NEW ORLEANS — The Atlanta Falcons can forget about perfection, thanks to their resurgent rivals from the Big Easy.
Atlanta, the NFL’s only defeated team entering Sunday at 8-0, couldn’t get the 1 yard it needed to take a lead inside the final 2 minutes of a 31-27 loss Sunday.
“We were close,” said Falcons coach Mike Smith, who is 2-7 against the Saints and 49-15 against the rest of the NFL in his four-plus regular seasons as Atlanta coach. “This will be something we will learn from.”
If the Falcons (8-1) want to beat the Saints (4-5) in their rematch in Atlanta on Nov. 29, they’ll have to do a better job defending Saints tight end Jimmy Graham, who caught 7 passes for a career-best 146yards and 2 touchdowns.
Still, Atlanta might have pulled it out, but Jabari Greer made a diving, touchdown saving pass breakup on a late fourth-down pass intended for Roddy White.
“It’s not like they came out here and won a game today,” White said. “I think we kind of gave it to them. ... We play them in three weeks and we’ll be ready.”
Greer’s play represented a measure of redemption for the veteran, who’d given up two long passes earlier in the game that led to Atlanta scores.
“I was kind of depressed before that play,” Greer said. “I saw my name on the waiver wire. ... Being able to go out there and make a play for our team and be able to celebrate after everything that happened and just to win that way, it’s a gift.”
Matt Ryan was 34 of 52 for a career-best 411 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception. The game was there for him to win when his 9-yard pass to Harry Douglas gave Atlanta a second-and-goal at the 1. But Ryan could not connect on a second-down pass for Gonzalez, the Saints stuffed Michael Turner for a 1-yard loss on third down, and then came Greer’s play.
“I could put that ball in a better spot - a little higher and more in front of him to give him a chance to catch it,” Ryan said. “We’ve always played them tough and haven’t had the outcomes we wanted.”
Both Graham and his Atlanta counterpart, veteran tight end Tony Gonzalez,were superb in a game that showcased all the intensity and momentum changes expected from such a passionate and longstanding rivalry.
“Tony, he kind of paved the way for me,” said Graham, who like Gonzalez had a college basketball background. “It seemed like every drive I’m kind of going up against the things that he did the last drive.”
Gonzalez finished with 11 catches for 122 yards and 2 scores for Atlanta, becoming the first tight end to catch 100 touchdown passes.
Brees threw for 298 yards and 3 TDs as the Saints won for the fourth time in five games, keeping alive hope of getting back into the wildcard race after an 0-4 start. It was also New Orleans’ 11th victory in 13 games against Atlanta since Brees joined the Saints in 2006.
The Saints can even their record with a victory at Oakland next weekend.
“That’s something we feel like we’re capable of and we envisioned being able to do that, because we know the type of team we have,” Brees said. “We knew we dug ourselves a hole. We knew we had a mountain to climb, but we also knew we have the right type of people.”
The Saints still had to punt the ball back to Atlanta with about 40 seconds left, but Gonzalez could not handle a fourth-down throw in tight coverage along the sideline.
The Saints came in allowing a league-worst 176.5 yards rushing per game, they held Atlanta to 46 yards on the ground.
New Orleans rushed for 148 yards, highlighted by Chris Ivory’s career-long 56-yard scoring run that gave the Saints a spark after Atlanta had a 10-0 lead.
The Saints’ largest lead was 28-17 on Brees’ scoring strike to Marques Colston, the 55th of Colston’s career, tying Deuce McAllister for first in Saints history.
The Falcons pulled to 28-27 on Gonzalez’s second TD and Matt Bryant’s field goal after New Orleans’ second red zone stand of the game.
New Orleans briefly interrupted Atlanta’s momentum when Graham’s 46-yard catch set up Garrett Hartley’s 31-yard field goal.
Sports, Pages 15 on 11/12/2012