his right.. and Jones-White-Douglas to the left. White runs an 11 yard curl and easily beats the Saints zone to get the first down.
Next set of downs begins with the Falcons coming out in the I-Formation. Jones lined up to Ryan's left.. Gonzalez in a three-point stance with Roddy to his right. This is just bad defense by the Saints (a reoccurring theme) as David Hawthorne lets Tony Gonzalez run free off the line and no one else accounts for him.. easy pitch and catch for 19 yards.
It's now 1st and 10 at midfield.. Falcons come out in the same formation, though Julio Jones is lined up a bit closer on the left, and go with a play-action pass to Roddy White down the right sideline. White runs a go route and flat dusts Jabari Greer down the sidelines.. Roman Harper's help over the top is too late and White picks up 49 yards on the play. On the coaches film it looks like Greer could have been called for illegal contact on the play as well..
1st and Goal on the Falcon 1, Falcons come out in their jumbo package, first run play is stuffed by the interior of the Saints D. 2nd and Goal on the Falcons 1, Matt Ryan again goes with play-action and finds a wide open pass eligible offensive tackle in the end zone. Wouldn't bank too much on the Falcons running a lot of passing plays to backup tackles, but team should keep that in the back of their minds considering their problems running the ball.
Falcons 7, Saints 0 - 11:43 1Q
Saints first drive.. it was a quick one.. Brees comes out in the shotgun with a WR split out to the left and 2 WR to his right (Colston-Henderson). Two running backs are split aside him.. and Brees either overshoots Colston or Colston runs the wrong route, either way Asante Samuel breaks coverage off of Henderson to make a diving interception. Falcons take over on the Saints 28 after an unsportsmanlike penalty on Samuel for celebrating the INT.
Falcons 7, Saints 0 - 11:33 1Q
Falcons begin their second drive coming out in a jumbo type package with Roddy White the lone WR split out to the right. Michael Turner runs off the left side for 3 yards, 2 came because of effort by Turner. Again, the team shows a lot of difficulty running even in jumbo sets. On 2nd and 7, the Falcons come out with Julio Jones and Roddy White split out left and motion Roddy out to the right. Tony Gonzalez and backup TE Michael Palmer are lined up on the right side of the Falcons formation in what amounts to an unbalanced I-formation. Ryan faces zone coverage and takes the easy checkdown to Jason Snelling for 6 yards to setup a favorable 3rd and 1. This play shows in a nut shell how difficult it is for the Falcons to run the ball. Michael Turner lines up behind Ryan like a fullback and the Falcons motion Julio Jones into the backfield while instantaneously Ryan quick snaps it and hands it off to Turner. The Saints completely blow up the right side of the Falcons line and stuff Turner in the backfield again for a loss of 1. Matt Bryant comes out and hits a 37-yard FG.
Falcons 10, Saints 0 - 9:24 1Q
Saints second drive begins with Brees under center in a 2 WR, 1 TE, FB, RB form.. though the Saints motion their TE and FB from the left side to the right. This is a simple run up the middle by Mark Ingram for a very solid 5 yards. The simple motion did seem to bring some confusion to the Falcons linebackers.. from there it was good blocking on the Saints end to set up the modest gain. 2nd and 5, Brees comes out again under center.. this time with 3 WR and Jimmy Graham lined up out left. Brees takes a quick 3 step drop and hits Colston running a simple curl for 6 yards. Saints 1st and 10, come out in their jumbo formation and motion Miller to the left, Ingram begins running up the middle and makes a nice cut to the outside for 8 yards. I see this play and foam at the mouth a little because a better back could have really made them pay on this one. 2nd and 2, the Saints run out of the shotgun with Pierre Thomas.. Thomas labors ahead to get the first down. Interesting thing of note here is that the Falcons defense stayed in their base formation even with the Saints in the gun. 1st and 10 for Saints now, Brees under center and goes with a play-action pass .. the Falcons are bringing a safety blitz here and by the time Brees completes the fake William Moore is already in his face. Brees does a great job escaping the pressure and throws it in the neighborhood of Colston - though it was basically a throwaway. 2nd and 10 now, Saints come out in a 2 WR-2TE- singleback formation.. though for the Saints, the WR's are lined up close to the LOS and the TE's are also standing. Chris Ivory has one hell of a run here. It's a designed off tackle carry on the Falcons right side.. Ivory makes John Abraham miss, then Asante Samuel takes a bad angle and misses a tackle as well. From that point it's all Ivory.. as he makes another man miss (I believe William Moore) then outruns Dunta Robinson (stiff arming him Marshawn style in the process) and takes it 56 yards for the touchdown. Great effort by Ivory here and generally awful defense by the Falcons as well.
