Falcons victory triggers NFC South chaos, snatching the division crown from the Saints and impacting playoff seeding.
With the NFC South tied up at 8-9 between Carolina and Tampa Bay after the Buccaneers beat the Panthers on Saturday, Sunday’s Saints-Falcons finale turned into an unusual kind of scoreboard game.
A Saints win (or tie) would’ve delivered the division to Tampa Bay, but a Falcons win would trigger a three-way logjam and push Carolina into the top spot on tiebreakers.
Atlanta did its part, beating New Orleans 19-17 and, in the process, handing the Panthers the division. It was a highly competitive contest between two teams wanting to finish the season on a high.
The Falcons didn’t dominate, but they managed the game like a team that understood the stakes. Kirk Cousins hit Drake London for a 15-yard touchdown to open the scoring, and Atlanta stacked points with Zane Gonzalez’s leg the rest of the way. Gonzalez drilled four field goals, repeatedly bailing the offense out of stalled drives and keeping New Orleans at arm’s length.
New Orleans, meanwhile, stayed alive behind rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, who kept competing even as the Saints offense operated in patchwork mode. After falling behind 10-0, Shough helped settle things with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to get it to 10-7 at halftime, and the Saints hung around as the game tightened into a field-goal grind.
The turning point came late. With New Orleans threatening, Shough threw an interception that flipped the field and set up Gonzalez’s 38-yard field goal, a swing that stretched Atlanta’s lead to 19-10 and forced the Saints into desperation mode. As great as the rookie sensation has been down the stretch of the season, his youth showed in that moment.
To their credit, the Saints didn’t fold. Shough answered with a 65-yard drive and a 16-yard touchdown to Ronnie Bell with 1:11 left, giving New Orleans a pulse at 19-17. But Atlanta recovered the onside kick attempt and ran out the clock, closing the season with a win that mattered far beyond the final score.
The Saints now turn to the offseason, where they’ll look to build upon the strong close to the season and look to be a postseason team next year.