The Falcons were a different team in all three facets during their 26-9 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

One of the areas the Falcons looked vastly improved was the run game, which was led by Brian Hill’s 61 yards.

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Injuries to Devonta Freeman and Ito Smith have presented Hill with more opportunities.

Smith, Atlanta's No. 2 running back to start the season, was placed on injured reserve last week.

Freeman suffered a foot injury in the first half of the Saints game and was unable to return. The severity of his injury moving forward or when he'll return is unknown.

Hill said the plan heading into Sunday's game was to attack the Saints' run defense. Prior to the game, the Saints had a top-five defense against the run, giving up 84.3 yards per game. The Falcons finished with 143 rushing yards.

"We just wanted to stick with the run," Hill said. "We knew they had a good rushing defense coming in and we knew a lot of teams kind of gave up on the run. So, we wanted to focus on bringing it to them the whole game."

Hill has played in five games for the Falcons this season and according to the former fifth-round draft pick, he believes he's improving every time he steps on the field.

"I feel like I'm getting better every game," Hill said. "I missed a few runs that I'm going to go back and watch on Monday to get better for next week."

And while Hill's NFL journey has been one mostly of ups and downs, he's never lost confidence in himself.

"Once I get to open up, I like my chances," Hill said.

Hill was drafted by the Falcons in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was waived by the Falcons and then re-signed to the practice squad where he stayed for a month before being signed off it by the Bengals.

A year later, Hill was released by the Bengals and was re-signed to the Falcons' practice squad. Hill was activated to the 53-man roster a week later and spent the rest of the 2018 season making a name for himself.

Hill played in 10 games for the Falcons in 2018 rushing for 157 yards on 20 carries.

Prior to the 2019 season, Hill said the experience of being cut twice was "definitely humbling" and changed his perspective.

Clearly, for the better.

Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Hill has earned the respect and trust of his teammates and coaches if he is called upon to carry the load for the Falcons moving forward.