MNF Liveblog: Falcons vs. Saints

By Brett | Permalink | No Comments | September 25th, 2006 | Trackback

We’re on record as stating that we think that the Saints are going to win this one tonight. Yes, we know that the Saints really aren’t very good, even though they’re 2-0. Yes, we know that the Falcons are the closest thing to we’ll see to Wing T offense in the NFL, and are churning up yards on the ground like they’re going out of style. And, yes, we know that the Falcons defense is also better than Cleveland’s or Green Bay’s, the two teams that the Saints have beaten thus far.

Still, we can’t help but think that the re-opening of the once squalid, festering with life Superdome is going to big factor in this game. Call it the X-factor, if you will, but we think that the Saints are going to have a little something extra in store for Mike Vick and the Falcons tonight. Here’s what we’re stoked about:

Mike Vick
Say what you want about the guy not being a real efficient passer or even a very good QB, he’s one of the most exciting –dare we say, titilating– athletes of our time, and we love watching him play. Plus, not get all Kornheiser on you, but he’s on my fantasy squad, and I still need a couple points to win this week.

Reggie Bush
How can you not be excited about watching this guy play ball? Let me pull up a nice cliche for you: He’s a threat to go all the way every time he touches the ball. I guaran-fucking-tee that Joe Theismann says that at some point tonight, almost in those exact words.

The Superdome Lives!
OK, sure, ESPN is going to go way overboard on the human interest side of this game, but c’mon….the fact that the Saints are even still playing in New Orleans, let along the Superdome, is really pretty damn cool. It’s triumph for the team, and for a city that has really had it’s ass handed to it over the last 12+ months. Hell, I’m gonna go so far as to say that this game is a triumph for America. This game sends a message that we will not let the terrorists win….or something.

Anyway, game on in 15 or so. To follow along with the rest of the livebloggin’, beer guzzlin’ madness, you know what to do.

ATL 3 — NEW 23

Pregame

Bono, Green Day getting America pumped up, and the Edge is sportin’ the retro ax. Kind of a lame song, but you know what? The Edge is one of the coolest guys in the world. Way cooler than Bono, if you ask us.

So, does this loooong medley intro mean that we’ll be spared Hank Williams this week? Probably not, but one can hope.

And the Saints come rippin’ out the tunnel, with “When the Saints Come Marching In” in the background. Not get too soft on you, but we kinda like it.

Tony’s take: the game is about symbols. Our take: the game is about Mike Vick and Reggie Bush. Should be a fun one to watch.

Joe’s take: Man love to both Vick and Bush. That’s what we’re talking about.

Ashton Kutcher? Are you fucking serious? Let’s see….Bono, Green Day, Ashton, and (inevitably) Hank. So, we’re just wondering….where are the African American celebs in this intro? WTF ESPN? Obviously the city’s African American population was the hardest hit by Katrina. Wouldn’t it make sense to have, you know, not the absolute whitest group of intro celebs possible?

OK, so now they’re doing the national anthem…and we kinda feel like a dumbass for that last entry. But still.

They’re doing the coin toss — and George HW Bush gets introduced as the “tosser”. Frankly, we couldn’t think of a more apt title, and we can’t actually believe that that’s how they introduced him. Classic.

1st Quarter

Falcons ball on their own 29
Falcons start it off with the stretch play off the right side…I’m just guessing that we’ll see that one a time or two the rest of the night.

Vick fumbles out of bounds on 3rd down….Byron Scott almost recovers. Didn’t he used to play for the Lakers?

And the punt is blocked, and the Saints take it to the house for 6!!!! X FACTOR, Muthafuckas!!!!

That was exactly what the Saints needed. Jeez, the replay is brutal. Someday came right up the gut, untouched. That shit will drive special teams coaches –who are, by nature, ya know….special– crazy.

And we’ve got “I’m so proud to be an American” and chants of “USA! USA!” going on in the NFL Logue HQ.

