Game Recap: Falcons Blow Lead to Visitors

The Saints are 1-0 after a comeback victory over the Falcons.

ATLANTA -- The Saints are 1-0 after a crazy game against the Falcons in Week 1. It came down to the final minute with all sorts of drama, but New Orleans prevailed 27-26. Needless to say, it was wild way to start the season out.

Game Recap

The Falcons opened with the ball first after the Saints won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Atlanta had a good offensive drive to start, putting together a 10-play, 40-yard drive to open the game that resulted in a 54-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo to get the first points of the game. Justin Evans got work in the slot, as the team opened in nickel coverage. Big plays for the Falcons included the opening one on a read-option keeper by Marcus Mariota and an 11-yard hookup to Kyle Pitts.

The first offensive drive for the Saints didn't see much result, as they started three-and-out. Winston tried Juwan Johnson on 3rd-and-4 after scrambling the previous play, but was unable to connect. The Falcons answered with a three-and-out of their own.

New Orleans settled in offensively, finding the end zone after five plays. Taysom Hill had the big play, a 57-yard run on 3rd-and-1 in Saints territory to help set them up. Andrus Peat had a key block that helped sprung Hill. Just a couple plays later, Hill ran it in from 11 yards out to make it 7-3 Saints.

Atlanta ran exactly one play on their next series, which gave the ball right back to the Saints after Pete Werner made an excellent strip on Olamide Zacchaeus. Bradley Roby recovered the fumble, and the Saints took over with good field position. However, the drive would stall out after a few plays, and Wil Lutz would miss the 44-yard field goal attempt to keep it 7-3 with 2:42 in the opening quarter.

The Falcons would put together a solid drive with their next possession, going 66 yards in 9 plays that took 5:30 off the clock. It was a heavy dose of Cordarrelle Patterson, who had 8 carries on the drive, including the 5-yard touchdown run to close out the drive and put the Falcons up 10-7 with 12:12 left until the half.

New Orleans would run another three-and-out on the ensuing possession, but would get the Falcons offense off the field after five plays. The Saints couldn't do much with their next series, punting the ball away after just a handful of plays. Jameis Winston ended up getting sacked twice.

With new life, the Falcons put together a 7-play, 50-yard drive that helped extend their lead after getting another field goal from Younghoe Koo, this time from 50 yards out. Cordarelle Patterson once again found some good success on the ground, and they converted key 3rd Downs to help put them in position to take a 13-7 lead.

New Orleans once again struggled heavily on offense, with Winston getting sacked a third time to end the drive operating in the two-minute drill. Cesar Ruiz absolutely got worked by Grady Jarrett. It took Atlanta one play to get into field goal range after Mariota hooked up Drake London over the middle for a 31-yard gain. He got Kyle Pitts on the next play for an 8-yard gain to help set up Koo's third field goal of the game, this time from 40 yards out to go up 16-7 at the half.

Second Half

New Orleans started with the football to open the third quarter. They had a promising drive going, and were at least able to cash in points this time after a 49-yard Wil Lutz field goal. The 11-play, 44-yard drive saw Winston get sacked a fourth time to push the team into a 3rd-and-19 after Mykal Walker came free on the blitz. Big plays came to Chris Olave on 3rd-and-4 for an 11-yard hookup and a Taysom Hill QB power for 9 yards.

Atlanta had no issues moving it down the field to get into the end zone on their ensuing possession, marching 75 yards in 5 plays in just 2:26. Mariota kept the ball for a 2-yard touchdown after a Marcus Maye 39-yard pass interference penalty gave the Falcons the ball at the 2-yard-line. 

The Saints offense ran off a few plays and then hit complete disaster. On a 3rd-and-6, the blitz got home to Winston again, as he did a good job of escaping it and dumping it off to Mark Ingram. Ingram tried to make something out of nothing, and ended up getting popped by Mykal Walker to force a fumble that easily landed in the waiting hands of Rashaan Evans to take over with 5:07 left in the third. However, New Orleans went three-and-out again.

Atlanta took advantage again, putting together a 9-play, 41-yard drive that helped extend their lead to 26-10 after Koo connected from 27 yards out. The Falcons got a good punt return to start, and then ran into some penalty issues. They had big connections KhaDarel Hodge (18-yard reception) and a Mariota scramble for 11 yards. 

New Orleans made quick work on the next series, going 75 yards in just 4 plays to find the end zone and convert the two-point attempt to make it 26-18 with 11:12 left in the game. The Saints opened with a big 26-yard hookup to Juwan Johnson to start, followed up by a 15-yard dump off and run by Alvin Kamara. The biggest play was a 31-yard hookup to Jarvis Landry, which set the Saints up at 3-yard-line. Michael Thomas scored on the next play, having a killer catch on the play.

The Falcons offense had a short drive on their next possession, getting a key 3rd Down pickup to Drake London with Kaden Elliss defending him. They churned just over 4 minutes on the drive. 

The Saints went 87 yards in 8 plays on the ensuing possession to once again get into the end zone. The drive started with a big 20-yard hookup from Winston to Olave, and then Winston found Michael Thomas several plays later for a 21-yard hookup. The next play saw Winston hookup with Jarvis Landry for a 14-yard gain, and then Thomas finished the drive off with a 9-yard touchdown reception to make it 26-24 with 3:38 to play, as the two-point attempt failed.

Atlanta was able to bleed the clock down to under a minute on their next series, and the Saints didn't go away. New Orleans pieced together an insane series with just under a minute left, going 46 yards in 5 plays to see Wil Lutz boot it from 51 yards out to take a 27-26 lead with 19 seconds left. The Falcons had a chance to win it from Koo from 63 yards out, but the field goal was blocked by Payton Turner with 2 seconds left.

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