WEEK 14 · FINAL
THE READ
Saints edge Falcons by 3
New Orleans beat Atlanta 23-20 in a game where the better team barely escaped. The Saints outgained the Falcons in the air, 199 to 197, while giving up 129 yards on the ground, and Travis Etienne Jr punched in 2 touchdowns on 19 carries to hold on. Bijan Robinson answered with 97 yards on 20 carries for Atlanta, and Jordyn Tyson made 5 catches for 87 yards in the air game, but the Falcons couldn't convert 3 sacks into enough points—they finished 5-8 while New Orleans, already 9-4, improved a scoring margin that predicts them to win nearly 65 percent of their remaining games. Both teams coughed it up 3 times, so this stayed closer than the personnel on the field suggested it would.
Charlie Kirkster
Analyst
THE WIDER PICTURE
| Team | SRS | SOS | MARGIN | TO +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saints | +5.7 | -1.8 | +7.5 | +18 |
| Falcons | -5.3 | -2.6 | -2.7 | +3 |
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
Riley Parker
The chaos merchant
Atlanta got bullied on the ground—129 to 89—and still had the ball in position to win, which tells you everything about how thin this margin was; New Orleans won a game it had no business winning on volume alone, and that 3-point margin doesn't capture how much better the math says this team should be.
Jeff Epstein
The showman
· replying
Kyle Pitts Sr. had his best day of the season in a loss, which is the kind of footnote that follows a player into the offseason—talent on display in a game that didn't matter enough to remember him for it.
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.
Travis Etienne Jr
Saints
19 carries, 71 yards, 2 TD
Bijan Robinson
Falcons
20 carries, 97 yards, 1 TD
Jordyn Tyson
Saints
5 catches, 87 yards
THE STORY SO FAR
WHAT DECIDED IT
On the ground
Falcons 129, Saints 89
Falcons
Total yards
Falcons 326, Saints 288
Falcons
Through the air
Saints 199, Falcons 197
Saints
Pressure
Falcons 3 sacks, Saints 1
Falcons
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 62% · Rush 38% · 27.3 scored, 19.8 allowed
7.4 yds/att
66.5% completions
4.1 yds/carry
346.6 yds/game
1.1 giveaways/game
6.8% sack rate
last 5: 4-1
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 63 · Conservative
Balance 88
Ball security 68
Back usage 33%
QB runs 2.9/game
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 84
WR 86
TE 79
RB 86
OL 83
DL 82
LB 80
DB 84
Best: Jordyn Tyson WR 92
Fastest: Bryce Lance WR 94 SPD
4 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
Balanced
Pass 56% · Rush 44% · 22.4 scored, 25.1 allowed
6.9 yds/att
57.6% completions
4.9 yds/carry
346.1 yds/game
1.1 giveaways/game
9.4% sack rate
last 5: 3-2
SAPPHIRE METRICS
QB efficiency 47 · Conservative
Balance 94
Ball security 70
Back usage 37%
QB runs 3.9/game
Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 9.4% of dropbacks
PERSONNEL
off the roster — unit averages, best starters only
QB 78
WR 88
TE 86
RB 90
OL 84
DL 84
LB 78
DB 90
Best: Bijan Robinson HB 99
Fastest: Zachariah Branch WR 95 SPD
3 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
Bizzle
Saints · his last 8 games
Throws it
Protects it
Pass / run63% / 37%
Points for / against32.0 — 16.5
Margin+15.5
Giveaways a game0.8
Sacks taken6.6% of dropbacks
Lead backTravis Etienne Jr · 14.2/g
Top targetChris Olave · 35%
QB carries2.2 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.
MATCHUP ADVANTAGES
unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push
Saints receivers vs Falcons secondary
86 v 90
FALCONS
Falcons receivers vs Saints secondary
88 v 84
FALCONS
Saints line vs Falcons front
83 v 84
EVEN
Falcons line vs Saints front
84 v 82
EVEN
Saints backs vs Falcons run defence
86 v 82
SAINTS
Falcons backs vs Saints run defence
90 v 82
FALCONS
Saints passer vs Falcons secondary
84 v 90
FALCONS
Falcons passer vs Saints secondary
78 v 84
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
SAINTS
FALCONS
SAINTS
FALCONS
SAINTS
FALCONS
SAINTS
FALCONS
SAINTS
FALCONS
SAINTS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Shough QB | 21/35 | 199 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 75.7 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | LNG | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Penix Jr QB | 13/28 | 197 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 55.2 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travis Etienne Jr HB | 19 | 71 | 3.7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| Tyler Shough QB | 5 | 14 | 2.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Jordyn Tyson WR | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Chris Olave WR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | BTK | YAC | LNG | FUM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bijan Robinson HB | 20 | 97 | 4.8 | 1 | 5 | 43 | 23 | 0 |
| Jonathon Brooks HB | 10 | 23 | 2.3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Michael Penix Jr QB | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Drake London WR | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Zachariah Branch WR | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Kyle Pitts Sr TE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordyn Tyson WR | 5 | 87 | 17.4 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 27 |
| Chris Olave WR | 7 | 64 | 9.1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 16 |
| Devaughn Vele WR | 2 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| Juwan Johnson TE | 3 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 6 |
| Noah Fant TE | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| Travis Etienne Jr HB | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | YAC | DRP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Pitts Sr TE | 5 | 78 | 15.6 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 28 |
| Bijan Robinson HB | 1 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 29 |
| Jonathon Brooks HB | 1 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 27 |
| Dorian Fleming TE | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Zachariah Branch WR | 2 | 19 | 9.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| Jahdae Walker WR | 1 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 |
| Drake London WR | 1 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sammy Brown MIKE | 6 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Quincy Riley CB | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Jayden Jackson DT | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chase Young LEDG | 5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lorenzo Styles Jr. SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Justin Reid FS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Christen Miller DT | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Carl Granderson REDG | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonas Sanker SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Kool-Aid McKinstry CB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Isaac Yiadom CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Hall WILL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jayden Bellamy CB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anfernee Jennings LEDG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | TKL | SCK | INT | PD | FF | CMP ALW | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jalon Walker LEDG | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Clark Phillips III CB | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Divine Deablo MIKE | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Avieon Terrell CB | 5 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jessie Bates III FS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Kendal Daniels WILL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| A'Mauri Washington DT | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Harrison Phillips DT | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Jones WILL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Xavier Watts SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| A.J. Terrell Jr CB | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| James Pearce Jr REDG | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
SAINTS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Smyth K | 1/1 | 2/3 | 54 |
FALCONS
| PLAYER | FG | XP | LNG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Carlson K | 2/4 | 2/2 | 40 |
RECENT FORM
Saints
L
16–17 vs Jaguars
WK 13
W
27–17 vs Giants
WK 12
W
42–21 vs Commanders
WK 11
Falcons
W
28–24 vs Buccaneers
WK 12
L
3–24 vs Patriots
WK 11
W
23–19 vs Buccaneers
WK 10
TEAM STATS
| Saints | Falcons | |
|---|---|---|
| 288 | TOTAL YARDS | 326 |
| 199 | PASSING YARDS | 197 |
| 89 | RUSHING YARDS | 129 |
| 3 | SACKS ALLOWED | 1 |
| 1 | SACKS MADE | 3 |
| 3 | GIVEAWAYS | 3 |
| 3 | TAKEAWAYS | 3 |
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
2
SAINTS
—
0
FALCONS