Matt Ryan did everything the Falcons possibly could have asked for today. His five passing touchdowns were a career high, but it still wasn’t enough to beat the Saints thanks to a terrible defensive effort. In Atlanta’s excruciating 43-37 defeat to New Orleans, Ryan posted the highest passer rating of any quarterback in a loss in NFL history, according to Scott Kacsmar at Football Outsiders. Matt Ryan just put up the highest passer rating (148.1) in a loss in NFL history (min. 25 attempts). — Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) September 23, 2018 Three of Ryan’s touchdowns went to rookie wide receiver Calvin Ridley. Mohamed Sanu and Tevin Coleman caught the others. However, on the other side the Falcons just could not stop Drew Brees. He bested Ryan’s 374 passing yards with 396 yards and threw three touchdown passes of his own. If that’s not bad enough, it sounds like safety Ricardo Allen will be out for the rest of the season due to a late injury. Bummer.<doc-sep>Fans will be getting more than just a fierce division rivalry when they watch the Falcons take on the Saints today. They should also see a clinic in quarterback play. Matt Ryan and Drew Brees are two of the best QBs in the NFL right now, and two of the most efficient. According to Ryan Michael, Ryan and Brees rank No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in yards per pass attempt since the 2015 season began. Not bad.<doc-sep>David Goldman/Associated Press If there's a third tie in three weeks, it won't be coming in Atlanta. Drew Brees leapt over the pile from one yard out, giving the New Orleans Saints a 43-37 overtime victory over the Falcons Sunday. Brees led the Saints 80 yards down the field on the first drive of overtime, with officials initially giving New Orleans a victory when he hit Alvin Kamara from three yards out for seemingly a game-winning touchdown. A review ruled Kamara was down just short of the goal line, and Brees snuck the ball in on the next play. Brees finished with two rushing touchdowns, capping off the game-tying and game-winning drives using his feet. He had 396 yards and three touchdowns passing as well. Calvin Ridley's Ascent Could Give Falcons Best 1-2 WR Punch in NFL First, a fun fact: Julio Jones has three touchdown receptions in his last 19 games. Calvin Ridley had three touchdown receptions in the first 33 minutes of Sunday's game and has four through his first three NFL contests. Video Play Button Videos you might like OK, maybe it's only a fun fact if your name isn't Julio Jones and you don't own Julio in fantasy. But I digress. Ridley's ascent is looking like the real deal. After getting shut out in his pro debut, Ridley has recorded 11 receptions for 210 yards over the last two weeks. Rookie receiver production is always a bit hit-and-miss, but Ridley looks like a steal after dipping all the way to No. 26 overall in April's draft. The Falcons could be on their way to having the best receiving corps in football if this continues. Ridley's performance this week should only serve to put more teams on notice that Matt Ryan is going to find him if he's open. Jones and his fantasy owners will have their fingers crossed that means fewer double-teams in the red zone moving forward. Saints Desperately Need Mark Ingram II, Running Game to Return And not at all for the sake of their offense. The Saints offense is fine without Ingram. They've put up 40 points in two of the first three weeks, and Alvin Kamara is a bona fide superstar. But these Saints have a look and feel more of a Saints Classic rather than the Super Bowl contenders they were a year ago. Brees is back to chucking the ball all over the field, and Kamara doesn't have a run longer than 18 yards this season. After averaging 6.1 yards per carry as a rookie, Kamara is down to 3.6 this season and has done almost all of his damage as a pass-catcher. That is, without a doubt, correlated to Kamara having to be on the field for three downs rather than splitting time. The Saints gave Kamara 31 touches this week; he didn't top 20 once the entire 2017 season. Adding Ingram will give New Orleans a more balanced attack that will keep Kamara fresh and the defense off the field for long stretches. While the Saints have kept their offense humming with Ingram out, it's clear the defense isn't the same as a year ago. They gave up 48 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 and 37 more this week. Things are bound to calm down a bit once Sean Payton can rely on his ground game the way he did in 2017. NFC South Looks Like NFL's Most Competitive Division The Saints are going to need to stay balanced if they hope to keep winning in what looks like the NFL's toughest division. Ryan Fitzpatrick seems to have found some weird fountain of youth in Tampa's drinking water, the Panthers are 2-1 after a pair of wins against nondivisional opponents, and the Falcons just beat Carolina a week ago. A 10-6 or 11-5 record is probably going to win the division because these teams are going to keep beating up on one another. The Falcons are going to sit in the division's basement this week despite losing two games by a total of 12 points. They're a red-zone touchdown away from defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 and a defensive stop away from winning against New Orleans this week. Throw just about any of these four teams in the AFC South and you'd have a 12-4 runaway division champion. What's Next? The Saints travel to play the New York Giants next Sunday. The Falcons host the Cincinnati Bengals.<doc-sep>
When Matt Ryan and Drew Brees play Sunday, it won’t just be the latest installment in a long-running rivalry. It’ll also be the continuation of a historic series of matchups between two durable, great players. Per Mike Triplett at ESPN, this will be the 20th time Ryan and Brees have met on the same field. That’s the most ever between two QBs in the Super Bowl era, as he notes, beating out Dan Marino-Jim Kelly and John Elway-Dave Krieg. If you wanted to argue that this is the greatest QB rivalry in NFL history, I’d be hard-pressed to argue against you. It helps that both of these players may someday reach Canton. Per @ESPNStatsInfo this will be the 20th meeting between Saints' Drew Brees and Falcons' Matt Ryan as starting QBs - most in Super Bowl era. Brees leads the series 11-8. (CORRECTION from earlier): Dan Marino-Jim Kelly and John Elway-Dave Krieg are tied for second with 18 meetings — Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) September 20, 2018 Brees owns the all-time advantage in that clash—this will not surprise you, as the Saints were fairly dominant at times in the Smitty years—but it’s close enough that Ryan could erase the lead in 2018 and 2019. Both players have had success against their opponent, too: Brees: 688-913, 7,657 yards, 46 touchdowns, 26 interceptions Ryan: 452-715, 5,603 yards, 32 touchdowns, 12 interceptions Chances are we’re nearing the end of this rivalry, as Brees probably has 2-3 years left in him, and Ryan’s probably anywhere from 4-7 years away from the end of his career. That means that as much as we despise Brees and the Saints more generally, we should take some time to appreciate just how great this rivalry has been, in large part because of the play of the two men who have been under center for nearly every game this past decade.