Falcons 10, Saints 7 - 7:03 1Q
Falcons 3rd drive.. Ryan comes out under center with Turner behind him. The Falcons go with Gonzalez spread far out right and Roddy White in the right slot. To his left are backup TE Michael Palmer split far left (I'm thinking a decoy of sorts) and Julio Jones inside. Ryan takes a 3-step drop and throws it to White.. the Saints DE read this play like a book though and nearly picked it off. Nonetheless, White picks up 5 more yards after the catch for the first down. 1st and 10 now for the Falcons at ATL 31.. Falcons again come out with 2 WR (Jones lined up close to the LOS, White split out wide right) and Gonzalez. Ryan motions out the FB who goes all the way to the left. Ryan takes 3 step drop and finds Julio Jones wide open in the soft part of the Saints zone for easy gain of 11 (Pass 5, YAC 6). 1st and 10 for Falcons at ATL 42, same formation as before for the WR's and Gonzalez.. this time the FB begins lined up off left tackle before motioning back into a true strong I-formation. Ryan takes a 3-step drop before handing it off to Turner on the draw play for the most successful run of the day.. a 6 yard plunge up the middle.
However - you see two things here. One, Turner has no speed.. if Rodgers gets this carry it may go for much longer than 6 as the Saints LB's immediately commit to a pass due to Ryan's drop.. and two.. Turner is still difficult to tackle.. after all, he's a big guy. So we will have to make sure we wrap the guy up. Anyway back to this drive.. Falcons come out on 2nd and 4 in the gun. Roddy White is split out left with Julio Jones beside him. Tony Gonzalez is also on the left side, standing up next to their LT. Harry Douglas is split out far to the right. Ryan motions Jones to the right slot, then snaps the ball and fakes the draw to Turner while Jones hangs out for the WR screen. Good effort by Jones turns good Saints defense into a 3 yard Falcon gain. 3rd and 1.. Falcons come out in an offset I with Rodgers and Snelling in the backfield. Douglas motions from the far right side to the inside slot .. Falcons run a PA pass, the Saints get excellent pressure on Ryan and force him to make an errant throw for the incompletion. Of note.. the best pressure the Saints generated early on in this game was right down the middle. Falcons punt here and pin the Saints back on their own 10.
Falcons 10, Saints 7 - 3:56 1Q
Saints drive begins with the Saints in a 'full house' formation. Ingram carries it over the right guard for 5 yards. The Saints best runs of the afternoon seemed to come on the right side, though on this carry.. Ingram just muscled his way to the yardage. (Again, shades of Marshawn).. 2nd and 5, Saints come out in the gun with Lance Moore split out right.. Marques Colston in the slot and Henderson split to the left. Jimmy Graham is in a 3-point stance on the line and Brees has two backs in the gun besides him.. Brees takes a 3 step drop from the gun and finds Graham camping out in the soft spot of the zone for the easy 13 yard gain. Real simple nice play by the Saints. Saints continue the drive with Brees under center in the Saints 2 WR, 2 TE, RB formation. Brees runs Moore in motion to his left, then does a half-ass playaction fake.. by the time its over he's throwing the ball to Lance Moore for the easy 19 yard gain. Next two plays are modest runs by Thomas (draw) and Ivory (toss right) for 3 a piece. 3rd and 4 for the Saints, Brees in the gun with a HB to his right. Henderson is split far to the left with Jimmy Graham standing near the LT on the LOS. Lance Moore is lined up directly behind him.. with Colston tight to the right. Brees take a 3 step drop and Moore beats his man on the inside for a nice 7 yard gain. Saints end the quarter in the empty formation with a WR screen to their RB Cadet for a beautifully designed 10 yard gain.
END OF QUARTER.
Falcons 10, Saints 7
