The Atlanta Falcons were in the driver’s seat on Sunday, January 4.
The scenario was simple: beat the New Orleans Saints, and the Carolina Panthers were in the playoffs. Lose, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would get the playoff bid. Beat the New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta would have their longest winning streak of the season (four). Lose, and the momentum that was building will be done, and another seven-win season will be in the books.
Falcons ended the season with a 19-17 victory and a sweep of their hated rivals.
Dear Carolina, you’re welcome.
With five minutes remaining in the game, Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough took off running into Falcons territory. He had been playing a good game up to that point and was a threat on the ground and through the air. His next pass, however, became his team’s downfall. The pass was intercepted by Falcons defensive back Dee Alford and returned 59 yards into Saints territory. Zane Gonzalez’s 48-yard field goal with just under three minutes remaining in the game put Atlanta ahead by nine points. Game over.
After the game, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris wore a bright smile as he stepped up to the podium. “I couldn’t be more happy for the guys for finishing the season the right way,” he said. “We fell one game short, according to the math.”
Asked how good it felt to sweep the Saints, the second-year Falcons coach said, “We love to beat them. We look forward to beating them again.”
The Falcons defeated the Saints 24-10 on November 23. During that game, Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough (23-35 for 259 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), a serious candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year, passed for 243 yards with an interception while being sacked five times. Atlanta will finish the 2025 season among the top three teams in sacks and set a new franchise record with 55 sacks following a second-quarter sack by defensive back Dee Alford. But it was the Saints’ defense that got things started.
Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
New Orleans entered the game in Atlanta on a four-game winning streak, and a significant part of that success has been attributed to their defense. New Orleans defensive end Carl Granderson made an immediate impact on Sunday, sacking Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins and picking off one of his passes during the first quarter.
After the game, Cousins said he enjoyed helping sweep the Saints this season.
“I think it matters a lot to our fans,” Cousins said. “It was a hard-fought win today, and it felt like a rivalry game.”
Offense was a different story as the Saints got off to a much slower start than their defense. New Orleans was without its leading receiver, Chris Olave, and starting running back, Alvin Kamara. Both players have played well in Atlanta throughout their time with the Saints. The Falcons, however, had their top receiver, Drake London, back in the fold. Cousins found London in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game to help give Atlanta a 7-0 lead with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. The 15-yard touchdown reception was London’s seventh of the season.
Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
The second successful Falcons offensive drive was an eight-play, 31-yard drive that included a couple of spectacular runs by Bijan Robinson. Those runs put Atlanta in position for a 40-yard field goal from kicker Zane Gonzalez and a 10-0 advantage.
Robinson only needed 237 yards to set a new National Football League single-season record for yardage from scrimmage. In just his third season, Robinson had already set a Falcons franchise record a week earlier.
The Saints got on the board with 5 minutes remaining in the first half when Shough scored a touchdown on a bootleg run from the 15-yard line. The extra point from Charlie Smyth made the score 10-7.
With two minutes remaining in the first half, the Saints’ offense failed to engineer a final scoring drive and put the ball back in the hands of Cousins and the Falcons with 45 seconds on the clock. Atlanta went into the half with the same score on the board.
The third quarter began with the Falcons forcing a Saints punt following a sack by Pearce, Jr. The rookie has 9.5 sacks this season to go along with 5.5 sacks by his fellow rookie Jalon Walker. The pair has more than lived up to the expectations that were placed on them during the offseason and preseason.
Scoring was minimal during the game. Atlanta took a 13-7 lead on a 51-yard field goal by Zane Gonazelz early in the third quarter and a 16-10 lead when Gonzalez made a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
New Orleans managed to pull together another scoring drive with just over a minute to play in the game. Their onside kick attempt was not as successful.