WEEK 4 · FINAL
THE READ
Kayla James
The showman
Saints win the turnover battle and the game
The Saints beat the Falcons 69-57 in a game where both offenses fired at will but New Orleans made the critical difference by not giving the ball away. Tyler Shough threw for 523 yards and 10 touchdowns while Bryce Lance caught 9 passes for 341 yards and 6 scores, a showcase for what happens when a quarterback has time and targets who won't be covered. Atlanta answered with 642 total yards and 7 touchdown passes from Ty Simpson, plus 173 rushing yards that made the Saints' ground game—6 yards all afternoon—look like an afterthought. The turnover margin told the story: New Orleans coughed it up zero times while Atlanta gave away 2, the kind of mercy a high-scoring game simply won't grant.
Kayla James
The showman
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falcons | -11.4 | +2.2 | -13.6 | -14 |
| Saints | -13.2 | -4.2 | -9.0 | -12 |
SRS is how many points a side beats an
average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good
team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20.
SOS is how hard that schedule has been.
Full table.
IN THE BOOTH
Jaylen Rivers
The insider
Two 1-4 teams turned this into a shootout, and it felt like watching two offenses that had finally figured something out — Shough hit 10 touchdowns and Lance went for 341 yards and 6 scores for New Orleans, while Simpson threw 7 and Robinson ran for 160 against Atlanta — but the angle here is turnovers, and that's what separated them at 69-57: one team held onto the football and one didn't.
Caleb Brooks
Beat reporter
· replying
New Orleans put up 69 points and still needed to play without any ground game whatsoever — Shough and Lance carried an entire offense through the air, which works until it doesn't, and at 1-4 the Saints are running out of time to find out which it'll be.
Daniel Keller
The numbers guy
· replying
Shough and Lance were absurd, but the real story is simpler: New Orleans threw 0 interceptions and Atlanta threw 2, which in a 69-57 game is the only difference that mattered.
They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers —
none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that
did not happen.
Tyler Shough
Saints
23/32, 523 yards, 10 TD
Ty Simpson
Falcons
26/47, 469 yards, 7 TD, 2 INT
Bryce Lance
Saints
9 catches, 341 yards, 6 TD
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
On the ground
Falcons 173, Saints 6
Falcons
Total yards
Falcons 642, Saints 529
Falcons
Through the air
Saints 523, Falcons 469
Saints
Giveaways
Saints 0, Falcons 2
Saints
THE ROOM
Final. The recap is below.
THE MATCHUP SCOUT
every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 72% · Rush 28% · 33.9 scored, 47.4 allowed
9.0 yds/att
57.0% completions
6.0 yds/carry
433.6 yds/game
2.1 giveaways/game
2.0% sack rate
last 5: 0-5
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 65 · Aggressive
Balance 78
Ball security 41
Back usage 23%
QB runs 2.7/game
Most exposed: ball security -- 2.1 giveaways a game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 87
WR 87
TE 98
RB 88
OL 86
DL 76
LB 76
DB 80
Best: Bijan Robinson HB 99
Fastest: Bijan Robinson HB 95 SPD
6 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
LEAGUE DATA
counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it
Pass-heavy
Pass 76% · Rush 24% · 29.4 scored, 38.4 allowed
10.3 yds/att
54.5% completions
4.0 yds/carry
354.9 yds/game
2.0 giveaways/game
7.9% sack rate
last 5: 2-3
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 58 · Aggressive
Balance 74
Ball security 44
Back usage 20%
QB runs 1.6/game
Most exposed: one-man passing game -- Bryce Lance takes 45% of the receiving yards
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 91
WR 85
TE 74
RB 78
OL 85
DL 85
LB 78
DB 82
Best: Kevin Zeitler C 95
Fastest: Bryce Lance WR 95 SPD
8 at star dev or better
YOUR NOTEBOOK
what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic
Sign in as a member of this league to keep private scouting notes on your opponents.
