Week 2, September 11th, 1988, New Orleans Saints (0-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (1-0)

Sunday, September 11th, 1988 1:00PM
New Orleans Saints (0-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (1-0)
Atlanta Fulton County Stadium
Weather: 75 degrees, relative humidity 86%, wind 10 mph
Line: New Orleans -8.5 (atlanta), O/U 43 (under)

Attendance:  48,901 (59,709)

New Orleans 0, Atlanta 19

Atlanta Fulton County Stadium played host to the Week 2 Divisional Match-Up between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints.  The Saints came off of a game where they came up short after giving the 49ers all the can handle, and trying to avoid a dubious 0-2 start.  Atlanta came into their home opener having already beat a weak Detroit Lions team.  

The game started out without much offense as the team exchanged punts on the 1st 2 drives that came up short at about mid field.  On their 2nd possession, New Orleans' Quarterback Bobby Hebert (.13-29, 125 Yards, 2 Interceptions, 28.7 Rating) got sloppy and Charles Dimry intercepted his pass, giving the Falcons a drive start in Saints' territory.  John Settle caught a pass from Chris Miller (14-25, 104 Yards, 66.1 Rating) and gained 27 yards to set up a 33 yard field goal by Kicker Greg Davis.  The Falcons were up 3-0 and it was all the scoring they would need.

New Orleans was able to move the ball offensively.  On the next drive, behind some gutsy running by Rueben Mayes (12-77), they were able to get inside the Atlanta 40 and were stopped thanks to 1st overall pick Aundray Bruce's 1st career sack,  The Saints decided to Punt on 4th down and pin Atlanta.  Punter Brian Hanson executed the coffin corner kick to the 7, and the Saints defense held.  On their next drive, the Saints moved the ball again to the Atlanta 7 thanks to a few catches by John Tice (2-20)and a 14 yard reception by Eric Martin (5-42).  Morton Anderson missed a chip shot 23 yard field goal that would have tied the game, and control swung firmly to the home team.

Bill Fralic looks on as the Falcon defense has its way with the Saints

The Falcons drove 80 yards for a touchdown on the next possession thanks to 37 total yards from bowling ball Gerald Riggs, a huge 3rd down and long pass from Chris Miller to Michael Haynes, and scoring on a 7 yard run by RB John Settle to take a 10-0 lead with 1:45 to play in the half.  The Saints were able to get the ball down to the 34, but went unsuccessfully for a touchdown instead of trying for a long field goal as time ran out.

Saints Linebacker Sam Mills awaits the play

The 3rd quarter was a defensive struggle.  The Falcons managed 3 first downs and they held the Saints to 0 first downs.  Punter Rick Donnelly pinned the Saints at their own 7 yard line early in the 3rd quarter, providing the Falcons with much needed field position that resulted in Greg Davis' 2nd field goal of the game to make the score 13-0.

The Saints gave their last fight early in the 4th quarter, moving the ball for the 1st time in the half.  Dalton Hilliard had a 20 yard rush and Eric Martin caught a 17 yard pass.  They were eventually faced with a 4th and 6 from the 33 and went for it.  Hebert's attempted pass to Lorenzo Hill fell short and they gave it up on downs.  

Gerald Riggs had 48 rushing yards on the next drive to run off nearly half of the quarter.  The drive also resulted in Davis' 3rd field goal of the game to make it a 3-score-game 16-0 with under 7:00 to play.  Davis added another field goal late to cap the scoring at 19-0.

This was Atlanta's 1st shutout since December 12th 1982, a 35-0 win against New Orleans, and New Orleans' first time on the losing end of a shutout since November 13, 1983 at San Francisco.  Atlanta travels to San Francisco next week, while New Orleans tries to collect itself at Detroit.  

Player of the Game:

Gerald Riggs - Falcons

Gerald Riggs was the standout offensive player on the afternoon, gaining 103 yards on 15 carries, playing a major role in allowing the Falcons offense to score 5 times.  He also caught 2 passes for 16 yards.

1988 New Orleans 0, 1988 Atlanta 19
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1988 New Orleans	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988 Atlanta	3	7	3	6	0	19

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	4:19	1988 Atlanta	G.Davis 34 yd. field goal	3-0 ATN
2	1:45	1988 Atlanta	J.Settle 7 yd. run (G.Davis kick)	10-0 ATN
3	8:30	1988 Atlanta	G.Davis 36 yd. field goal	13-0 ATN
4	6:41	1988 Atlanta	G.Davis 33 yd. field goal	16-0 ATN
4	1:37	1988 Atlanta	G.Davis 43 yd. field goal	19-0 ATN

Other Highlights
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Event	Player	Yards
1	7:31	1988 Atlanta	Intercept	Charles Dimry	0
1	0:47	1988 New Orleans	QBSack	Aundray Bruce	-6
2	7:57	1988 New Orleans	Missed Field Goal	Morten Andersen	23
4	0:08	1988 Atlanta	Intercept	Elbert Shelley	2