Falcons ball, on their own 28, 13 something left in the 1st quarter

Sean Payton looks like he’s one of the fellas, like a guy we could chill with, have some beers with. How old is he? Can’t be more than 35 or so.

So far, Saints doing a nice job of coraling Vick.

We love the fact that the Falcons run that option play where Vick can hand off or keep it…what is that, the veer?

Vick goes deep to Lelie!!! Not really a great pass, Lelie made a nice adjustment.

Falcons have the ball, 2nd and goal.

3rd and goal, Vick throws a strike to Crumpler, who drops it and Methusaleh…err, Morten Anderson…kicks the FG. Christ, Crump…you’re costing us fantasy points!

Saints ball, 15 yard line, 9:37

Joe Horn gets tabbed to introduce the team, and, surprisingly, doesn’t refer to himself in the 3rd person…sort of.

Saints unimpressive 3 and out. Reggie Bush tweaks his knee. Doesn’t look serious, but still…c’mon, Reggie. On the first play? At least hold out til the 4th quarter, man.

Falcons ball, on their own 41 8:01
Saints defense looking pretty sharp so far. Yeah, we picked ‘em, but we didn’t really expect them to play well. So far, they’re looking great.

Great punt by the Falcons, but their gunners can’t get to it on the 1.

So far, a lot of defense. Kinda short on the excitement so far, Vick and Bush. Let’s start pulling yourselves together.

Saints ball on their own 20, 6:59

OK, it’s been two games and half a quarter…let’s quit screwing around with Deuce McAlister. All Reggie, all the time.

So far, Joe Theisman not really pissing us off that much. Strange.

Saints starting to move the ball, out around mid-field. God, please let them put together a drive. This game has been awful so far.

Bush gets stacked up for a loss. He’s going to find in the NFL that bouncing those runs outside when they should go up the gut isn’t as easy as it was in the Pac 10.

Timeout. Gross game so far.

OK, does Suzie Kolber in hi-def freak anyone else out?

Big throw by Brees on 3rd down. And Ed Hochuli calls roughing the passer, tacking on 15. Hochuli making us feel like skinny, lazy pricks. Think that guy might be on the juice? I wonder if him and Romo hang out. Jesus, the guy is huge.

DeAngelo Hall is hurt. Didn’t look too bad from our angle. Friggin’ weiner.

Saints score on a double-reverse from 11 yards out!!! Don’t see that one too often. Reggie Bush hands off to Devery Henderson, who got smoked right as he crossed the goalline. Nice play, and the Saints open it up.

Archie Manning: NFL great, camera hog…and just as boring and dopey as Eli and Peyton.

Falcons ball on their own 44, 2:48

Falcons are trying to work the ground game, but the Saints D is looking tough. Meanwhile, Tafoya recounts the longest fucking text message of all time.

And Scott Fujita makes a great stop. We’re not sure, but we think he could be the best Japanese player the league.

Saints ball on their own 20, 1:14

Saints seem content to use Reggie Bush as a decoy so far, instead getting the ball to guys like Henderson, and the almost Mr. Irrelevant Marques Colston. Nice, guys. Get the ball to Reggie!

2nd Quarter

And it appears that we’re going to be treated to a Bono/Edge/Green Day encore at halftime. Phew. I haven’t heard anything off Joshua Tree in a few days.

Saints drive stalls out….that’s what they for not giving the ball to Reggie Bush on every single play. We’re pretty sure we could be the Saints O Coordinator. Know what we’d do? Give the ball to Reggie Bush on every single fucking play. Seriously. And we’re not just saying that because he’s on our fantasy team.

Falcons ball on their own 36, 14:20
Warrick Dunn looks like he’s starting to get going. A couple nice runs.

Falcons offense looks absolutely awful so far. Absolutely awful. This is killing me. People said last week’s game was bad, but we have to disagree. Last week was a great defensive battle. This week is kind of an offensive abortion, especially for Atlanta.

