NEW ORLEANS -- Wide receiver Roddy White notched a new career in receiving yards and Matt Ryan showed some moxie down the stretch but a surprising Saints running proved too much as the Falcons fell in New Orleans, 29-25.
The Falcons held a 25-22 lead with eight minutes to play, but an 88-yard kickoff return by Saints running back Pierre Thomas led to the go-ahead score.
Falcons linebacker Michael Boley nearly intercepted a Drew Brees pass on third-and-1 at the Atlanta 7, but the Saints stayed on the field and converted the fourth down. Thomas went in for the go-ahead touchdown on the following play.
“It was definitely a tough loss to a very good division opponent today," Head Coach Mike Smith said. "As you know, as the record indicates, playing on the road is very, very tough here in the NFC South. We weren’t hitting on all cylinders."
It was a rough day for the Falcons defense, which faced a Saints team that stepped away from its dominance in the passing game to run the ball up the middle with running backs Thomas and Reggie Bush. The pair combined for 182 yards on the ground and each caught touchdown passes from Brees inside the red zone. The teams both had 414 yards of total offense in this back-and-forth game but New Orleans held the advantage in rushing yards, 184-99.
“Not good. Not up to our standards at all," Smith said. "I thought that they did a nice job running the football. We’ll definitely have to take a good hard look at that...There will have to be a lot of things corrected.”
The Saints (7-6) opened the game with five straight running plays and didn't immediately look to Brees, who leads the NFL in passing yards, as the first option. He still finished with 230 yards and two touchdowns on 32 attempts.
“I thought we prepared for Brees today and for the most part we did not give up the big play," cornerback Chris Houston said. "I haven’t seen the stats yet but it seemed like they mixed it up even with the pass and the run. They took it to us and played a lot better here than in our place."
Falcons running back Michael Turner had a big, 26-yard run on the team's first possession, but finished the day with just 61 yards on a touchdown (3.4 yards per carry).
Ryan bounced back after an early interception to throw for a career-high 315 yards. He also rushed for his first career touchdown and had a toss to wide receiver Brian Finneran to cap a 14-point second quarter for the Birds (8-5). His favorite target, White, caught 10 passes for a career-high 164 yards.
“I think we did a lot of great things offensively," Ryan said. "Of course we would have loved to get the ball back to have a chance to win the game, but they executed to run the clock out. I thought they played harder this time than the last time we saw them. You have to give them credit in that they came to play and beat us today.”
Atlanta responded from a 10-0 deficit to take a 14-13 lead with 2:13 remaining in the first half. The Saints got down field without a timeout, however, and took a 16-14 lead into halftime after a Garrett Hartley field goal.
Atlanta went three-and-out on the first drive of the third quarter but came back with a 15-play, 69-yard drive that ended in a Jason Elam field goal. Ryan completed third-down passes of 21, 5 and 6 yards before missing on a throw to the end zone.
Another key third down almost led to the game-winning score.
After a Brees-to-Thomas touchdown the Falcons got the ball back and drove into the red zone with a chance to take the lead. Facing third-and-4 from the New Orleans 12 Ryan opted not to force the ball into coverage and ran the ball in with eight minutes to play. He found wide receiver Michael Jenkins in the back of the end zone on the two-point conversion to stretch the Birds lead.
But Thomas got his 88-yard return on the next kickoff. Atlanta got the ball back but was forced to punt, opening the door for Thomas to pick up a final first down that gave the Saints a chance to run out the clock.
“I thought our defense let the team down today," linebacker Keith Brooking said. "Our offense did its job and scored enough points for us to win. You have to hand it to the Saints – they came out fired up and never gave up. They took it to us.”
A game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers Monday night should break a tie at the top of the NFC South. The Falcons still rank third in the division with a visit from Tampa Bay scheduled for next week.
“This team has bounced back all year long," Ryan said. "As Coach Smitty told us after the game, the NFL is a 16-game season and not a one-game tournament. I am confident we can come back. We’ve had a great year and there’s so much football ahead of us. We have a lot of games left to play... I’m not worried at all.”
MORE FROM THE FALCONS-SAINTS GAME:
- GAMEDAY LIVE: Complete coverage from the Falcons-Saints game
- GAME CENTER: Stats and more from NFL.com
- GAME RECAP: Offense puts up numbers but late score lifts Saints
- GAME NOTES: Official game notes from the Superdome press box
- GAME BLOG: More news and notes from the press box
- BLOGS: Flipping Out with Falcon Al | Off the Cuff with Mookie Dunkleman
- J. MIKE'S MISSIVES: News and thoughts from the AF.com Managing Editor
- PRESS CONFERENCE: Head Coach Mike Smith | Matt Ryan
- NFL NETWORK: Highlights from the Falcons-Saints game in New Orleans
- TRANSCRIPTS: Head Coach Mike Smith | Falcons | Saints
- REVIEW AND RESPOND: Ask a question about Sunday's game
- FORUMS: Talk about the Falcons with other fans
- INACTIVES: Inactives and starters from Sunday's game at the Superdome
