The New Orleans Saints, understandably, wanted to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of their post-Hurricane Katrina win over the Atlanta Falcons back in 2006. The city in particular and the franchise to a lesser extent went through the impossible in 2005, and that win over a hated rival was something they’ve never forgotten and never will forget. It was up to the Falcons to spoil the party and get the win that eluded them two decades ago to silence the crowd and build on their dominant win over the Packers,
and they did. Boy, did they.
History be damned and the wishes of a broadcast crew and city be cast aside, the Falcons came to play. They’ve looked like a vastly different team with Michael Penix Jr. under center, and this was a whole team sort of win. Atlanta was up 24-7 at the half, with the Saints’ expected celebrations settling into gloom, and they finished the third quarter with a 31-10 lead. They were actually up 45-17 before a garbage time touchdown closed that gap slightly, but it was still one of the most lopsided victories in the history of this storied rivalry. A fanbase that came to remember good times and enjoy new ones got only the bitter taste of defeat, which tastes awfully sweet for us.
It can’t be overstated how well everything clicked for Atlanta. Penix played within himself, avoided mistakes, and hit some truly impressive throws. Bijan Robinson averaged nearly eight yards per carry and was utterly dominant, but Brian Robinson Jr. also scored three times and ran well, as well. Drake London made tough catches, Kyle Pitts picked up yards after the catch, and Jahan Dotson made an impressive long touchdown grab. The offensive line was stellar even though Mike Jerrell had to enter the game for an injured Jake Matthews. The pass rush kept pressuring Shough despite the loss of Za’Darius Smith, the secondary and linebackers had some very nice plays in coverage, and even special teams got in on the fun with a nice return from Zachariah Branch and zero mistakes. Suddenly, the Falcons look as dangerous as this team was supposed to be continuously from 2022-2025, a credit to improvement from key players, upgrades to the roster, and a coaching staff that actually seems to know what they’re doing.
It’s a stunning reversal that makes you understand just how limiting a limited Cooper Rush was for this offense, and the importance of not writing a team off entirely after two weeks. It’s also understandable that so many fans and national types did given that the Raheem Morris, Arthur Smith, and late Dan Quinn eras were defined by these Falcons wilting over and over again after a nice game, and it’s difficult not to look back and wonder how so many staffs and roster permutations couldn’t squeeze these kinds of beatdowns out of a core of Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts more often. But now is a good time to look forward, not backwards, and so we shall.
Suddenly, a Sunday Night Football matchup against the Ravens—who might be without Lamar Jackson—doesn’t seem like impossible sledding. Suddenly, none of the matchups in the heart of Atlanta’s schedule look impossible, because this team has a legitimate starting quarterback, stud playmakers, and a truly excellent defense that’s doing stellar work despite mounting injuries. Suddenly, that flame of hope is freshly kindled and roaring like the fires of a winter hearth. We have to take this one week at a time after our hopes have been continually raised and crushed in recent years, but this feels awfully good and I’d like it to continue.
Oh, and screw the Saints, forever. I love their misery. It sustains me.
On to the full recap!
The Good
- Any time Bijan Robinson can get good blocking against a slow-footed defense, good things are gonna happen. On the third play of the game, Ryan Neuzil, Jake Matthews, and Matthew Bergeron threw some nice blocks and Bijan got to the sideline, going untouched for a 59 yard touchdown. He followed that up with a second touchdown late in the first quarter and romped through this overmatched, listless Saints defense all night, putting up 145 yards on just 19 carries. I will give Raheem Morris this: He was early to call Bijan the best player in football, but he did have and still has a strong case.
- Brian Robinson Jr. continues to be an excellent second fiddle. He ran for 62 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, averaging over four yards per tote and putting some truly impressive runs on tape for Atlanta’s coaching staff to enjoy. The third touchdown, where he shook demoralized defenders, was particularly fun.
- With the ground game absolutely humming, the Falcons didn’t have to ask Michael Penix Jr. to carry the offense. Aside from a couple of frustrating, short-range misfires, he made the most of his 20 passes, completing 15 of them for a tidy 223 yards and a touchdown. Once again, he got rid of the ball quickly when he needed to and hung in there to make some really impressive throws despite incoming pressure, particularly on his shot to Drake London and 31 yard touchdown to Jahan Dotson. Through two games, he’s looked very much like the passer the Falcons took with a top ten pick, and paired with a dominant ground game that’s set to make life very difficult for NFL defenses going forward.
- Drake London “only” had five catches for 96 yards, but it was bully ball from the opening bell for him. Defenders bounced off him—even when they were penalized for doing so, he was still getting open and making catches—and his first catch saw him stiff arm a Saints defender in the dirt. He’s got the appropriate amount of hatred for the Saints in his heart and is playing exceptionally well right now, not that it’s any great surprise for London.
- Kyle Pitts finally came to life and the offense finally put the ball in his hands. His three catches for 47 yards is relatively modest production but was easily his highest total of 2026, and was highlighted by a big catch and run where we got to see Pitts’ wheels. He’ll have a larger role going forward, I’m quite certain.
- The whole line did exceptionally well—some of those Ryan Neuzil and Matthew Bergeron blocks to spring the Robinsons were sights to behold—but I’ll give a particular shoutout to Mike Jerrell. I haven’t thought the swing tackle was particularly impressive since arriving in Atlanta, but he was better this summer and finally delivered a really good game against the Saints filling in for an injured Jake Matthews. If things are clicking for him, the team have a young, capable swing tackle just when they really need one.
