A strong first half has paced the Falcons here at the Georgia Dome, where they currently hold a 17-6 lead at the break.
With the Saints secondary challenging Atlanta to throw the ball, Matt Ryan has connected on 10 of his 13 passes for 145 yards and a 16-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White. The pass to White opened up the scoring, and is the sixth time the two have connected for a score on the season. A deep pass from Ryan to Michael Jenkins set up a 2-yard touchdown run from Michael Turner with 12:04 left in the third quarter. Jason Elam capped off the scoring for the Falcons with a 22-yard field goal late in the second quarter.
The Saints offense was able to move the ball, racking up 193 total net yards and getting 112 of them through the air from quarterback Drew Brees. But John Abraham forced them into field goals on both of their scoring drives. First, he hurried Brees into an early pass on third down on the Saints’ second possession, which resulted in a 24-yard field goal from Garrett Hartley. Then he came up big with his 11th sack of the season on New Orleans’ next drive, forcing a 44-yard field goal from Hartley to make the score 14-6.
The Saints threatened on the final drive of the half, marching down to the Atlanta 18. But Chauncey Davis batted down a Brees pass at the line on fourth-and-3, ending the drive.
New Orleans will surely make some adjustments at the half in the secondary, as they were burned by Ryan from the outset. Expect them to drop a few more players into coverage, which could open up some running lanes for Turner, who rushed for 43 yards on 12 carries in the first half.
Bagriansky can be reached at jbagriansky@scoreatl.com.
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