Falcons @ Saints · Week 7

WEEK 7 · FINAL

THE READ

Saints win a 21-3 rockfight

Not one for the highlight reel. Saints 21, Falcons 3. Tyler Shough threw for Saints — 28/40, 293 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. Carl Granderson was the problem for Saints — 2 sacks. Make it 3 consecutive games past 100 for Chris Olave. Through the air: Saints 293, Falcons 170.

The Wire · league beat

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Falcons	-5.3	-2.6	-2.7	+3
Saints	+5.7	-1.8	+7.5	+18

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.

Saints — NFC #4 · division · 10-4 Falcons — in the hunt · 6-8 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Talia Morgan Beat reporter

Atlanta managed 3 points at home because it couldn't move the ball—170 passing yards is a season's worth of stalling, and New Orleans' pass rush (5 sacks) made sure the Falcons never got comfortable long enough to find a rhythm.

Riley Parker The chaos merchant · replying

Atlanta's ground game produced 132 yards and still finished with 3 points—which tells you everything about an offense that abandons what works the moment it's not working, then wonders why it stays broken.

Marcus Reyes The numbers guy · replying

Olave's 153 yards on 12 catches tells you the real story: New Orleans doesn't need to break Atlanta down, just keep picking at it until something sticks. The Falcons' 3 points suggest they still haven't figured out that abandoning the run game to pass more is the same mistake, just slower.

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

28/40, 293 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Carl Granderson

Saints

2 sacks

Chris Olave

Saints

12 catches, 153 yards

THE STORY SO FAR

🔥 Tyler Shough has now cleared 250 passing yards in 3 straight games.

🔥 Chris Olave has now cleared 100 receiving yards in 3 straight games.

⭐ Travis Etienne Jr has not had a better afternoon this season.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Through the air Saints 293, Falcons 170 Saints

Total yards Saints 388, Falcons 302 Saints

On the ground Falcons 132, Saints 95 Falcons

Pressure Saints 5 sacks, Falcons 1 Saints

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 7 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

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

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

Primary weapon: Drake London WR — 26% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY MODERATE

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

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

Falcons receivers vs Saints secondary 88 v 84 FALCONS

Saints receivers vs Falcons secondary 86 v 90 FALCONS

Falcons line vs Saints front 84 v 82 EVEN

Saints line vs Falcons front 83 v 84 EVEN

Falcons backs vs Saints run defence 90 v 82 FALCONS

Saints backs vs Falcons run defence 86 v 82 SAINTS

Falcons passer vs Saints secondary 78 v 84 SAINTS

Saints passer vs Falcons secondary 84 v 90 FALCONS

TOP PERFORMERS

Tyler Shough QB Saints 293 pass yds

Michael Penix Jr QB Falcons 170 pass yds

Chris Olave WR Saints 153 rec yds

Travis Etienne Jr HB Saints 79 rush yds

Bijan Robinson HB Falcons 76 rush yds

Juwan Johnson TE Saints 64 rec yds

Drake London WR Falcons 60 rec yds

Carl Granderson REDG Saints 2 sacks

A.J. Terrell Jr CB Falcons 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

FALCONS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Michael Penix Jr QB	19/34	170	0	0	5	30	69.4

SAINTS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Tyler Shough QB	28/40	293	1	1	1	31	88.8

FALCONS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG
Bijan Robinson HB	11	76	6.9	6	56	32
Jonathon Brooks HB	4	37	9.2	5	17	19
Drake London WR	1	7	7	0	0	7
Kalel Mullings HB	1	6	6	0	0	6
Zachariah Branch WR	1	6	6	0	0	6
Dorian Fleming TE	0	0	0	1	0	0

SAINTS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
Travis Etienne Jr HB	14	79	5.6	1	3	30	22
Kendre Miller HB	6	8	1.3	1	0	0	4
Devin Neal HB	1	4	4	0	0	0	4
Tyler Shough QB	1	4	4	0	0	0	4
Oscar Delp TE	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Juwan Johnson TE	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

FALCONS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	YAC	LNG
Drake London WR	7	60	8.6	12	14
Jahdae Walker WR	6	35	5.8	10	17
Kyle Pitts Sr TE	1	30	30	6	30
Zachariah Branch WR	3	27	9	9	10
Dorian Fleming TE	1	15	15	6	15
Jonathon Brooks HB	1	3	3	5	3

SAINTS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Chris Olave WR	12	153	12.8	0	32	1	31
Juwan Johnson TE	5	64	12.8	0	18	0	24
Jordyn Tyson WR	3	49	16.3	1	3	0	21
Noah Fant TE	1	18	18	0	0	0	18
Kendre Miller HB	3	5	1.7	0	2	0	6
Devaughn Vele WR	2	4	2	0	0	0	2
Oscar Delp TE	1	2	2	0	1	0	2
Travis Etienne Jr HB	1	-2	-2	0	0	0	0

FALCONS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	CMP ALW
Jessie Bates III FS	10	0	0	1	5
Divine Deablo MIKE	7	0	0	1	6
A.J. Terrell Jr CB	6	0	1	0	1
Jaylinn Hawkins FS	5	0	0	0	4
Clark Phillips III CB	4	0	0	0	4
Avieon Terrell CB	4	0	0	0	2
Xavier Watts SS	4	0	0	1	4
Kamran James LEDG	1	1	0	0	0
**** ############# REDG	1	0	0	0	0
A'Mauri Washington DT	1	0	0	0	0
Matt Jones WILL	1	0	0	0	0
Harrison Phillips DT	1	0	0	0	0
Kendal Daniels WILL	1	0	0	0	1
Jalon Walker LEDG	1	0	0	0	0
Starling Thomas V SS	1	0	0	0	0
James Pearce Jr REDG	1	0	0	0	0
Anfernee Orji SAM	1	0	0	0	0

SAINTS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD	CMP ALW
Lorenzo Styles Jr. SS	6	0.5	1	1
Christen Miller DT	5	0	0	0
Quincy Riley CB	5	0	0	3
Carl Granderson REDG	4	2	0	0
Jonas Sanker SS	4	0	0	4
Kool-Aid McKinstry CB	4	0	0	3
Sammy Brown MIKE	3	0	0	1
Jayden Bellamy CB	3	0	0	4
Isaac Yiadom CB	2	0	0	1
Jordan Hall WILL	2	0.5	0	1
Jayden Jackson DT	2	1	0	0
Justin Reid FS	1	0	1	1
Bryan Bresee DT	0	0.5	0	0
Chase Young LEDG	0	0.5	0	0

FALCONS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Daniel Carlson K	1/2	0/0	24

SAINTS

nothing recorded

RECENT FORM

Falcons

L 24–30 vs Texans WK 6

L 14–34 vs Jaguars WK 5

W 37–22 vs Eagles WK 4

Saints

L 14–21 vs Titans WK 6

L 17–46 vs Seahawks WK 5

W 16–14 vs Buccaneers WK 4

TEAM STATS

Falcons		Saints
302	TOTAL YARDS	388
170	PASSING YARDS	293
132	RUSHING YARDS	95
5	SACKS ALLOWED	1
1	SACKS MADE	5
0	GIVEAWAYS	1
1	TAKEAWAYS	0

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 — 2 SAINTS

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