NEW ORLEANS — Forget Reggie Bush’s blazing speed and flashy moves. Hisunderrated power and grit turned a day of frustration into one of celebrationfor the New Orleans Saints.

His feet churning and body squirming as three Atlanta tacklers met him onthe 2-yard line, Bush spun free and dived across the goal line on a crucialthird-and-goal screen pass. His touchdown lifted New Orleans to a 22-16 victoryover the Falcons on Sunday.

Bush threw the ball into the second deck of the Louisiana Superdome afterthe score. While fans chanted his name in celebration, Bush took a handoff on a2-point conversion, raced to the sideline and dived for the pylon to put theSaints (2-4) up by six points with 5:04 remaining.

When the Falcons’ next drive stalled, they punted with under 2 minutes to goand all of their timeouts left. Guess who clinched it with a first-down run twoplays later?

Bush’s 7-yard gain on second-and-6 allowed New Orleans to run out the clock.

Bush finished with only 54 yards rushing and 19 yards receiving on adifficult day during which New Orleans’ offense often sputtered. He also hadseveral good gains called back on holding penalties.

Atlanta (1-6) lost more than a game. Its newest starting quarterback, ByronLeftwich, left with an injured right ankle after Saints defensive end Will Smithbrought him down on a long incompletion early in the third quarter.

Joey Harrington, the starter until a loss to the New York Giants a weekearlier, finished the game for Atlanta, going 12-of-18 for 128 yards. He led onescoring drive, to Morten Andersen’s 21-yard field goal that gave Atlanta a 16-14lead with 10:19 left.

Leftwich, cut by Jacksonville shortly before the season, was performingwell.

He completed 15 of 23 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown throw to RoddyWhite. He also led a pair of scoring drives that ended with Andersen’s fieldgoals of 38 and 31 yards, giving the Falcons a 13-7 halftime lead.

Pierre Thomas, an undrafted rookie, scored on a darting, tackle-breaking24-yard run in the third quarter.

In the first quarter, Brees showed unwavering confidence in receiver DeveryHenderson, a speedster plagued by drops this season and sporadically throughouthis four years as a pro.

But when Henderson holds on to the ball, it’s often a big play, and that’swhat the Saints got. Brees went to him on a 37-yard pass down the middle for a7-0 lead.

The Saints’ offense was otherwise anemic for most of the first half. NewOrleans had three first downs and ran only 14 plays on its first four drives,three of which ended with punts. New Orleans had the ball for only 9:34 in thefirst half.

That allowed Atlanta, bolstered by good field position, to chip away asLeftwich became increasingly comfortable.

Andersen’s two field goals made it 7-6, then Leftwich gave Atlanta a 13-7lead with a 9-yard pass White late in the half. Leftwich completed four passeson the drive, including a key 20-yarder to Michael Jenkins on third-and-15.

The Saints, on fourth-and-2 from the Atlanta 34 at the end of the half, keptthe offense on the field. As kicker Olindo Mare, who has struggled on long fieldgoals this season, watched, Brees rolled out and threw his 10th interception ofthe season.

Brees recovered to finish 22-of-34 for 219 yards and two touchdowns. He hita clutch third-down slant pass to Marques Colston, who slipped a tackle for a33-yard gain to the Atlanta 31 on the winning drive.