The winner of the Falcons-Saints game will determine the NFC South champion.
That’s a headline, but it’s not for the benefit of the Falcons or Saints. If the Falcons win, it creates a three-way tie for first with the Buccaneers and Panthers. Carolina has the tiebreaker because of a 3-1 head-to-head record against the other two teams.
With a Saints victory, Tampa Bay wins the tiebreaker because the Buccaneers have the advantage over just the Panthers.
Got it?
They can’t win the division, but there’s some consolation for the Falcons. If they beat the Saints, they would finish with four straight victories, putting them at eight for the season. With a loss, the Falcons will be tied with the Saints for last in the division.
That’s an underwhelming consolation prize, but for a season that seemed washed out a few weeks ago, it would be quite an accomplishment to show that coach Raheem Morris still has the team in his corner, when they could have quit on the season and mentally checked out.
Check out the live updates from Sunday’s game:
Saints at Falcons
Kickoff: 1 p.m. Sunday, Mercedes-Benz Stadium
TV/radio: Fox/92.9
Line: Falcons by 3½
Records: Falcons 7-9; Saints 6-10
The Falcons finish tied for first place in the NFC South, so there's that.
They'll take a 19-17 win over the Saints to finish the season at 8-9, though they won't make the playoffs.
Okay, maybe it's over now, after Kyle Pitts recovered the onside kick and gave the Falcons the ball. The Saints have no timeouts remaining, so this should be pretty well done.
The Saints were efficient in getting down the field and scoring a touchdown with 1:11 remaining on a pass from Tyler Shough to Ronnie Bell.
That score pulled them within 19-17, and just an onside kick away from making the last minute-plus a little more interesting.
The Falcons seem to have this one locked up. That Dee Alford pick and return changed the game and allowed the Falcons to get in position to add a field goal and extend the lead to 19-10 on a 38-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez, at the 2:52 mark.
The defense has been money today, and it's an encouraging development after all the questions to start the season.
The defense showed up big again, with Dee Alford's interception as the Saints were entering the red zone and threatening to take the lead.
Alford jumped a route and picked the pass by Tyler Shough and returned it to the Saints' 27-yard line, ending the threat and putting the Falcons in scoring range with 3:14 left and holding a 16-10.
It's such a comfort for the Falcons to have a dependable kicker. Zane Gonzalez hit his third field goal of the game, pushing the Falcons' lead to 16-10.
The last was a 38-yard field goal, which seems to be a chip shot for him, and he converted easily.
With his two sacks today, rookie outside linebacker James Pearce Jr. is the first Falcon to have double-digit sacks (10.5) since Vic Beasley had 15.5 in the Super Bowl season of 2016.
Here are the Falcons’ sack leaders since:
2024 – Arnold Ebiketie, 6
2023 – Bud Dupree/Calais Campbell, 6.5
2022 – Grady Jarrett, 6
2021- Dante Fowler, 4.5
2020 – Deion Jones, 4.5
2019 – Vic Beasley, 8
2018 – Takkarist McKinley, 7
2017 – Adrian Clayborn, 9.5
2016 – Vic Beasley, 15.5
The Saints were on the doorstep of taking the lead, getting to the Falcons' 1-yard line, but a penalty for pass interference negated a touchdown pass.
They had to settle for a 29-yard field goal and trimmed the Falcons' lead to 13-10 at the 2:15 mark of the third quarter. The Falcons defense had a stop on third down at the 1 that held the Saints off before the penalty.
The Falcons got another field goal, from 51 yards, to extend their lead to 13-7 in the third quarter.
Points are hard to come by, and the defenses on both sides are doing their part.
With rookie James Pearce Jr.'s back-to-back sacks in the third quarter, the Falcons have 57 sacks this season, setting a new franchise record.
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