Tag: New Orleans Saints

Cameron Jordan steps into second-place in all-time Saints sack leaders

New Orleans Saints DE Cameron Jordan sacked Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan four times in his team’s win, rising in the team history books.

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan went into Thursday night’s game against the Atlanta Falcons ranked third-best in sacks in team history, with 81 takedowns to his credit. That trailed Saints legends Wayne Martin (82.5) and Rickey Jackson (115) for the most all-time in black and gold.

Jordan went on to sack Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan four times in a lopsided victory, with his teammates accounting for five sacks of their own. That put his season total at 13.5 on the year so far, and 85 sacks in his career, surpassing Martin and putting Jackson’s high-water mark closer within reach (someday).

Back in April, Jordan expressed eagerness to test Atlanta’s remodeled offensive line, stocked with first-round draft picks like Kaleb McGary and Chris Lindstrom. He backed up those big words on Thursday night by barreling through McGary in the game’s closing minutes, including a fourth-down sack to seal the win.

It also helped wipe out from Jordan’s untimely personal foul a week earlier against the Carolina Panthers, proving that he’s prepared to lead by example (and own up to his mistakes) as one of New Orleans’ defensive leaders. With playmakers like Jordan leading the charge, the Saints might be too tough to beat.

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Saints beat Falcons 26-18, clinch third straight NFC South title

The New Orleans Saints overwhelmed a last-minute Atlanta Falcons comeback effort to improve to 10-2 and win the NFC South division title.

The New Orleans Saints shut down an Atlanta Falcons comeback bid to improve to 10-2 on the year so far and clinch their third consecutive NFC South division title, punching their ticket for the playoffs. It was an impressive win filled with big plays on offense from do-it-all fireplug Taysom Hill and a punishing defense that sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan nine times.

Sure, it wasn’t perfect. The Saints left too many points on the board with dropped passes and three failed onside kick recoveries down the stretch. Penalties plagued the team throughout the game. They obviously have plenty to clean up in the next week-and-a-half before their next kickoff.

But for now, it’s time to celebrate. The Saints won big over a divisional rival that embarrassed them once this year already, and did so on a national stage in Atlanta’s building (the other Mercedes-Benz-sponsored NFL venue). They’re locked in to host a playoff game and the Falcons are mathematically eliminated. Celebrate, New Orleans.

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Instant analysis of Falcons’ 26-18 loss to Saints on Thanksgiving

Here’s a look at how the Falcons’ offense, defense and special teams units fared on Thursday night’s disappointing yet predictable loss.

The Falcons were defeated by the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving night, 26-18, falling to 3-9 on the season. Despite a valiant comeback effort, this team continues to struggle in front of its fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, losing a fifth of six home games this season.

Here’s a look at how the Falcons’ offense, defense and special teams units fared on Thursday night’s disappointing yet predictable loss.

Offense

With Julio Jones out, Matt Ryan had to look to Calvin Ridley, Russell Gage and Christian Blake. Atlanta started slow, and wasted an early drive by failing on a fourth-and-short inside the five. The running game was a tad better, but Matt Ryan’s two second-half interceptions killed any realistic comeback attempt — until the Falcons recovered two onside kicks (and technically three with a penalty calling back the first). Still, it was too little, too late. Sound familiar?

Defense

Defensively, the Falcons were put in a bad spot after a first-quarter punt block, giving the Saints an easy score to go up 7-0. From there, Atlanta’s defense tightened up. If the offense had controlled the ball a little better, we’d probably be talking about how well they played. Still, it was another sack-less game for Atlanta, which is inexcusable given what we’ve seen this team do against the same New Orleans team three weeks ago.

Special Teams

After a quick three-and-out on the team’s opening possession, Atlanta had a punt blocked and the Saints quickly scored a touchdown a few plays later. Kicker Younghoe Koo missed a field goal and an extra point. He’d later make his next two and keep the Falcons in the game.

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Watch: Falcons’ second onside-kick recovery keeps chances alive

Check out this highlight from the Falcons’ Week 13 matchup with the New Orleans Saints.

The Falcons recovered not one, but two onside kicks in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

And then, there was this:

 

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Best sports finishes of 2019

Stephen F. Austin, heavyweight fights, the NFL, NBA and many of the best finishes in sports events in 2019.

Close calls, non-calls and spectacular endings. The sports year of 2019 had them all.

Kawhi sinks Sixers

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Kawhi Leonard was sitting in the corner, out of bounds as his shot in the fourth quarter of the Raptors’ Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Sixers danced on the rim. After bouncing around three times, it fell and Toronto was on its way to the Eastern finals against Milwaukee.

