Falcons Rout Saints in New Orleans

The Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints 45⁠–⁠24 on Monday night, 5 October, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. It was the Monday Night Football game of Week 4 in the National Football League (NFL), the top US professional league for American football. Monday Night Football is the league’s weekly Monday-evening slot, shown on national television. Atlanta never trailed (ESPN box score; AP via ESPN; New Orleans Saints).

Two Falcons running backs did most of the damage. Bijan Robinson ran 19 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns, the first a 59-yard run on Atlanta’s third play. Brian Robinson Jr. ran 14 times for 62 yards and scored three short touchdowns, from 4, 8 and 11 yards. Atlanta outgained the Saints 205 yards to 50 on the ground (ESPN box score and scoring summary; AP via ESPN).

The ESPN scoring summary shows how quickly it got away from New Orleans. Bijan Robinson’s long run came with 13:34 left in the first quarter. The Saints then missed a 52-yard field goal, and on their next possession running back Kendre Miller lost a fumble at the New Orleans 22-yard line. Bijan Robinson turned that into a 4-yard touchdown with 48 seconds left in the quarter for 14⁠–⁠0. Alvin Kamara’s 3-yard run early in the second quarter cut it to 14⁠–⁠7, but Brian Robinson Jr.’s 4-yard run and a 29-yard Nick Folk field goal sent Atlanta to half-time ahead 24⁠–⁠7 (ESPN scoring summary; AP via ESPN).

The second half followed the same pattern. A Daniel Carlson field goal made it 24⁠–⁠10 before Brian Robinson Jr. scored from 8 yards for 31⁠–⁠10. Kamara’s 5-yard run early in the fourth quarter brought New Orleans within 31⁠–⁠17. Atlanta answered with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Michael Penix Jr. to Jahan Dotson and Brian Robinson Jr.’s 11-yard run for 45⁠–⁠17. Tyler Shough’s 3-yard pass to Devaughn Vele with 1:13 left set the final score (ESPN scoring summary).

Penix, the Falcons’ quarterback, returned last week from a major knee injury suffered in 2025, in a 35⁠–⁠14 win at Green Bay. Against the Saints he completed 15 of 20 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions. Drake London caught five passes for 96 yards. “Mike played well; he took care of the football and made some really good throws,” said Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski. Atlanta has scored 80 points in two games, and Brian Robinson Jr. called the stretch “the most fun I’ve had in my career” (ESPN box score; AP via ESPN).

For the Saints it was a hard night. Shough completed 30 of 48 passes for 286 yards, and receiver Chris Olave caught eight for 116. Kamara scored his first two touchdowns of the season. The defence played without two starters, edge rusher Carl Granderson and linebacker Kaden Elliss. Fans booed at times, and Shough called the performance “embarrassing.” “Fans understandably are upset,” he said. “You’re playing the Falcons and you lose like that? I’d boo, too.” Coach Kellen Moore said: “We’re all frustrated, all disappointed with where we’re at” (ESPN box score; AP via ESPN; New Orleans Saints).

The night was meant to be a celebration. It marked 20 years since the Superdome reopened after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with a Monday night game in 2006 in which the Saints beat the Falcons 23⁠–⁠3, sparked by Steve Gleason’s blocked punt for a touchdown on the opening possession. Before kickoff, former Saints players from that 2006 team, Drew Brees, Scott Fujita, Scott Shanle, Deuce McAllister, Devery Henderson and Curtis Deloatch, joined Gleason, who uses a wheelchair because of ALS, to lead the crowd’s “Who dat!” chant. Irma Thomas sang the national anthem, as she did on 25 September 2006 (AP via ESPN; New Orleans Saints).

The Falcons wanted to quiet that crowd early. Bijan Robinson said the aim was to “make sure that pin drop happens in the first quarter.” “For it to come after that third play was pretty special,” he said (AP via ESPN).

The result changes the division picture. Atlanta, at two wins and two losses, is now level with the Carolina Panthers at the top of the NFC South, its four-team division. New Orleans fell to one win and three losses and has played from behind early in all four of its games. The Falcons host Baltimore on Sunday night; the Saints host the unbeaten Minnesota Vikings (4⁠–⁠0) on Sunday, 11 October (New Orleans Saints; AP via ESPN; ESPN).