Postgame notes from New Orleans Saints 24-9 win over Atlanta Falcons

Saints improve to 8-2 with seventh consecutive victory

Nov 22, 2020 at 07:11 PM

-With Sunday's win over the Atlanta Falcons, the New Orleans Saints improve to 8-2 and have won seven consecutive games, dating to a 35-29 Week 4 victory at Detroit. New Orleans returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 29 when it takes on the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Kickoff is set for 3:05 pm CT on Fox.

-The Saints have now recorded eight winning streaks of at least seven games, their fifth under Coach Sean Payton and their third in four seasons.

-New Orleans improves its overall home regular season record to 208-206-1, including games played at Tulane Stadium, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Giants Stadium (2005), San Antonio's Alamodome (2005), Tiger Stadium (2005), and Wembley Stadium (2008). New Orleans' record improves to 79-39 in regular season home games since 2006.

-For Sean Payton, the victory improves his record against Atlanta to 19-8, his home mark to 10-4, and improves his record against Falcons Interim Coach Raheem Morris to 4-3, making him the 50th head coach he has a winning record against.

-Sunday's win gave Payton his 139th career regular season win, putting him in a tie with Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy for 24th all-time.

-New Orleans amassed 378 yards, including a season-high 168 rushing yards on 36 carries (4.7 avg.) and 210 passing yards. New Orleans has rushed for at least 100 yards in eight of its 10 games this season, including each of their last five contests.

-New Orleans held Atlanta to 248 yards, including 59 rushing yards and 196 passing yards, while posting a season-high eight sacks.

-New Orleans held Atlanta's leading rusher, running back Todd Gurley, to 26 yards on eight carries. New Orleans now hasn't allowed 100 rushing yards to a single player for an NFL-record 53 consecutive regular season and postseason games.

-Quarterback Taysom Hill's first career start, in place of an injured Drew Brees, was a success as he completed 18-of-23 passes for 233 yards, while also carrying 10 times for a game high 51 yards with a career-high two rushing touchdowns and a 108.9 passer rating, joining Daunte Culpepper as only the second player in the Super Bowl era with 40+ rush yards and two+ rush TDs in his first quarterback start.

-Wide receiver Michael Thomas enjoyed his most successful performance of the season with nine receptions for 104 yards, with his second catch which was his 482nd, giving him the most catches by an NFL player in his first five NFL seasons, surpassing Jarvis Landry's 481 grabs.

-Running back Alvin Kamara rushed 13 times for 45 yards with one touchdown, as he scored his 50th career touchdown and became the first NFL player to have 500 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving in each of his first four seasons.

-With his 50th career touchdown, Kamara moves into a tie with receiver Joe Horn for sixth place in club record books. With the score, Kamara now has 308 career points, surpassing Horn and tight end Jimmy Graham (306) to move into 10th place on the club's all-time list.

-Running back Latavius Murray carried 12 times for 49 yards and also recorded two grabs for 36 yards, including a 25-yard grab, as Murray surpassed 6,000 career yards from scrimmage.

-Appearing in his 138th consecutive game, linebacker Demario Davis led the Saints with seven tackles (four solo) and added one sack and one pass defensed.

-Safety Marcus Williams recorded an interception at the end of the first half. He now has a team-high three picks in 2020 and with 13 career interceptions is now tied for 10th in club record books with cornerbacks Mike McKenzie and Fred Thomas in picks.

-Cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson recorded four tackles and two passes defensed.

-Defensive end Cameron Jordan had four solo tackles, three sacks for a 14-yard loss, three tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. With 21 sacks against Atlanta, Jordan became the 12th player in NFL history to have 20 sacks against an opponent. With 92.5 sacks, Jordan now moved into the top 50 all-time in 48th place. It was also Jordan's fourth career game with at least three takedowns, three occurring against the Falcons.

-Defensive end Trey Hendrickson posted two solo tackles, two sacks for six-yard loss, one quarterback hit and three quarterback hits. With 9.5 takedowns, he is tied for the league lead with Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett.

-Cornerback Janoris Jenkins recorded his second interception of the season and the 25th of his career, becoming only the seventh player since he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2012 to have 25 picks in that period. Jenkins added five tackles and a career-high five passes defensed.

-Punter Thomas Morstead averaged 39.8 net yards on four punts, placing two inside the 20-yard line, while playing in his 184th career game, moving into sixth place in club record books past DE/DT Jim Wilks.

-Defensive tackle David Onyemata finished with three tackles, two sacks for a nine-yard loss, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits, setting a season career-high with five takedowns.

-Safety J.T. Gray and linebacker Alex Anzalone each recorded a special teams tackles as the Saints allowed zero yards on one punt return and 18 yards on one kickoff return.

-The Saints extend their streak to 298 regular season games without being shut out, the longest such running streak in the NFL and fourth longest all-time. The streak dates to Sept. 6, 2002 when New Orleans defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-20 at Raymond James Stadium.

Photos: Game Action #1 | Saints-Falcons Week 11 2020