Team Statistics
	1988 New Orleans	1988 Atlanta
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	7-9-0-16	11-4-2-17
Third Down Efficiency	4-12-33%	7-16-44%
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-1-0%	0-0-0%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	0-7-0%	16-28-57%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	272-59-4.6	299-64-4.7
Total Net Yards Rushing	153	189
Total Rushes	29	38
Average Per Rush	5.3	5.0
Passes Completed/Attempted	13/29 (44.8%)	15/26 (57.7%)
Net Yards Passing	119	110
Avg Yards Per Pass	4.3	4.2
Sacked/Yards Lost	1/6	0/0
Punts/Average	6/44.7	5/44.8
Punts Received/Return Yardage	2/0	1/3
Kickoffs/Returns	5/103	1/21
Interceptions/Returns	0/0	2/2
Penalties/Yards	7/40	2/15
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	2/0	2/0
Time of Possession	28 mins 6 secs	31 mins 54 secs
Average Drive Start	NON 21	ATN 29

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1988 New Orleans
Bobby Hebert	29	13	125	44.8	4.3	0	0	2	6.9	18	1/6	28.7
1988 Atlanta
Chris Miller	25	14	104	56.0	4.2	0	0	0	0	27	0/0	66.1
Hugh Millen	1	1	6	100.0	6.0	0	0	0	0	6	0/0	91.7

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1988 New Orleans
Rueben Mayes	12	77	6.4	17	0	0	0/0
Dalton Hilliard	11	65	5.9	20	0	0	0/0
Bobby Hebert	4	5	1.3	3	0	0	2/0
Buford Jordan	1	4	4.0	4	0	0	0/0
Craig Heyward	1	2	2.0	2	0	0	0/0
1988 Atlanta
Gerald Riggs	15	103	6.9	20	0	0	2/0
John Settle	14	51	3.6	20	1	0	0/0
James Primus	6	22	3.7	8	0	0	0/0
Gene Lang	1	5	5.0	5	0	0	0/0
Chris Miller	1	9	9.0	9	0	0	0/0
Hugh Millen	1	-1	-1.0	-1	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1988 New Orleans
Eric Martin	4	52	13.0	17	0	0
Dalton Hilliard	2	12	6.0	13	0	0
John Tice	2	20	10.0	10	0	0
Craig Heyward	2	21	10.5	18	0	0
Lonzell Hill	2	10	5.0	7	0	0
Robert Clark	1	10	10.0	10	0	0
1988 Atlanta
John Settle	4	37	9.3	27	0	0
Ken Whisenhunt	3	21	7.0	9	0	0
Stacey Bailey	2	14	7.0	8	0	0
Gerald Riggs	2	16	8.0	10	0	0
Gary Wilkins	2	6	3.0	8	0	0
Michael D. Haynes	2	16	8.0	11	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1988 New Orleans
Morten Andersen	0/0	0/1	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/1	0.0
1988 Atlanta
Greg Davis	0/0	0/0	3/3	1/1	0/0	4/4	100

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1988 New Orleans
Brian Hansen	6	44.7	40.8	1	2	66	0
1988 Atlanta
Rick Donnelly	5	44.8	44.8	0	3	53	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 New Orleans
Mel Gray	4	83	20.8	22	0
Gene Atkins	1	20	20.0	20	0
1988 Atlanta
Evan Cooper	1	21	21.0	21	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 New Orleans
Mel Gray	1	1	-1	-1.0	-1	0
Lonzell Hill	1	1	1	1.0	1	0
1988 Atlanta
Lew Barnes	1	2	3	3.0	3	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1988 New Orleans
Antonio Gibson	7	0	0
Rickey Jackson	7	0	0
Van Jakes	6	0	0
Pat Swilling	6	0	0
Vaughan Johnson	5	0	0
Tony Elliott	4	0	0
Sam Mills	4	0	0
Jim Wilks	3	0	0
Dave Waymer	3	0	0
Brett Maxie	2	0	0
Frank Warren	2	0	0
Reggie Sutton	1	0	0
Jumpy Geathers	1	0	0
Steve Korte	0	0	1
Brad Edelman	0	0	1
1988 Atlanta
Robert Moore	8	0	0
John Rade	5	0	0
Jessie Tuggle	5	0	0
Tony Casillas	4	0	0
Tim Gordon	4	0	0
Aundray Bruce	4	1	0
Charles Dimry	3	0	0
Rick Bryan	3	0	0
Bobby Butler	2	0	0
Marcus Cotton	2	0	0
Scott Case	2	0	0
Mike Gann	1	0	0
Chris Miller	0	0	1
Hugh Millen	0	0	1

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 New Orleans
1988 Atlanta
Elbert Shelley	1	2	2.0	2	0
Charles Dimry	1	0	0.0	0	0

Game Story

Greg Davis enjoyed a big day as Atlanta defeated New Orleans by the score of 19 to 0. Davis split the uprights 4 times, including a long one of 43 yards for the winners. Gerald Riggs rushed the ball 15 times for 103 yards. It was a great day for the Atlanta defense, as they shut down the New Orleans offense.

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