ATLANTA — Quarterback Jameis Winston got hot late and led the Saints to a 27-26 come-from-behind victory over the Falcons on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Younghoe Koo lined up for a 63-yard field goal with two seconds left, but it was blocked.
The Saints start the season 1-0, and the Falcons are 0-1.
“They made the plays, and we didn’t get to the quarterback,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said. “For 3 ½ quarters we dominated the line of scrimmage.”
The Falcons wasted a fine rushing performance by running back Cordarrelle Patterson and a four-sack performance by the defense. Patterson rushed 22 times for 120 yards and a touchdown.
Winston cut up the Falcons’ secondary in the fourth quarter as the Saints overcame a 26-10 deficit. He completed 23 of 34 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns.
It was the Falcons’ first game since trading quarterback Matt Ryan, the only player in franchise history to win the league’s Most Valuable Player award, to the Colts.
Marcus Mariota started at quarterback for Atlanta and put together a crafty performance that included some timely passing and designed runs. He was not sacked in the first half, but had a fumble and bobbled a snap on a key third-and-1 late in the game.
Mariota completed 19 of 32 passes for 210 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He finished with a 78.9 passer rating. He rushed 12 times for 72 yards after running back Damien Williams left the game with a rib injury and did not return.
If the Falcons had picked up a first down, they could have run out the final minute. On fourth-and-1, the Falcons punted. The Saints got the ball on the 20-yard line after a holding penalty on long snapper Liam McCullough.
The Falcons’ offensive line gave up at least 40 sacks in each of the last three seasons.
Atlanta’s defense swarmed Winston throughout the contest.
The last time the Falcons had four sacks in a game was 52 games ago against Green Bay in a 34-20 loss on Dec. 9, 2018.
Defensive end Grady Jarrett (1.5 sacks), outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie (1), outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter (0.5) and inside linebacker Mykal Walker (one) led the pass rush that also registered eight hits on Winston.
The Falcons held a 16-7 lead at halftime as they outgained the Saints 230 total yards to 104.
Patterson had 11 rushes for 83 yards at the half, including a 5-yard touchdown run in which he powered through four Saints defenders and bullied his way into the end zone from 2 yards.
Patterson’s touchdown put the Falcons up 10-7 in the second quarter.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who’d rushed 30 times for 146 yards in the last meeting, was kept in check.
The Falcons had trouble with Saints backup quarterback Taysom Hill, who broke loose for a 57-yard gain and later for an 11-yard touchdown run to put the Saints up 7-3.
Other than Hill’s runs, the Saints couldn’t muster much offense early.
The Saints added a 39-yard field goal by Wil Lutz (Georgia State) on their first possession of the second half. He’d missed a 34-yard field-goal attempt in the first quarter that would have put the Saints up 10-3.
The Falcons answered with a 2-yard touchdown run by Mariota to make it 23-10 in the third quarter. Koo added a 27-yard field goal to push the lead to 26-10.
The defense created a turnover when Walker knocked the ball off Saints running back Mark Ingram. Rashaan Evans caught the ball and ran 1 yard to the Saints’ 36.
The Falcons went on the move, but Mariota fumbled on the Saints’ 5-yard line, and it was recovered by safety Tyrann Mathieu.
Winston tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Michael Thomas with 11:12 to play. He also completed a two-point conversion pass to rookie Chris Olave to make it a one-score game, 26-18.
The Saints forced the Falcons to punt with 7:12 left.
Winston zipped the Saints down the field as the Falcons’ pass rush couldn’t get to him at clutch time. Winston tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Thomas to make it 26-24 with 3:38 to play.
Ingram was stopped on the two-point conversion attempt.
The Falcons are set to play at the Los Angeles Rams at 4:05 p.m. Sept. 18.
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