So this game has been much better and certainly faster than expected. Nice job, Thursday game.
Following an opening Saints three and out, Atlanta moved swiftly down the field, aided by a personal foul on a hit to the head of Matt Ryan. Ryan appeared to have a touchdown pass to Darius Johnson, but it was questioned reserved on review. In the grand scheme of things that doesn’t involve fantasy games, it mattered little, as Steven Jackson took it in on the following play.
William Moore ran into a Desmond Trufant (and injured him!) while Trufant was trying to haul in an interception in the end zone when the Saints were closing in on a score. Given another chance, New Orleans got to the goal line and stalled a bit. But on 3rd and goal from the 1, Drew Brees found Benjamin Watson in the back of the end zone for a tying score.
Matt Ryan got hit above the shoulders by Akiem Hicks on the following drive in a way more flagrant than the way Brees was against the 49ers, yet it drew no flag. The sack pushed the Falcons back far enough that they had to settle for a field goal. Hot takes will surely ensue.
When the next Saints drive reached midfield, William Moore further his campaign of leastiness by biting hard on a Jimmy Graham route and the result was a 44-yard Graham touchdown followed by a celebratory drunk that broke the goalpost.
The Falcons got back into the red zone, but this trip ended with Matt Ryan breaking free on a scramble on third down then sliding at the five, much to the dismay of the crowd and a profane Sam Jackson.
The teams swapped ineffective two-minutes drives before the Saints flirted with a possible field goal opportunity but a Lance Moore reception ended with a tackle inbounds. New Orleans was out of timeouts and the first half came to a close.