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Watch: Vonn Bell recovers his fifth fumble of the season, ties NFL lead

New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell recovered a fumble out of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, his fifth of the year, tying the lead.

The Atlanta Falcons may have just been snakebit on Thanksgiving night against the New Orelans Saints. Things just didn’t go there way in high-leverage situations, like on this third down midway through the fourth quarter.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan dropped back to pass, but none of his receivers were open thanks to tight coverage by the Saints defense. The pass rush bore down on him so he burst out of the pocket and jogged upfield for what should have been a first-down conversion.

Unfortunately for Ryan, he’s not as well-rounded an athlete as Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport, who chased after the fleeing quarterback before crashing down on him, jarring the football out of Ryan’s grasp. And who should be in the right spot to recover that fumble than Saints safety Vonn Bell?

Bell went into Thursday’s game tied with several other players for the second-most fumble recoveries in the NFL (4), trailing only Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (5). Now that Bell recovered this fumble from Ryan, he’s tied Watson for the NFL’s lead, and he’s the only defensive player to do so.

This comes two weeks after Bell recorded his first career interception off of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, a day in which four different Saints defenders picked him off. If the Saints defense can continue making game-changing turnovers like these and cut down on a handful of mental errors, they’ll be able to compete against any unit in the lead.

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Falcons Highlights: WR Russell Gage catches first career TD

Check out this highlight from the Falcons’ Week 13 matchup with the New Orleans Saints.

The Falcons aren’t going to beat the Saints, but as usual, they put up some points in garbage time.

Second-year wideout Russell Gage caught his first career touchdown from Matt Ryan. Check it out below:

Atlanta currently trails New Orleans, 26-15, with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

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Saints rookie C.J. Gardner-Johnson gets his first career interception

New Orleans Saints safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a rookie from the Florida Gators program, logged his first NFL interception off of Matt Ryan

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was handing out turnovers like they were going out of style on Thanksgiving night, with New Orleans Saints rookie defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson the latest recipient. The fourth-round draft pick out of Florida snagged an interception off of Ryan during the second half, streaking across the field to set the Saints offense up in solid starting field position.

It was the first career interception for Gardner-Johnson, who has steadily seen his snap counts rise after injuries struck the top of the Saints depth chart earlier this year. The rookie has shown a knack for defending passes out of the slot while laying out punishing hits in run defense. He’s dropped two would-be interceptions in previous games, so it’s great to see him expand this part of his skills set. See it for yourself:

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Watch: Rookie Saints nose tackle Shy Tuttle intercepts, stiff-arms Matt Ryan

Rookie New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Shy Tuttle intercepted Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and stiff-armed him on the return.

The Atlanta Falcons offense was driving hard down the field against the New Orleans Saints defense, until it wasn’t. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw a low pass that deflected off of backup Saints nose tackle Shy Tuttle’s chest; Tuttle surprised by showing great awareness to intercept the ball.

What happened next was even more surprising. Tuttle didn’t go down. Instead, the rookie out of Tennessee returned the interception into the open field, with only Ryan to stop him. And when Ryan tried to tackle the big man, Tuttle threw out a stiff arm and shoved Ryan into oblivion. A few Falcons linemen chased him out of bounds after that, though Ryan was busy trying to lift himself back up from the turf.

Unfortunately, it didn’t count for much after a penalty on Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan. Jordan was flagged for a block in the back penalty on Ryan, having attempted to shield Tuttle during the return. It was an unnecessary penalty but not unforgivable — how was Jordan going to know that Tuttle would destroy Ryan with that jab? We won’t hold it against him when he was just trying to help his team.

The Saints defense has given up some big gains to the Falcons on critical downs, but this is the kind of complimentary football New Orleans has won with all year. Creating turnovers on defense gives the offense opportunities to go get points, and Drew Brees and company will take as many of these extra chances as their teammates can give them.

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Matt Ryan throws interception, takes stiff arm to the face seconds later

Saints lineman Shy Tuttle dropped Matt Ryan with a stiff arm after intercepting his pass.

With the Falcons hanging around in the third quarter against the Saints, quarterback Matt Ryan drove the offense into Saints territory and was a few yards out of field goal range – until disaster struck on a 1st-and-10 play from the 40. Ryan’s checkdown attempt was deflected by New Orleans lineman Shy Tuttle, who made a spectacular one-handed interception grab and started running toward the endzone.

Ryan made an admirable attempt to take down the 300-pounder, but Tuttle swatted him to the ground with a perfect stiff arm that was spoiled by a block-in-the-back call on teammate Cameron Jordan.

Fortunately for Ryan, the Falcons defense held and the Saints were unable to increase their 11-point lead on the ensuing drive. Twitter still had a field day with the highlight.

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