In a Monday night primetime contest commemorating the Caesars Superdome’s first game after Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago, the New Orleans Saints were beaten 45-24 by division rival Atlanta Falcons.
Atlanta (2-2) led wire to wire, finishing with 420 yards of total offense, including 205 rushing yards, while limiting the Saints (1-3) to just 50 yards on the ground.
Here’s how the entire game played out.
Scoring summary
Atlanta held the momentum early and often, with running back Bijan Robinson scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter.
Robinson opened the game with a 59-yard run and later capped the first quarter with a 4-yard touchdown dive after Atlanta recovered a New Orleans fumble. The Falcons led 14-0 after the opening quarter.
The Saints answered early in the second quarter when all-time franchise rushing touchdown leader Alvin Kamara scored on a 3-yard run around the edge, cutting Atlanta’s lead to 14-7. It was a close as New Orleans would get.
The Falcons added 10 more points before halftime, including a 4-yard touchdown run by Brian Robinson and a chip-shot field goal from kicker Nick Folk with a little more than three minutes remaining in the first half.
The Saints stalled out on two drives before halftime, and Atlanta went into the break with a 24-7 lead.
New Orleans opened the third quarter with a 13-play drive but settled for a 27-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson after two penalties and four incomplete passes. Atlanta quickly countered with an 8-yard touchdown run by Brian Robinson, extending its lead to 31-10.
The score remained 31-10 entering the fourth quarter.
Kamara scored again, this time on an 8-yard run to cap a 13-play drive and cut Atlanta’s lead to 31-17. The Falcons, however, responded with two consecutive touchdowns.
Michael Penix Jr. connected with Jahan Dotson for a 31-yard touchdown immediately after Kamara’s score. Following a turnover on downs by New Orleans, Atlanta drove down the field again, with Brian Robinson scoring on an 11-yard touchdown run to make it 45-17.
The Saints added a trash-time touchdown when Tyler Shough found Devaughn Vele for a 3-yard scoring pass with a minute remaining. That made the final score 45-24.
What the coach said
Second-year New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore kept his postgame comments brief, focusing on the frustration of the loss and the team’s inability to execute through the first four games of the season.
“It wasn’t good enough, and we’re a 1-3 football team,” Moore said. “We weren’t able to run it well. … We just didn’t get it done. We had opportunities, just didn’t get it done. We have to look at everything and just get fundamentally better.”
When asked about the mood of the locker room, Moore said the team was upset but would have to learn from the loss.
“Locker room is disappointed. We just have to keep going. We’re going to have to learn from this one.”
Numbers never lie
The Saints’ offense, led by Shough, struggled to keep pace with Atlanta. Shough completed 30 of 48 passes for 286 yards.
Wide receiver Chris Olave had another strong statistical performance, catching eight passes for 116 yards, while tight end Juwan Johnson added six catches for 59 yards.
Kamara briefly left the game with a knee injury in the third quarter but returned and finished off a strong performance. He rushed for two touchdowns, from 3 and 8 yards out, and caught five passes for 35 yards. He also moved within five yards of 5,000 receiving yards on his career.
For the fourth time in four games, the Saints found themselves playing from behind early. The deficit was compounded by a missed field goal attempt and a lost Kendre Miller fumble on the New Orleans 22-yard line on the following possession.
For Atlanta, Bijan and Brian Robinson combined for five rushing touchdowns and 207 rushing yards, with Bijan finishing with 145 yards and Brian adding 62.
Penix was efficient, completing 15 of 20 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown.
Domecoming hype
The stage was set for another memorable Saints-Falcons matchup as the heroes of the 2006 Superdome reopening game, Steve Gleason and Curtis Deloatch, joined several of their teammates in leading the Who Dat chant before kickoff.
Moments earlier, New Orleans legend Irma Thomas sung the national anthem, just as she did on Sept. 25, 2006.
The game kicked off following festivities commemorating the Saints’ return to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina had displaced the team from New Orleans for the entire 2005 season.
Next up
New Orleans will continue its three-game homestand when it hosts the Minnesota Vikings (4-0) on Sunday, Oct. 11. The game is scheduled for noon CT on FOX.
