Defense takes stand

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Dec 8, 2008 - UPDATED: 7:07 a.m.

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NEW ORLEANS — Just four weeks after drumming the New Orleans Saints defense in a 34-20 victory in the Georgia Dome, the Atlanta Falcons had them right where they wanted again Sunday.

Trailing 29-25 with 5:47 to play, the Falcons had scored on their two previous possessions — marching 69 yards to a Jason Elam field goal for a one-point lead before an efficient 73-yard touchdown drive and two-point conversion gave them a 25-22 cushion after the Saints regained the lead.

With the offensive momentum surely on their side, the Falcons probably envisioned an 80-yard drive to the touchdown that would help them pick up a win in the Superdome and put out the Saints’ flickering playoff hopes.

But that’s where the Saints defense took a stand. They turned the game around with a big stop and gave the ball back to their offense, which picked up three first downs to milk the final 3:15 off the clock and preserve a 29-25 win.

Tired after giving up back-to-back scoring drives that totaled 26 plays, 142 yards and 14:19, the Saints defense knew it had to make a stop to keep their season going.

“We knew that it was going to be up to us, the defense, to stop them,” defensive end Will Smith said. “We had been going back and forth all game. We knew we had to come up with a big stop in order to win the game.”

After Smith threw running back Michael Turner for a 5-yard loss on the first play of what would be their final possession, the Falcons got a first down on a 15-yard pass from Matt Ryan to Michael Jenkins.

One play later, they had a second-and-3 when Ryan, on a designed run, was dropped for a 2-yard loss. Then, an incomplete pass on third-and-5 brought out the punting unit and the Falcons never got the ball back.

“It just comes down to a third-down play there, and we felt like they were going to punt because of the time left,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “I credit our guys with coming up with that stop because we needed it.”

They just wish they could have gotten it a little bit earlier, weakside linebacker Scott Shanle said.

“When they marched down the field (to the touchdown), it was a bit deflating defensively,” said Shanle, who had nine total tackles. “But we came back and stopped them when we had to and the offense got some first downs at the end of the game.”

Strongside linebacker Scott Fujita said the Saints, who were gassed after the Falcons put together a 15-play, 9:15 drive that resulted in Elam’s field goal, simply needed one stop after they added a TD drive on their next series.

“That last stop was a big turning point in the game, and it helped solidify that win,” Fujita said. “Third-down defense has been one of our strong points this season, and we’re one of the better teams in the league even though we didn’t do real well today. They completed some third-and-longs, but when it mattered most guys stepped up.”