The Atlanta Falcons made the impossible possible in Week 16 as they went on the road and defeated the New Orleans Saints, getting their first road win of the season along with staying undefeated in the NFC South. The win eliminated the Saints from postseason contention and kept the Falcons alive for the division crown. There were several key plays that got Atlanta the 30-14 win and many of them came from Devonta Freeman who took advantage of the increased playing time.
Veteran rusher Steven Jackson left the game in the second quarter with a thigh injury and did not return. He had four carries for just nine yards while catching one pass for 14 yards before the injury occurred. The Falcons' head coach Mike Smith made note that he did not believe Jackson's injury was serious enough to leave him out of Week 17, but the increased playing time for Freeman might not give the veteran the start.
The rookie had a breakout game in place of the veteran. Freeman put up 84 yards of offense with 36 yards on the ground and 48 yards off three catches. His day was highlighted by a 31-yard touchdown in the third quarter that gave the Falcons the lead in the game. He could end up starting against the Carolina Panthers if Jackson is limited this week. Jacquizz Rodgers had 29 yards off 11 handoffs.
Not only did the ground game do big things for the Falcons, but Julio Jones stepped up after missing practice for the last two weeks to come up with key catches in the game. The wide receiver had not been seen for the past two weeks after a record-breaking performance against Green Bay, but Jones had seven catches for 107 yards against the Saints while Matt Ryan praises his effort.
"You can't say enough about what Julio did today," Ryan said, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. "Obviously, he's been hurting the last couple of weeks and for him to gut it out and play the way he did today, I think that speaks volumes about his great toughness but also showcases what a stud he is. When he's out there, he's making plays that a lot of other people aren't capable of making, So, obviously when he's on the field, that's a big deal for us."
The Falcons had been hearing all week that the Saints were going to "hand them their funeral." Trash talking from New Orleans only fueled the Atlanta players as both Roddy White and Harry Douglas simply laughed at the talk after the game.
"If you're going to go out there and be talking about funerals and arranging funerals and bringing in flowers and doing all that stuff, you've got to finish the game," White said. "Unfortunately, he didn't even play the whole game. ... Today, at [3:48 p.m.], we just woke up out the grave. So right now, we're going to get ready for next week."