Saints ball on their own 16, 12:00ish Q2

Spike Lee is the esteemed 2nd Quarter guest. Have to say, we’d rather listen to Spike Lee than Jamie Foxx or Dwayne Wade. Spike’s a cool cat. That “Inside Man” was pretty decent.

Saints are putting together a little bit of drive. Working in Deuce, Reggie, running, passing…nice looking drive. Meanwhile, Spike Lee isn’t the most articulate guy in the world. Who knew?

Joe Horn gets smacked climbing the ladder to catch a pass over middle. Right on the tailbone. That’s gonna leave a mark.

Theisman talking about Joe Horn willing himself places. Maybe he’s been hangin’ with Harry, Ron, Hermione and crew. What the fuck Joe?

And then he breaks out with a nugget of wisdom about the Superdome being the economic center of the city. What a big flea market or something? Cmon, Joe. You’re killing me here.

Joe just can’t help but be stoked about the officiating, and the great job of confering they’re doing. Sweet Lord, is there nothing else to talk about it?

And we’ve got a challenge…could this game possibly get any slower?

You know what, this crowd has A LOT of people — A LOT of people– that aren’t from New Orleans. Most stadiums would be going nuckin’ futz after that call was overturned.

Saints settle for a FG. 17-3. And still boring.

Falcons ball on the Saints 45, 6:34 Q2

Great runback on the kickoff, awful unnecessary roughness penalty adds another 15. Terrible decision making right there. Joe T going off about it, and we actually agree.

Michael Vick continues to look absolutely awful. He’s 2-11, 0 for his last 7.

Falcons run on 3rd and 5. Great play call in 4 down territory.

Falcons throw on 4th and 1, and it’s somehow complete. Ballsy play call with Vick playing so poorly right now. Guess they figured he had to complete one sometime.

Falcons in the red zone for the first time tonight….and Joe calls Fujita “Fajita.” Nice, Joe. Very classy.

Why is Reggie Bush on the sidelines. He should be in on every single offensive play, regardless of who has the ball. That should be a Man Law. Someone write that down.

Falcons go play action on 1st and goal, and Vick gets absolutely smoked by Brian Young. Saints playing tough D.

3rd and goal, and Vick does his best to throw a 105 yard INT to Fred Thomas. Morten Anderson’s FG is blocked!!!! Man, Saints special teams is taking it to the Falcons right now. That’s difference between a 17-3 game and a 10-6 game.

Saints Ball, ball inside their own 20, 1:00 to going into the half

Saints just pounding the ball, content to go in to the half with a 2 TD lead.

Now they’re starting to open it up a little bit, but having trouble moving the ball.

28 seconds left in, draw to Bush, and he almost makes something out of it. 11 yard gain. Man, he looks like he’s just going to bust one.

Joe Horn goads a guy into a late penalty, and then gives it the old Mike Seaver fist pump. That’s awesome.

Carney drills at 51 yard FG as time runs out. Jeez, he freaking drilled that ball. Woulda been good from 60. And the Saints special teams gits ‘er done again.

Not a great half of football. Mike Vick looked terrible. Reggie Bush showed some flashes, but didn’t really break anything big. You get the feeling that he’s going too, though.

Wonder what the Falcons are going to do down by 17? Can’t pound the rock down by three scores, but their passing game is terrible. Should be interesting. In an ugly sort of way.

Halftime

Saints ball on their own 25, 14:50 Q3

Saints start out with a nice pass to Colston. For a guy that almost went undrafted, he’s pretty darn good.

Brees with a swing pass to Deuce, but I’m not sure if he saw Reggie Bush isolated on a lineback heading up the field. Brees needs to be a little more patient with that one.

Saints O line is starting to wear down the Falcons front 7 a little bit. Just a little. But if they keep pounding it, the 4th quarter is going to be ugly.

Brees finds Horn in the ’soft belly of the defense’ (thanks for that Joe), for a 1st inside the 20. And now the Saints take the 2nd timeout of this drive, making sure that this will continue to be the longest Monday Night game of the season. Cripes, guys, let’s pick up the pace a little bit, hey?

