The Saints were able to drive the ball to the Falcons’ 1-yard line on each of their first two possessions of the second half of Sunday’s game, but that wasn’t a sign that things were turning their way after trailing 16-3 at halftime in New Orleans.
The first drive ended with three runs by quarterback Tyler Shough before the Saints brought Taysom Hill in to throw an incompletion on fourth down. Shough ran twice before Hill returned for third down of the next drive, but a shotgun snap went over his head and Hill was flagged for intentional grounding when he threw the ball away. That led to a Blake Grupe field goal and the Falcons put the game away on the ensuing drive.
Kirk Cousins flipped a short pass to running back Bijan Robinson that Robinson turned into a 32-yard gain and then hit Darnell Mooney for a 49-yard touchdown on the next play. Robinson converted a two-pointer after the touchdown and the Falcons were up 24-10 with 11 minutes left to play in the game.
The Saints would get the ball three more times after Mooney’s score, but they punted and turned the ball over on downs before forcing a Falcons punt with three minutes left to play. Shough completed eight passes to get the ball into Falcons territory, but was picked off by safety Xavier Watts in the end zone to put any hopes of a comeback to rest.
The Falcons only ran 16 offensive plays in the second half of the 24-10 win, but those two plays by Robinson and Mooney were all they needed to make sure they left town with a win. The victory ends a five-game Falcons losing streak and moves them to 4-7 on the season. While that seems too big of a hole to climb out of if the playoffs are a goal, the Buccaneers would be 6-5 with a loss on Sunday night and the Panthers would be 6-6 with a loss on Monday night so there’s still some reason to dream in Atlanta.
Cousins took over as the starter this week in the wake of Michael Penix’s season-ending knee injury and went 16-of-23 for 199 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Robinson ran 14 times for 70 yards, but winning with so little offensive action in the second half only happens with a great defensive performance.
The Falcons sacked Shough five times — first-round picks James Pearce and Jalon Walker both got their fellow rookie — and they recovered an early fumble by running back Alvin Kamara in addition to their two goal-line stands. Saints kicker Blake Grupe also missed two field goals in the first half of the game.
Kamara left with a knee injury in the first half and was ruled out at halftime. The 2-9 Saints will hope to get him back for next Sunday’s game in Miami.