Falcons vs. Saints: 5 Things We Learned in Drew Brees and New Orleans' Win

Monday Night was mostly about Drew Brees. But it was also about the dominance of the New Orleans Saints over the Atlanta Falcons. 

Monday night's 45-16 Saints victory was yet another example of the amazing ability of coach Sean Payton to get his team ready and prepared to execute against Mike Smith's squad. And the Saints execute almost without fail when they see the red and black of the Dirty Birds. 

Matt Ryan played well for Atlanta, but Drew Brees played better. Michael Turner was virtually nonexistent; the Saints' three-headed running back monster was monstrous on the big stage. 

And the Saints won with ease again Monday night in prime time.

1. Saints Can Overcome Turnovers at Home

Though Drew Brees played as well as any quarterback all season, he did have two unfortunate interceptions. Neither was truly his fault. The pass to Jimmy Graham in the end zone should have been a touchdown.

And the deep throw down the field was a shot worth taking, especially in pursuit of a kill shot on the Falcons early in the third quarter. 

Nonetheless the Saints defense played about as well as they have all season against a good or better than average offense. On Monday night they stepped up and held Michael Turner down to as great a degree as is humanly possible. 

Of course nearly doubling your opponents' offensive yardage total doesn't hurt. All these factors came into play, and aided the New Orleans Saints in clinching the NFC South Monday night. 

2. Saints Running Game Is Better Than Atlanta's Running Game

Everybody knows about the incredible passing offense the Saints possess. Most people forget they have a pretty darn good running game too. 

But even if people were to remember that fact, they would assume the running game is no better than Atlanta's with Michael Turner. 

But Chris Ivory, Pierre Thomas, and Darren Sproles proved Monday night they are more productive as a unit than Michael Turner is as an individual. 

The Saints outgained Atlanta 164 to 35 on the ground. 

But it was the fact that even early on the Saints were willing to use their running game, whereas Matt Ryan and the Falcons never really considered running the football at any point in the game. 

Part of that may have been due to a very good Saints run defense. Part of it was also due to them being down for the majority of the game. But the premise remains true--the Saints ran the football better in this game, and the majority of 2011, than the Atlanta Falcons. 

3. Saints Passing Defense Not as Bad as the Numbers

Yeah New Orleans gave up over 300 yards passing, but remember the circumstances involved in making it happen. For the most part Atlanta's yards were on short passes where the ball was kept in front of the linebackers and safeties. 

And that was due to the Saints being up double digits for the majority of the football game. 

Jabari Greer and the rest of the secondary did a wonderful job tackling with the ball in front of them. Because of this the Falcons moved the ball with relative ease, but were unable to score. Credit Gregg Williams for a wonderful game plan in this game, and great execution by the secondary. 

4. Saints Have What It Takes to Create Turnovers

The New Orleans Saints came into this football game with a league-low 13 turnovers created. Monday night they only had one against the Falcons, but that one was quite impressive.

It came early in the fourth quarter when Ramon Humber and Jonathan Vilma combined to force a fumble by rookie Julio Jones on a short reception. After a few random bounces Malcolm Jenkins flew up and cradled the football off the turf and kept stride as he raced into a wide open end zone.

It's the kind of play the Saints used successfully in their 2009 Super Bowl season. If the Saints can make a more consistent practice of this, another championship seems more and more likely.  

5. Drew Brees Is Better Than Dan Marino

With 307 yards and four touchdowns Drew Brees was awesome. For one night more importantly, Drew Brees was better than Dan Marino. 

Those 307 yards brought Brees' single-season total to 5,087 yards--the greatest amount of all-time--and Brees has one more game to play in 2011. 

Sure he threw two interceptions--neither of which were horrible throws--he also made a few throws even more questionable. Nonetheless, Brees exuded about as much craft and execution as any quarterback has in any game this entire season. 

The way Brees played in the first half, Brees deserved the record. When he got it in the fourth quarter all of New Orleans went crazy. It was wonderful to say the least. 

And the record was his over Dan Marino. It's all good in New Orleans right now.