Saints have a 1st and goal from the 2. Theisman calls it domination on the line of scrimmage. Have to say he’s right.

Reggie Bush gets his shot at the goal line, gets stoned on 2nd down.

And again on 3rd. That hurts. That hurts. Saints for the FG, and it’s good! Great drive, they add to their lead, but damn!!! We wanted to see Reggie get in the zone. Saints 23-3.

Falcons ball on their own 24, 7:10 Q3

Falcons offense goes 3 and out, and Vick continues to look terrible. He is just an awful pocket passer. This guy is going to be out of the league as soon as he loses that half-step that makes him two way threat.

Saints ball on their own 23, 5:24 Q3

Reggie runs right, runs left, runs back to the right….and then runs out of bounds for no gain.

And the Saints go 3 and out. Amazingly, this game is getting even more more boring in Q3 than it was in the first half. But, still, we toil on to bring you a liveblog. Because that’s what we do here. For you, the fans. Plus, HD is so nice, it really doesn’t matter what we’re watching.

Falcons ball on their own 10, 3:00 Q3

Vick miraculously completes a pass for a first down.

Vick scrambles, and looks sloooooowwwww. Very Leftwich-esque right there. And the Falcons ‘drive’ stalls out again.

Saints ball on their own 23 1:04 Q3

JT and Kornheiser are talking a lot about the turf being a factor in slowing down the Falcons ground game. Not sure about that. We tend to think it’s more a factor of the Saints front 7 just dominating at the point of attack.

4th Quarter

Q4 starts off with a McAlister run of 9 yards, and the ground game is starting to get to the Falcons. Their D looks tired right now. Just ready to end it…fine by us, this game sucks ass.

Bush wiffs on the safety blitz, and Brees gets sacked on 3rd down….ugly, Reg.

Falcons balls on their own 25, 12:39 Q4

Falcons offense has devolved into Vick just huckin’ at as far as he possibly can. Great coverage all night from the Saints. Great tackling, too. Overall, very good night for the Saints D. And we’ve got another Falcons punt coming up.

Saints ball at their 43, 11:04 4Q

Saints continue to look to throw, even with a big lead. Nice job of not getting too conservative, but given how well their O Line is playing and how poorly Atlanta’s offense is playing, we have to wonder why they’re not just pounding away at it. Saints 3 and out.

Falcons ball on their own 15, 9:30 Q4

Have we mentioned how awful this game has been to watch? Neither Vick nor Bush has done much. Saints special teams has been the difference.

Vick makes a nice play to avoid the rush, and gets it to Crump for the 1st. That’s what we want to see out of him. Not enough of that tonight. Looks like he’s playing in his sleep.

Vick goes deep again to no one. Ugly.

Finally, that’s what we’re talking about. Vick rips off a 30 yard run. About effing time, man.

Even with that 30 yarder, they’re still under 100 yards rushing for the night.

Falcons convert on 4th and long, living to fight another day.

Fajita with a big hit!!!

Vick sacked again! Falcons O line has been awful tonight.

4th and 12, Vick hits Michael Jenkins in the hands. Not only does he drop the ball, he gets nailed for PI. Falcons give it up on downs. Just disgusting offense from the Falcons tonight.

Saints ball, their own 31, 5:40 Q4

Saints are just pounding the ball, milking the clock. Saints have played a very solid, very disciplined game offensively. Good gameplan, good execution.

Saints give it back to the Falcons.
Falcons ball, inside their own 20, a little over 2:00 left

2 minute warning. We’re dying a slow death here, but at least it’s only 2 minutes away.

Not quite sure what happened here tonight. Was it that the Falcons played poorly, or did the Saints play great ball? Probably a little bit of both.

Vick sacked again. 5th time. No one getting open down field.

Falcons just running the clock out. don’t see that too often.

Mercifully, this game is over. Great win for the Saints and for the city of New Orleans. Not as entertaining as we’d hoped. The Saints improve to 3-0. Are they really this good?!?

Hey, props N’awlins! We’re out.

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