Infos und News... » On the day he became the NFL’s career lead

ATLANTA (AP) — er in completed passes Black Andy Levitre Jersey , Drew Brees‘ biggest plays came as a runner.Brees’ 1-yard run capped an 80-yard touchdown drive to open overtime that lifted the New Orleans Saints to a 43-37 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.That came after his 7-yard score late in the fourth quarter forced the overtime. After the Saints won the coin toss, Brees and the Saints held the ball for more than seven minutes.Brees jumped over the pile on a quarterback keeper after his apparent 3-yard TD pass to Alvin Kamara was overturned. A review determined Kamara’s knee was down before he crossed the goal line. Brees scored on the following play, giving the Saints (2-1) the win.“This was a wild one,” said Brees, who passed for 396 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two scores. Kamara had 15 catches for 124 yards and ran for 66 yards.Brees’ biggest play before the winner might have been his improbable 7-yard scoring run with 1:15 remaining that forced overtime. He ran to his left and then spun to avoid tackle attempts by Brian Poole and Robert Alford.“At some point, I felt they were coming to take my head off and I could probably spin out of it,” Brees said, adding he now has film evidence to show the youth flag football team he coaches that “spin moves work. Spin moves are good.”With his 14th completed pass, the 39-year-old Brees broke the record of 6,300 career completions set by Hall of Famer Brett Favre. Brees set the mark with a 17-yard pass to Michael Thomas in the second quarter.“I’m just very grateful,” Brees said. “I hope there’s a lot more coming. I just think about all the people who have had a hand in that. A lot of hands have caught a lot of passes. … They are all a part of this.”Atlanta’s Matt Ryan had his first career game with five scoring passes. Calvin Ridley became the first Atlanta rookie with three scoring catches. That wasn’t enough for the Falcons (1-2) against Brees and the high-scoring Saints Andy Levitre Jersey 2019 , who gained 534 yards.Ryan bemoaned a lost opportunity when the Falcons were forced to punt when stopped at the Atlanta 44 with 25 seconds remaining in overtime.“We had chances to finish the game today and we didn’t do that,” Ryan said. “That’s disappointing.”Saints coach Sean Payton called the defensive stop “a huge part of the win.”Ryan passed for 374 yards, including 146 to Ridley, who had seven receptions, including a 75-yard TD.Ridley’s third scoring catch against the Saints was a 9-yarder early in the third quarter that held up following a review.Ryan’s five touchdown passes tied the team record set by Wade Wilson on Dec. 13, 1992, at Tampa Bay.The fifth scoring pass to Mohamed Sanu came after Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata was called for unnecessary roughness on Matt Bryant’s 29-yard field goal. With the penalty, the Falcons’ offense came back on the field.Ridley beat P.J. Williams on his first two scoring catches, an 18-yarder in the first quarter and the 75-yarder in the second quarter.The Saints made a defensive switch, moving Ken Crawley into coverage on Ridley. Crawley was called for pass interference on a deep incompletion to Ridley early in the third quarter that gave Atlanta a first down at the New Orleans 5. On second down from the 9, Ridley’s third scoring catch gave the Falcons a 21-16 lead.Brees completed his first four passes Black Ryan Schraeder Jersey , including a 19-yard scoring pass to Ted Ginn Jr. on the Saints’ opening drive.INJURY REPORTSaints reserve cornerback Patrick Robinson was carted from the field early in the third quarter with a left ankle injury. He did not return.Falcons safety Ricardo Allen left early in overtime with a left calf injury. He was helped to the sideline and then driven on a cart to the locker room. … Reserve cornerback Justin Bethel injured a knee in the third quarter. … Atlanta rookie linebacker Foyesade Oluokun left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury.THOMAS THRIVINGThomas had 10 catches for 129 yards. His 38 catches are the most by an NFL player in his team’s first three games to start a season. His 28 catches through two games also were a record.PASSING MONTANARyan’s 75-yard scoring pass to Ridley was his 34th career TD pass against the Saints, the most by any quarterback. He surpassed Joe Montana’s 33 TD passes against New Orleans. Ryan added three more, leaving his total at 37.DROPS FOR GINNGinn dropped a sideline pass on a second-quarter drive that ended with a 49-yard field goal by Will Lutz bouncing off the left upright and over the cross bar. Later in the quarter, Ginn juggled a pass for an incompletion as he ran out of bounds on the Atlanta sideline. He finished with three catches for 12 yards.UP NEXTSaints: at New York Giants next Sunday.Falcons: Play their third straight home game against the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday. ATLANTA (AP) — Talk about a mismatch.The New Orleans Saints have been unstoppable. The Atlanta Falcons have struggled to stop anyone. It all adds up to a Thanksgiving night game that could get out of hand quickly.