With the game on the line, the Falcons relied on their rushing attack to secure a 24-15 victory over the Saints and claim possession of first place in the NFC South on Sunday.
The Falcons improve to 3-0 in the NFC South and 5-6 overall. The Saints dropped to 1-2 in the division and 5-6 overall.
The Falcons called nine straight running plays to take 4:37 off the clock in the fourth quarter. Younghoe Koo made a 34-yard field goal with 1:47 left to make it a two-score game.
“When you are watching the intent and the way those guys were going up front, the way they were blocking and the way our guys were running the football,” Smith said. “That was all three of the runners…that was encouraging. That’s what we need to close out games. We needed that win in the worst way.”
The Falcons’ have six games to play and a rematch with the Saints to finish out the season.
“This thing is going to play out,” Smith said. “We’ve got six games to go. It will feel like six lifetimes in the National Football League.”
The defense held and the Falcons snapped a three-game losing streak.
“We have plenty of stuff to work on, but overall it was a big team win,” Smith said.
Running backs Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson took turns ravaging the Saints defense in the key drive. The plan made sense as quarterback Desmond Ridder had thrown two interceptions earlier in the game.
Robinson finished with 91 yards on 16 carries and a nifty 10-yard touchdown run. Allgeier rushed 10 times for 64 yards and Patterson added 43 yards on eight carries.
Ridder had some timely scrambles as he rushed seven times for 30 yards. Overall, the Falcons rushed 41 times for 228 yards.
“It just made us all fresh,” Robinson said. “At the end of the game, we came out, our legs were good. If we are playing off of each other, it’s hard to stop us as an offense.”
Robinson approved of the heavy run calls at the end.
“So much so, if we want, we can just keep running the ball like that, keep playing off each other,” Robinson said. “It was a heck of a drive. I appreciate Tyler and CP. Those are my dogs. It’s fun to play off of each other like that and (get) a win.”
The Saints couldn’t find the end zone as they had to settle for five field goals.
Thanks mostly to a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jessie Bates, the Falcons held a 14-9 lead at halftime over the Saints.
Ridder returned to the starting lineup, but the offense continued to misfire as they blew a fourth down-and-2 and tossed a red-zone interception in the end zone.
After both teams opened with three-and-outs, the Saints got on the board first with a 10-play, 77-yard drive.
The big play in the drive came when Chris Olave got behind Falcons’ cornerback Jeff Okudah and made Bates miss as he rumbled down to the Falcons’ 34-yard line. He was tackled by safety Richie Grant.
The Falcons’ defense stiffened and forced a 25-yard field goal by Blake Grupe.
On the Falcons’ next possession, Ridder tossed a nice pass to London for a 25-yard gain. The drive stalled on the Saints’ 31 after Ridder ran a quarterback keeper out of the pistol formation on fourth down-and 2. He was blown up by Saints safety Marcus Maye and linebacker Pete Werner.
The Saints went on the move and were down to the Falcons’ 12-yard line, when Bates stepped in front of a pass intended for Rashid Shaheed and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown. He threw up the peace sign as he crossed the goal line to make it 7-3.
“Just trusting my instincts,” Bates said. “I saw (Shaheed go in) motion. It was simply film study and all of the extra meetings that we do with all of our coaches with the cuts ups. I give all (proper respect) to them.”
Bates was signed in free agency to help firm up the back end of the Falcons defense.
“It’s a play that they’ve run, that they show on film,” Bates said. “I took advantage of it. I got my fourth one and a touchdown, too. It was a very special moment for me.”
Grupe added a 52-yard field goal to make 7-6.
The Falcons went on a 10-play, 78-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Robinson. Ridder broke loose for 16 yards and 12 yards on scrambles and connected with tight end Kyle Pitts on third down-and-10 for an 11-yard gain to keep the drive alive.
On the touchdown run, center Drew Dalman, right guard Chris Lindstrom and right tackle Kaleb McGary collapsed the Saints defense. Left guard Matt Bergeron got a nice seal block and Robinson ran between Dalman and Bergeron to the end zone.
Grupe added a 41-yard field goal as the Saints had success passing to Olave, who had seven catches for 114 yards in the first half.
The Falcons went back on the move. But on first down-and-goal from the Saints’ 10, Ridder’s pass for Robinson was intercepted by Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu to kill the drive.
The Falcons had the ball to open the second half, but were forced to punt.
It was a key situation for the Falcons. They blew their chance to get points right before the half and then wasted their opening drive of the third quarter, when they could have opened a 28-9 lead with two touchdowns, or at least a 20-9 lead with two field goals.
That was not good situational football.
The Saints took advantage and drove down to the Falcons’ 15-yard line with 5:58 left in the third quarter. But they had to settle for another Grupe field goal after outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie sacked Carr on third down. Grupe’s 45-yarder made it 14-12 with 3:27 left in the third quarter.
On the Falcons’ ensuing possession, Ridder was intercepted by Mathieu again. The Saints were driving, but Taysom Hill was running and had the ball knocked loose by Bates. Defensive tackle Albert Huggins recovered to stop the threat at the Falcons’ 5-yard line.
Play moved into the fourth quarter, the Falcons pounded the ball at the Saints with Robinson, Patterson and Allgeier. Then Ridder found London for a short pass he turned into a 29-yard gain.
On the next play, Ridder lofted a nice ball up to Robinson, who had gotten behind Saints linebacker Demario Davis for a 26-yard touchdown. Robinson kept running off the field and up into the stadium tunnel.
The Saints drove down quickly and added a 39-yard field goal by Grupe to make it 21-15 with 6:24 to play.
The Falcons, who had a physical practice last Wednesday, stayed with the run to secure the win.
“We took a lot of responsibility on ourselves to go out and win,” said Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews, who played in a team-record 155 games. “I think we are really talented and we have good players. Speaking for this front five, we want to be the reason we were are able to dominate games. Go out and be able to mix it up.”
The Falcons will travel to the play the New York Jets (4-7) at 1 p.m. Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
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