Falcons Lead NFL in Bizarre Stat After Loss vs. Saints

The Falcons made history Sunday afternoon.

Jeremy Brener | Sep 14, 2022

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

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Atlanta Falcons

After falling to the New Orleans Saints in a multi-score collapse on Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons have accomplished something more than the entire NFL has done combined in the last three seasons.

The Falcons are 5-3 in games where they lead by more than 15 points in the fourth quarter since 2020. The rest of the NFL is 245-2-1.

The Falcons had a 98 percent chance while leading by 16 points in the middle of the fourth quarter, but that lead was squandered after three consecutive Saints drives resulted in 17 points.

Linebacker Rashaan Evans explains why he felt the defense surrendered the lead in the fashion it did.

"I think the big plays," Evans said. "Jameis was, for some reason, it started clicking for him. He was completing all of his passes, and we allowed some big plays for them to be able to kick a field goal and be back into the game. We've just got to be better in the fourth quarter at finishing these teams."

The Falcons gave up nine plays of 15+ yards in the fourth quarter alone, allowing the Saints to get back in the game. But Evans has a plan for the defense to prevent something like this from happening again.

"Mostly was just, for us, to be more sound," Evans said. "I think we were a lot better as far as the run game, but as far as the pass, we want to improve, especially going against good quarterbacks."

The Falcons will face a good quarterback this weekend in Matthew Stafford as they take on the Los Angeles Rams. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.

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Published Sep 14, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.