Five things we learned from Saints' 43-37 win over the Falcons

ATLANTA — The ninth and final lead change gave the Saints a 43-37 victory in overtime over the Falcons on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Quarterback Drew Brees scored on a 1-yard run on the 15th play of overtime to help the Saints improve to 2-1. The Falcons dropped to 1-2 on the season.

The Falcons’ injury-riddled defense was just too leaky and couldn’t stop the Saints, who amassed 531 yards of offense.

The Falcons and the Saints have been used to playing close games. Only three times since 2010 have these games been decided by more than 10 points.

The Falcons wasted stellar performances from quarterback Matt Ryan and Calvin Ridley, who caught five passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns.

Ryan completed 26 of 35 passes for 374 yards and five touchdowns.

Ryan’s five touchdowns tied a team record with Wade Wilson, who passed for five touchdowns in a 35-7 win over Tampa Bay on Dec. 13, 1992.

Here are five things we learned from the NFC South contest.

1. The Ridley show. Ridley torched the Saints secondary, but got himself scolded by wide receiver Julio Jones.

On his 75-yard touchdown, Ridley slowed down to tease the Saints defenders, but nearly got caught from behind. He put a move on Saints cornerback P.J. Williams and then raced on past him. Quarterback Matt Ryan’s pass was on the mark.

Jones was seen on the sidelines telling Ridley to get to the end zone first. He was animated in his discussion with the rookie, who was the 26th overall player taken in the draft.

Both Jones and Ridley played at Alabama.

Ridley caught the pass in stride at the Saints’ 42. Williams dove and missed. Ridley cut to the middle of the field and slowed down around the 20 before Saints safety Marcus Williams almost caught up. Ridley saw Marcus Williams coming and cut back to his left and raced on into the end zone.

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2. No pass rush: With defensive end Takk McKinley out with a groin injury, Saints quarterback Drew Brees operated mostly from a pristine passing pocket. Vic Beasley got his first sack of the season in the third quarter and Brian Poole got a hit on Brees, but was called for unnecessary roughness.

Brees went to become the NFL’s all-time completion leader.

Brees entered the game needing 14 completions to break Brett Favre’s record of 6,300. He connected with wide receiver Michael Thomas for a 17-yards gain for the record in the second quarter.

Brees, 39, broke this record in his 18th NFL season. Favre played 20 NFL seasons and shattered the completions record previously held by Dan Marino (4,967).

It must be noted that Brees and Favre played in the more passer friendly NFL era where rule changes were made to favor offense, lessen contact on receivers and allowed quarterbacks to throw the ball away when running away from defenders out of the pocket.

Beasley, who led the NFL with 15.5 sacks in 2016, had just one sack in his previous 10 games.

3. Blocked punt costly. With the Falcons up 21-16 in the third quarter, the Saints got a blocked punt by Alex Okafor. Linebacker Craig Robertson returned the ball 12 yards to set up the Saints offense in scoring position at the Falcons 16.

Okafor was on the right side of the Falcons formation and got around linebacker Foye Oluokun to block the punt.

Four plays later, Brees connected with wide receiver Cam Meredith for an 11-yard touchdown. Beasley had trouble splitting a double-team block from tackle Ryan Ramczyck and guard Larry Warford to get to Brees on the touchdown play. The score put the Saints backup up 23-21 with 6:07 left in the third quarter.

4. Rushing attack. Where did the falcons rushing attack go?

The Saints dedicated eight and sometimes nine players to the run.

The Falcons had to stay patient, but eventually got tired of the jumbled box and started launching deep passes to Ridley.

Tevin Coleman, who was coming off his second 100-yard came was held in check.

5. Zone-read mix up. After Falcons took a 29-23 lead, the Saints caught the defense off guard on third-and-2 from their 45. They slipped backup quarterback Taysom Hill into the game.

He faked a handoff and then ripped off a 35-yard gain down to the Falcons’ 20. Brian Poole’s horse-collar tackle penalty moved the ball to the 10.

Four plays later, Brees tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Zach Line. Lutz’ extra point put the Saints up 30-29 with 9:59 to play.

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