The Falcons knew the Saints, who’d fired their coach, would come out determined.
The Saints built an early double-digit lead and held on for a 20-17 win over the Falcons before 70,005 fans on Sunday at the Superdome.
“It was certainly a tough loss,” Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “I felt like we had chance to win the football game or at least take the lead late in the game. Not being able to do it is difficult. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. This will be one that you’re sick over.”
The Falcons had three chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but punted, missed a field goal and threw an interception with 1:59 to play.
The Falcons were gifted another opportunity after Saints running back Alvin Kamara dropped a touchdown pass. After the punt, the Falcons had the ball at their 14 with 1:35 to play. The Falcons moved to the Saints’ 49, before Cousins was sacked and fumbled.
The Falcons couldn’t get back into field goal range as time expired.
“That’s pro football, that’s the thing about this league,” Cousins said. “You can get beat when you make a little mistake or don’t play at your highest level. It can be the difference in winning and losing so you always play with that focus and awareness of the importance of every snap.”
The Saints improved to 3-7 and ended their seven-game losing streak. The Falcons dropped to 6-4 on the season as normally dependable kicker Younghoe Koo missed three field goals.
“This game is fully on me, I’ll take that,” Koo said.
The Falcons wasted a fine showing from running back Bijan Robinson who had 20 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Drake London, who was questionable with a hip pointer, had eight catches for 97 yards.
The Saints jumped out to a 10-0 lead and the Falcons could never overtake them.
“Those slow starts don’t help,” Robinson said. “In the NFL, it’s definitely harder to come back from those slow starts. In practice, we harp on going fast, speeding up and getting the ball down field as fast as we can whether if it’s passing or running. It doesn’t matter what it is. That’s the main thing that we try to focus on.”
Cousins completed 23 of 38 passes for 306 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He finished with a passer rating of 75.1.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr completed 16 of 25 passes for 269 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He finished with a passer rating of 136.9.
Koo has misses of 53 yards (wide left), 35 (blocked) and 46 (right upright).
Behind the passing Carr, the Saints held a 17-7 lead at halftime.
With the Saints’ top receiver Chris Olave out with a concussion, Carr turned to veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who torched the Falcons for three catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns, wrapped around a 67-yard pass play where he beat backup cornerback Clark Phillips III. Starter Mike Hughes left the game with a neck injury.
The Falcons put A.J. Terrell on Valdes-Scantling in the second half and held him without another catch.
“That was the second half adjustment we had, for me to start following him,” Terrell said. “That was the adjustment.”
The Saints won the coin toss and deferred. The Falcons’ opening drive stalled after Drake London bobbled a pass on third down. He thought he’d caught it and did a whole first-down celebration.
“To not connect with Drake on that one was frustrating,” Cousins said. “We had a chance there to convert, get into scoring range. Help us start fast. Having to punt there was very frustrating because it was just inches from being a big conversion for us.”
The Saints drove down to the Falcons 6-yard line, but the defense dropped Taysom Hill on fourth down-and-2 from the 6.
The Falcons went three-and-out. The Saints, in a drive that moved into the second quarter, got a 38-yard field goal from Blake Grupe to take a 3-0 lead.
As the offense continued to sputter, Koo was summoned, but he missed a 53-yard field goal, wide left.
Carr tossed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Valdes-Scantling to make it 10-0. Safety Justin Simmons was giving chase along with Terrell and safety Jessie Bates III.
“They got on the ball fast,” Simmons said. “We were trying to direct traffic there. We’ve got to do…I’ve got to do a better job of making sure that I get a good sense of the right call. Ultimately, when the ball is in the air, go make the play.”
Cousins finally started connecting as he found Darnell Mooney for gains of 19 and 33 yards to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Robinson to make it 10-7.
On the Saints’ next play from scrimmage, Carr connected with Valdes-Scantling for the big gainer. Three plays later he tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Valdes-Scantling, who was being chased by Terrell.
The Falcons needed to put together a drive with the Saints getting the ball to start the third quarter. London and Ray-Ray McCloud caught passes for 10, 20 and 21 yards to help them move to the Saints’ 11. Cousins was sacked and the drive stalled.
Koo’s 35-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Saints reserve defensive tackle John Ridgeway. Koo has now missed five field goals over the last four games.
The Falcons’ defense, now with Terrell shadowing Valdes-Scantling, made a stop to start the second half.
The Falcons drove down to the Saints’ 1-yard line, but went in reverse with penalties. After a nifty run by Robinson down to the 1, right guard Chris Lindstrom was called for a personal foul (low block). On the next play, Mooney was called for a false start.
So, instead of being at the 1-yard line, the Falcons found themselves first down-and-goal from the 25. The Falcons moved down to the 8-yard line before Koo added a 27-yard field goal to make it 17-10.
With Valdes-Scantling now covered, the Saints found wide receiver Kevin Austin, who’d been promoted from the practice squad, for a 22-yard gain. Running back Alvin Kamara had a 31-yard gain before the drive stalled and the Saints settled for a 26-yard field goal from Grupe to make it 20-10 with 2:44 to play in the third quarter.
The Falcons answered quickly.
On third down-and-8 from their 39, tight end Kyle Pitts hauled in a pass for 23 yards. On the next play, Robinson scampered into the end zone from 37-yards out to make it 20-17 with 1:01 to play in the third quarter.
After an exchange of punts, the Falcons had the ball at their 11 with 11:42 to play, but were shut out the rest of the way.
The Falcons started Arnold Ebiketie over veteran Matthew Judon at outside linebacker.
“I think it was just more about our rotation and how we do it,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “AK has been playing really well for us, doing a nice job. Judon has been going out (there and) doing some good things for us in the run game.”
The Falcons finished without a sack and just one quarterback hit. They did force a couple of throw aways and an intentional grounding penalty.
“We wanted to get some of our pass rush going, which we were not able to get going or fast enough or efficient enough to get to him,” Morris said. “We were able to get him off the spot a few times. We were able to disrupt him, but it was probably a little too late because those big plays had already happened.”
The Falcons, who haven’t lost two games a row this season, are set to play the Broncos (5-5) at 4:05 p.m. Sunday in Denver.
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