Saints Report: Saints erase 16-point deficit in wild comeback win over Falcons

It wasn’t quite 28-3, but the Atlanta Falcons inability to hold on to a 26-10 fourth quarter lead almost as impressive as the New Orleans Saints coming back to score 17 unanswered points in less than 12 minutes.

According to ESPN, the Falcons had a 97.1 percent chance to win Sunday’s season opener early in the fourth quarter.

But this year’s new-look Saints offense finally shaking off the rust, starting with Jameis Winston and his perfect passer rating in the fourth.

In that final quarter, he went 16-19 with 213 yards and two touchdowns, both of them going to Michael Thomas.

LSU alum Jarvis Landry building an instant connection with Winston, hauling in a game-high seven receptions for a game-high 114 yards, 40 of them coming on a monster sideline catch on the final drive of the game.

Wil Lutz sealing the deal with a 51-yard field goal with 19 seconds left to go to give the Saints a crazy 27-26 win. Head Coach Dennis Allen said, “Look, our team is tough and gritty, and that’s what I love about them and that’s exactly the way they played in this game.”

Thomas said, “I told him I needed him and he responded well. And that’s the good thing when you’re surrounded by a bunch of great teammates and great players. Everyone, if we do our job and contribute, sky’s the limit. We can win them all.”

Winston said, “We knew we were passing the ball, right? So, we knew we were passing the ball, so just the approach to like, hey, boom, boom, boom. Like here we go. Boom, boom, boom. Here we go. So, you get into that rhythm of knowing like, hey, these are where my completions are at, these are where my match-ups are at, and you just go like that. That’s not – no gameplan involved. Like, hey, this is the defense we’re going to get. Let’s go and play.”

The Black and Gold opening their season at home against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers at noon Sunday from the dome.