- This interior defensive line is hell. Maason Smith, Brandon Dorlus, Zach Harrison, and Gervon Dexter were after Tyler Shough all night, and while Shough did impressive work avoiding sacks, they forced him into a number of bad throws, throwaways, and negative plays simply by nipping at his heels all evening. When you have four guys playing like this and defenders like Cameron Thomas and Samson Ebukam delivering off the edge, it’s very difficult for all but the most dominant offensive lines to create the kind of situation that allows an offense to thrive. Ebukam had a sack last night and Thomas once again was a relentless pressure machine, with Ian Cunningham’s rummaging in the bargain bin paying serious dividends.
- Harold Perkins Jr. played a lot last night, as he and Kendal Daniels have split snaps based on whether teams are running or passing the ball more frequently, and the Saints were very one dimensional just like the Packers. He was awesome all evening, with a near interception, some really tight coverage, and a couple of nice stops along the way. Perkins is already looking like an absolute steal after the Falcons got him in the sixth round.
- Yasir Abdullah quietly had a very nice night and has been a real asset for Atlanta on special teams and defense. His limited work on defense earlier in his career had me convinced he was purely a teams waiver pickup, but he hit Shough three times last night and has provided far more pressure than anticipated. Atlanta’s defense just keeps delivering.
- Once again, CJ Henderson played really well, with sticky coverage despite working a tough matchup and both forcing and recovering an early fumble that put Atlanta in the driver’s seat. I thought Mike Hughes, while still delivering a couple of rough reps, also did better in this one and showed out in run support, as he is wont to do.
- Give Tommy Rees a ton of credit. He looked overmatched with Cooper Rush as his quarterback, but that’s playing the game on Nightmare mode to begin with; things have been very different with Penix starting. In this one, the ground game was rolling and Rees did a nice job of getting the ball out of Penix’s hand quickly on a lot of short passes that set up a handful of deep shots that Penix easily hit. In back-to-back weeks, he’s had this offense attacking opposing defenses effectively and has called games that flowed extremely well. The sky appears to be the limit for this offense with this personnel and Rees cooking.
- Give Jeff Ulbrich a ton of credit, too, but you were probably already doing that. This defensive coaching staff has maximized every player they have and has taken all the punches life can throw—the Jalon Walker injury, the James Pearce Jr. suspension, the A.J. Terrell injury, Za’Darius Smith getting hurt last night—and just kept on trucking. They understand their strengths well, are committed to delivering endless pressure, and have been very adept at creating game plans to make even quality offenses look toothless. Aside from a semi-shaky day against Carolina not helped by a ton of short fields, they’ve been borderline dominant, and Ulbrich is going to be a hot head coaching candidate this coming year.
- The fruits of four eras of Falcons team building are clicking right now even if they rarely-to-never clicked in the past, with the Thomas Dimitroff years giving us Chris Lindstrom, Jake Matthews (injured, though), and A.J. Terrell (ditto); the Arthur Smith/Terry Fontenot years yielding Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Ryan Neuzil, Matthew Bergeron, Jessie Bates, and Zach Harrison; Fontenot and Raheem Morris reeling in Michael Penix Jr., Brandon Dorlus, Divine Deablo, CJ Henderson, and Xavier Watts; and now Ian Cunningham and Kevin Stefanski bringing in a raft of useful players like Maason Smith, Gervon Dexter, Kendal Daniels, Harold Perkins Jr., Cameron Thomas, Jawaan Taylor, and Samson Ebukam. The team’s approaches often fell flat over the past eight-plus seasons, but the very best players acquired by previous regimes are thriving under this one, and the Falcons have done a nice job of bolstering the roster. Now to see if it can continue.
The Ugly
- Atlanta’s only consistent problem on defense has been coverage busts, and they had a few last night. The Falcons lost Chris Olave (!) for a big gain more than once and let Juwan Johnson and Devaughn Vele get easy grabs they shouldn’t have had shots at. That conspired to give Tyler Shough and this offense a little bit of life, but fortunately it did not matter much in the grand scheme of things.
- I’m not a fan of the mounting injuries, even if they’re just part of life. Losing Za’Darius Smith has this edge group looking quite thin—heroic performances by Cameron Thomas and Samson Ebukam are papering over a lot right now—and the loss of Jake Matthews puts a lot of pressure on Jerrell to play well for as long as he’s out. Hopefully those don’t come back to bite Atlanta in the weeks ahead.
- I can’t wrap up this feeling or bottle it and save it for a rainy day, though I’m sure as hell going to try.
The Wrapup
Game MVP
So many worthy choices in this one, but let’s hand it to the offensive line for keeping Michael Penix Jr upright (just one sack, a modest number of pressures) and paving the way for a five touchdown, 200 yard day on the ground. Stellar effort that made the Saints defense look completely overmatched.
One Takeaway
This team can, at the very least, beat up on struggling and mediocre teams. If it translates against good ones, this season could really go places, but it at least puts the Falcons in a good position to make this year a fun one.
Next Week
Another primetime game, this time against the Baltimore Ravens in the cozy confines of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Final Word
Ilovedthatgame.
