The Falcon teetered on the edge of becoming another blowout victim for the Saints.

After surviving a flurry, they regrouped before standing toe to toe and battling back against their rivals from the NFC South before they came up short.

The New Orleans Saints weren’t able to breathe easy until there were 3:03 minutes left to play and Pierre Thomas, running back, somersaulted into the end zone.

On Monday night in the Superdome, the Saints were able to hold on and defeat the Falcons 35-27 in front of 70,088 fans.

The 7-0 Saints are the only NFC team left that is still undefeated. With nine games left to play, the Atlanta Falcons’ record dropped to 4-2, putting them three games back of the Saints.

Atlanta was able to find their running game. Michael Turner rushed for over 150 yards and Roddy White, wide receiver, had a big game as well, accumulating over 100 receiving yards.

In the end, however, the defense for the Falcons couldn’t get Drew Brees, the dynamic quarterback, and the Saints off of the field.

During the third quarter, the defense for the Falcons stiffened, holding the Saints to only 64 yards. It was the lowest third quarter output for the Saints all season.

This gave a few opportunities to the offense to attempt to recover from a 14 point deficit. However, a call challenged on what looked like an apparent touchdown, an interception late in the game, and a Mike Peterson holding call, all hurt their chances to come back for the upset.

It appeared that the Falcons had tied the game at 28-28, with Roddy White catching a touchdown pass in the end zone. However, the play was challenged by the Saints and they won.

Atlanta settled for just a field goal.

The offense had a chance to take the lead following a fumble recovery by Atlanta safety Erik Coleman.

With 8:30 left to play in the game, Atlanta was driving down field for a score to take the lead. However Tracy Porter, defensive back for the Saints intercepted a Matt Ryan pass.

The defense needed to get another stop. However, they weren’t able to get it done. It appeared that the Falcons had stopped the Saints when a pass on third down headed for Reggie Bush went incomplete. However a defensive holding penalty was called on Peterson, giving a first down to the Saints, who went on to drive for a touchdown to seal their victory.

The game on national television lived up to all its hype early on.

On the opening drives, each team scored a touchdown.

Atlanta won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. Turner had some power running and a twenty seven yard season high catch from Tony Gonzalez, tight end, helped the Falcons march down the field.

The 77 yard, eight play drive was capped by a 13 yard touchdown run from Turner around the right end.

New Orleans then answered with a touchdown drive of their own. Thomas, eluding attempted tackles from Coleman and John Abraham, scored a touchdown on a 23 yard run.

Atlanta was unable to capitalize on good field position following the Saints being penalized for excessive celebration. The drive for the Falcons stalled. However the punt from Michael Koenen pinned New Orleans back to their own eight yard line.

The defense of the Falcons was then able to come up with a very big play.

Thomas DeCoud, safety, hammered Brees on the delayed blitz, causing a fumble. Kroy Biermann, defensive end, scooped up the ball and scored from four yards away. The extra point from Jason Elman made the score 14-7.

The Saints on their next drive were able to overcome a second down and 17, making their fourth third down conversion in a row to position themselves for a touchdown.

From Atlanta’s 18 yard line on second down and seven, Brees connected with Marques Colston, wide receiver, in the end zone to score the touchdown. The 6 foot 4 Colston soared over Tye Hill, making his first Falcons start instead of Brent Grimes, to catch the ball.

The Falcons, with Turner on a roll, were able to march up field. However on third down Michael Jenkins dropped a pass, forcing them to go for a field goal.

A 34 yard field goal attempt by Elam hit the left upright but was no good.

During the next drive Grimes went in for Hill and got a big interception, stopping a drive that looked promising for the Saints. He seemed to almost jump from the Superdome to pick a pass off meant for Devery Henderson.

However, the offense was unable to move and ball, forcing them to punt following three and out.

The Saints then went on one of their scoring flurries, which has enabled them to score a minimum of 45 points during four of the first of their six games.

In six plays the Saints were able to drive 80 yards. Reggie Bush scored from one yard out, making the score 21-14.

The opportunistic defense of the Saints finally came to life. Jabari Greer, cornerback, stepped right in front and picked off a Ryan pass, scoring a touchdown on a 38 yard return to give New Orleans a 28-14 lead at halftime.