Postgame notes from New Orleans Saints win over the Atlanta Falcons

Saints clinch playoff spot with ninth consecutive win, improve to 10-2

Dec 06, 2020 at 05:37 PM

-With its 21-16 win over Atlanta on Sunday, New Orleans' record improves to 10-2, putting it three games ahead of the 7-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers for first place in the NFC South, who have a Week 13 bye. It also gives the franchise its fifth winning streak of at least nine games, their third under Coach Sean Payton and second in the last three seasons. The Saints have also clinched their fourth consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history. With a win on Sunday at Philadelphia, they would clinch their fourth consecutive NFC South title.

-The win gives the franchise four consecutive double-digit victory seasons for the first time in franchise history.

-The win improves Payton's record against Atlanta to 20-8, making the Falcons the first opponent he has 20 victories against. The win also gives Payton a 10-4 road record against Atlanta. A win over Falcons Interim Coach Raheem Morris gives him a 5-3 all-time record against Morris, and retains his regular season winning record against 51 head coaches.

-New Orleans improves its road record to 5-1, giving it winning road records in three consecutive seasons for the second time in franchise history after Payton and the Saints first achieved this from 2009-11. It also gives them a 3-1 record at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, giving them their third consecutive road victory at the facility.

-New Orleans racked up 424 yards in the win with 217 net passing yards and 207 rushing yards on the way to scoring 21 points.

-Quarterback Taysom Hill started and completed 37-of-27 passes for 232 yards with the first two touchdown passes of his career and a 107.0 quarterback rating while carrying 14 times for a career-high 83 yards, leading the Saints on three scoring drives resulting in three touchdowns. He is also the first Saints quarterback to win his first three starts.

-Hill's 364 rushing yards this season are the most by a quarterback in club history, surpassing Aaron Brooks' 358 in 2001.

-Running back Alvin Kamara led the team in rushing with 88 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries while also catching two passes for nine yards. Kamara joins Roger Craig as the only players with at least 3,000 rushing yards and 2,500 receiving yards in their first four seasons. He also joins running back Pierre Thomas as only the second Saint with at least 3,000 rushing yards and 2,500 receiving yards. Kamara now has 51 career touchdowns, moving into a tie with tight end Jimmy Graham for fifth in club record books.

-Receiver Michael Thomas led the team in receiving, catching nine passes for 105 yards. Thomas eclipsed the 500 receptions mark for his career, reaching the milestone in an NFL-record 69 games. Thomas surpassed Anquan Boldin and Julio Jones who each reached 500 receptions in 80 games. Sunday marked Thomas' 21st 100-yard receiving game, surpassing Eric Martin for third place in team history.

-Receiver Tre'Quan Smith and tight end Jared Cook each caught touchdown passes from Hill in the first half.

-Beginning after a first quarter touchdown against San Francisco in Week 10, the Saints' defense went a club-record 14 straight quarters without giving up a touchdown until Atlanta scored in the fourth quarter.

-Linebacker Demario Davis played in his 140th consecutive NFL game Sunday, having never missed a contest in his nine-year NFL career. Davis led the team in tackles with nine and now has over 300 tackles as a member of the Black and Gold.

-Defensive end Trey Hendrickson, defensive tackle David Onyemata and defenisve end Carl Granderson each recorded a sack against Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.

-Hendrickson now has 10.5 sacks and becomes the first Saint besides defensive end Cameron Jordan to have double-digit sacks in a season since 2014.

-Jordan finished with two solo tackles and eclipsed the 600-tackle mark for his career.

-Onyemata now has a career-high 6 sacks. Onyemata, Jordan and Hendrickson are the first trio of Saints defenders to post at least 5.5 sacks each since 2006when DE Will Smith had 10.5, DE Charles Grant 6 and DT Brian Young, now the team's pass rush specialist coach, had 5.5 quarterbacks takedowns.

-FS Marcus Williams finished with seven tackles and one pass defensed.

-Defensive back P.J. Williams finished with two solo tackles, his 25th career pass defensed and one fumble recovery

-Linebacker Kwon Alexander recorded three solo tackles and a team-high two passes defensed.

-Kicker Wil Lutz converted all three extra point attempts and joins Morten Andersen (1985-89) as only the second Saint to have 100 points in five consecutive seasons.

-Punter Thomas Morstead played in his 186th regular season game, moving him into a tie with tackle Stan Brock for fifth place in club record books. Morstead punted four times for 159 yards with a 39.8 gross punting average and a long of 49.

-The Saints have not surrendered 100 yards to an individual player in 55 consecutive games in the regular season and postseason combined, the longest streak in NFL history with the regular season streak at 50 games.

-The Saints extended their NFL-leading streak to 299 regular season games without being shut out. The streak dates to Sept. 6, 2002 when New Orleans defeated the Buccaneers 26-20 at Raymond James Stadium.

Photos: Game Action | Saints-Falcons Week 13 2020