HOW THEY PLAY
the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season
Pluto
Saints · his last 8 games
Throws it
Gives it away
One back
One target
Pass / run76% / 24%
Points for / against29.4 — 38.4
Margin-9.0
Giveaways a game2.0
Sacks taken7.9% of dropbacks
Lead backBhayshul Tuten · 6.8/g
Top targetBryce Lance · 45%
QB carries1.6 a game
DopeIS1
Falcons · his last 8 games
Throws it
One back
Pass / run72% / 28%
Points for / against31.1 — 45.5
Margin-14.4
Giveaways a game1.8
Sacks taken2.2% of dropbacks
Lead backBijan Robinson · 11.1/g
Top targetCaleb Douglas · 31%
QB carries2.4 a game
Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.
THE SERIES
DopeIS1 against Pluto — the men, not the teams
Pluto leads it 1-0.
Pluto won the last one.
1 meeting
avg 57.0 — 69.0
biggest: 12 pts to Pluto
S1 · week 4
DopeIS1 57 — 69 Pluto
PLUTO
Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Falcons receivers vs Saints secondary
87 v 82
FALCONS
Saints receivers vs Falcons secondary
85 v 80
SAINTS
Falcons line vs Saints front
86 v 85
EVEN
Saints line vs Falcons front
85 v 76
SAINTS
Falcons backs vs Saints run defence
88 v 83
FALCONS
Saints backs vs Falcons run defence
78 v 76
EVEN
Falcons passer vs Saints secondary
87 v 82
FALCONS
Saints passer vs Falcons secondary
91 v 80
SAINTS
TOP PERFORMERS
🎬
The Game Recapthis game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›
BOX SCORE
FALCONS
SAINTS
FALCONS
SAINTS
FALCONS
SAINTS
FALCONS
SAINTS
FALCONS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Simpson QB | 26/47 | 469 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 59 | 111.6 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Shough QB | 23/32 | 523 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 153.6 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bijan Robinson HB | 22 | 160 | 7.3 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 38 | 0 |
| Ty Simpson QB | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhayshul Tuten HB | 4 | 9 | 2.2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| Tyler Shough QB | 1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaylen Wright HB | 1 | -2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caleb Douglas WR | 8 | 299 | 37.4 | 5 | 53 | 0 | 59 |
| Bijan Robinson HB | 6 | 51 | 8.5 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 20 |
| Travis Kelce TE | 4 | 39 | 9.8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| Drake London WR | 1 | 17 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 17 |
| Jahan Dotson WR | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 5 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryce Lance WR | 9 | 341 | 37.9 | 6 | 111 | 0 | 98 |
| Brandon Aiyuk WR | 5 | 63 | 12.6 | 2 | 34 | 0 | 28 |
| Bhayshul Tuten HB | 5 | 63 | 12.6 | 1 | 63 | 0 | 54 |
| Oscar Delp TE | 4 | 56 | 14 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 27 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Hughes CB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Xavier Watts SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kamren Kinchens FS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zach Harrison DT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kendal Daniels WILL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clark Phillips III CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Bowman Jr CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Da'Shawn Hand DT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lorenzo Styles Jr. CB | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Reid FS | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isaiah Stalbird WILL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kool-Aid McKinstry CB | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wade Woodaz MIKE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Abdul Carter REDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Colton Hood CB | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Stutsman SAM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cameron Jordan DT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Davon Godchaux DT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
RECENT FORM
Falcons
W
42–34 vs Packers
WK 3
L
14–28 vs Panthers
WK 2
L
56–63 vs Steelers
WK 1
Saints
L
30–54 vs Raiders
WK 3
L
21–48 vs Ravens
WK 2
L
24–27 vs Lions
WK 1
TEAM STATS
| Falcons | Saints | |
|---|---|---|
| 642 | TOTAL YARDS | 529 |
| 469 | PASSING YARDS | 523 |
| 173 | RUSHING YARDS | 6 |
| 1 | SACKS ALLOWED | 0 |
| 0 | SACKS MADE | 1 |
| 2 | GIVEAWAYS | 0 |
| 0 | TAKEAWAYS | 2 |
Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.
ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD
0
FALCONS
—
1
SAINTS