“Where do you start?” moaned Marquand Manuel, the Falcon’s defensive coordinator.The Saints (9-1) are leading the NFL in scoring and really piled it on the last two weeks, dropping 51 points on Cincinnati and 48 on defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia in a pair of blowout wins.Most amazingly, New Orleans has scored on 24 of its last 29 possessions, not counting kneel-downs at the end of the game.Eighteen of those possessions have resulted in touchdowns.Next up is Atlanta (4-6), a team that has lost two straight and ranks near the bottom of the league in every major defensive category. The Falcons have been ravaged by injuries, losing both safeties for the season and top linebacker Deion Jones for the last nine games. Jones has returned to the active roster but it’s not known if he’ll be able to go Thursday.“It’s a challenge,” Marquand said. “The guys just have to be up to it for four quarters and understand that they’re going to make some plays. They’re hot right now.”While Drew Brees is having another huge year at age 39 Ryan Schraeder Jersey 2019 , New Orleans’ running game might be the real key to its offensive success.The Saints rank sixth in the league with an average of 131.4 yards per game, and they’ve been especially tough to defend since Mark Ingram returned after serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on banned substances.“Complementary football,” Ingram said. “Great teams play complementary football.”Ingram has rushed for 388 yards since his return, combining with Alvin Kamara to provide a dynamic 1-2 punch. Kamara has run for 617 yards and 11 TDs, to go along with 56 receptions and four scores.“The combination of both he and Alvin together has been pretty good for us,” coach Sean Payton said. “It is much more difficult if you are limited to just one of those players.”Marquand said Atlanta’s focus will be on trying to turn the Saints one-dimensional.“It’s where you start every week: the ability to stop the run game,” he said. “Ingram has come back and given them a nice balance. That allows Drew to be who he is.”Indeed, Brees is still the one who makes it all click.Last week, with newly signed receiver Brandon Marshall on the inactive list and the Eagles shading their coverage toward top receiver Michael Thomas, Brees threw touchdown passes to second-year pro Austin Carr and rookie Tre’Quan Smith.Smith finished with 10 catches for a career-high 157 yards, giving the Falcons another player to worry about Black Julio Jones Jersey , though he hasn’t been practicing during the short week because of a foot issue.Thomas is certainly a handful, having already eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving with six games still to go.“Drew’s going to shred you up, man,” Ingram said. “When we’re running the ball well, it just opens it up more for him. Even if not, he’s still going to do his thing. When he’s throwing it and slicing and dialing up plays like that and playing pitch and catch like that, they have to respect it.”When these longtime division rivals met in Week 3, New Orleans pulled out a 43-37 victory in overtime . Most memorably, Brees forced the extra period with a 7-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes of regulation, spinning away from both Brian Poole and Robert Alford to reach the end zone. The Saints then won the coin toss and held the ball for more than 7 minutes in OT Julio Jones Jersey 2019 , capped by Brees’ 1-yard TD plunge that ended the game.The thrilling contest set a course for both teams.The Falcons lost their next two games, as well, and never really recovered. The Saints haven’t lost since.“The last time we played them, the tackling was not up to par,” Marquand said. “But we are a better defense than the last time we faced them. We’ve got to make sure we stop them in the red zone, because they’re going to make their plays. We’ve got to make them earn everything they get.”