The feel good story of the 2006 NFL season got back on track Sunday in Atlanta.

The Saints were for the first time in their history the beneficiary of a Hail Mary and not the victim of it, the defense had its best game in weeks, and Drew Brees got back to being Drew Brees.

New Orleans went to Atlanta with their season at a crossroads and responded with a performance that teams looking to make the playoffs usually have this time of year.

Drew Brees started the game with a 76-yard strike to Devery Henderson and the Saints were off and running.

Of course it helped that Atlanta is in a complete free fall. 

The Falcon receivers made up for not getting open by dropping passes.

The Saints secondary hasn’t looked so good since well… the last time they played Atlanta.

Michael Vick seemed to completely lose confidence in his receivers and if Algee Crumpler wasn’t open he was intent on running the ball. Can you blame him?

As he walked off the field he gave the fans the one-finger salute because he was so frustrated. 

(Atlanta is in big time trouble because Michael Vick fills the Georgia Dome but he’s not a very good quarterback. He’s been playing in the NFL for six years so at this point it’s safe to say he is what he is. So the Falcons won’t win anything with him and can’t sell tickets without him. Throw in a bad head coach and the Falcons seem poised for a long stretch of sustained mediocrity. But that’s their problem. Ok, back to your regularly scheduled column.)

The Saints defense had a lot to do with that by shutting down the Atlanta running game.

The final stats say the Falcons ran for 281 yards but 166 of that was Vick making plays against a Saints defense in man coverage.

The Falcons only had 115 yards on 32 carries by running backs.

While the Saints defense was bottling up the Falcons their offense was returning to the efficient unit that helped get the team of to a 6-2 start.

No turnovers, 300 yards passing, and some hard running by Deuce McAlister.

Devery Henderson has emerged a big time complimentary receiver: He’s

Good for at least two big catches a week and if he were a Falcon he’d be their best receiver by far.

While the Saints were taking care of business in Atlanta, Carolina was losing in Washington, and the Giants were blowing a 21-point lead in Tennessee.

So even after a bumpy November the Saints are still in first place in their division and tied for second in the NFC.

When the Saints are completing Hail Mary passes, have a quarterback on pace to throw for 5,000 yards, and crush Atlanta twice things are going well.

So take a deep breath and smile because the magical mystery tour that is the 2006 Saints season is now right back on schedule.

Ralph Malbrough is a Saints fan living in California. He can be reached at ralphmalbrough@hotmail.com