Kicker Younghoe Koo made a 58-yard field goal, his fourth of the game, to lift the Falcons to a thrilling 26-24 NFC South win over the Saints on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The kick went through with :02 left on the clock.
The Falcons improved to 2-2 on the season. The Saints dropped to 2-2.
The Falcons had a last-ditch drive after the Saints took the league with 1:00 to play. A pass interference call on Saints safety Paulson Adebo helped the Falcons get in to field goal range for Koo, who also made field goals of 53, 42 and 44 yards.
Thanks to the special teams and the defense, the Falcons held a 17-10 lead at halftime over the Saints.
Special teams maven KhaDarel Hodge recovered a muffed punt in the endzone, and linebacker Troy Andersen returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown, while the offense was trying to put some things together in the face of six penalties for 56 yards.
The Falcons’ opening drive was off to a good start until left guard Matt Bergeron was called for a facemask penalty on a pass play.
The penalty was essentially a 28-yard penalty. Instead of it being first down-and-10 from the Saints’ 31 after a catch by Ray-Ray McCloud it was 2-and-25 from the Falcon’ 41. The drive stalled after the Falcons couldn’t convert on third down-and-20.
The Falcons were forced to punt. New Orleans’ Rashid Shaheed called a fair catch at the 3-yard line, but dropped the punt. Micah Abernathy hit Shaheed as he attempted to recover the ball. Hodge dove on the loose ball for the touchdown.
The Saints answered with a nine-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by 2-yard touchdown run by Taysom Hill.
Cousins was intercepted by Saints safety Paulson Adebo on the ensuing series. Adebo appeared to push receiver McCloud on the play as he was coming out of his break. The Saints, running the ball with authority, drove 53 yards on 11 plays as Hill scored from 5-yards out to make it 14-7.
The Falcons were on the move again and drove down to the Saints’ 30. They were going for it on fourth down-and-1, but backup center Ryan Neuzil, who was starting for Drew Dalman, was charged with a false start penalty. The potential TD drive was halted and the Falcons settled for a 53-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo to make it 14-10.
On the Saints’ next possession, outside linebacker Matthew Judon tipped a ball up and Andersen, a former college quarterback/running back, tracked it and went off to the races to give the Falcons the lead.
The defenses forced punts the rest of the way in the second quarter.
The Saints had the ball to open the third quarter, but were forced to punt.
Allgeier caught a checkdown pass on third down-and-9 from the Falcons’ 47 and powered his way through two defenders for 13-yard gain. The drive stalled on the Saints’ 26-yard line and Koo added a 44-yard field goal to make it 20-14 with 6:40 left in the third quarter.
The Saints answered with a 44-yard field goal to make it 20-17 with1:03 left in the third quarter.
The Falcons’ offense needed to take control of the game. They marched down the field and scored on a 19-yard screen to running back Bijan Robinson, but left tackle Jake Matthews was called for a holding.
The Falcons couldn’t overcome the penalty, and Matthews was beat by Payton Turner for a sack and strip of Cousins. Bergeron recovered the ball. The Falcons, after a 16-yard catch by Drake London, had to settle for a 42-yard field goal to make it 23-17 with 10:09 to play.
The Saints drove down to the Falcons’ 6-yard line, but Carr’s fourth down-and-goal pass was incomplete.
The Falcons got the ball back with 3:57 to go. They were stuffed on first down, tossed a completed and Allgeier picked up 7 yards on a swing pass to force a punt with 3:38 to go.
Shaheed returned the punt to the Falcons’ 42 with 3:28 to play.
Eight plays later, Kamara scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. The extra point put the Saints up with 1:00 to play.
The Falcons are set to host the Bucs at 8:20 p.m. Thursday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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