While the majority of the praise coming out of Thursday's win over the Saints was directed at the secondary, one of the members of the front line of the defense made one of the key plays in the win, as he has all season.
John Abraham's sack of Drew Brees in the fourth quarter came on third down and ended a Saints drive while also putting them just out of field goal range. The Falcons offense turned the following possesion into a field goal and a 10-point lead. While William Moore's interception later in the quarter ended it once and for all, Abraham's sack came at a key time to begin to swing the momentum back towards the Falcons.
The sack was Abraham's 10th of the season, making 2012 the seventh season of his career that he's had 10 or more sacks.
While the Falcons pass rush has been slow at times in finding its way this season, Abraham has once again carried Atlanta's attempts to put pressure on the QB. His game against New Orleans was one of the best of his season. In addition to his one sack, he had one tackle for loss and three additional quarterback hits. ProFootballFocus.com credits Abraham with nine total QB pressures against the Saints, identifying six QB hurries in addition to his hits and sack.
This season Abraham has once again one of the better pass rushers in the league. He's currently tied for fifth in the NFL in sack totals and just a 1/2 sack behind No. 4 Cameron Wake. He's the NFL's active sack leader with 122 career sacks and with his sack of Brees, moved into a tie for 14th on the all-time sack list in league history.
