When Younghoe Koo sauntered on to the field, the Falcons knew they were in a good place.
“We knew it was money,” Falcons cornerback Mike Hughes said.
Koo’s 58-yard field goal sailed through the uprights with two seconds on the clock to lift the Falcons to a 26-24 win over the NFC South rival Saints on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
It was Koo’s fourth field goal of the game as Atlanta’s offense continued to sputter and the defense gave up the lead late in the game.
“Koo is just known for that,” linebacker JD Bertrand said. “Koo hits the game-winners, and he’s so cool about it. He’s always calm, cool and collected. That’s just Koo.”
The Falcons improved to 2-2 on the season, and the Saints dropped to 2-2.
“It was a complete team win across the board,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “Now, Koo finished that thing off for us.”
It was by no means a masterpiece as the offense had nine penalties, running back Bijan Robinson was held in check (seven rushes for 28 yards) and they were unable to get the ball to tight end Kyle Pitts (zero catches on three targets).
“There are so many things you can correct, but it’s always nice to correct those things (after) a win,” Morris said.
The Falcons had a last-ditch drive after the Saints took a 24-23 lead with 1:00 to play. A pass-interference call on Saints safety Paulson Adebo with 29 seconds to go helped the Falcons get to the Saints 40. After three consecutive incompletions by Kirk Cousins, Morris went for a fourth time to Koo, who also made field goals of 53, 42 and 44 yards.
“That thing was ending with a Koo make or miss,” Morris said. “It didn’t matter where it was from. Koo was going out there.”
Koo was ready for the moment and up to the task of making his career-long NFL field goal.
“You just always go through the process,” Koo said. “Go out there, whether if the clock is stopped or if it’s a running clock. (You think about) those things. It’s just with the preparation mentally.”
The Falcons had a second-and-10 from their own 30 when Mooney, a crafty route runner, made a double-move on Adebo, who came over and hit him before the ball arrived.
“The way the ball was sitting in the air,” Mooney said. “I knew I was going to have to draw something. I was able to make Adebo push me a little early than he wanted to.”
Thanks to the special teams and the defense, the Falcons held a 17-14 lead at halftime to bail out an offense that had six first-half penalties for 56 yards.
Special teams maven KhaDarel Hodge recovered a muffed punt in the end zone to give Atlanta a 7-0 lead with 11:13 to go in the first quarter, and linebacker Troy Andersen returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown and a 17-14 lead with 7:54 to go in the half.
The Falcons’ opening drive was off to a good start until left guard Matt Bergeron was called for a face-mask penalty that essentially cost Atlanta 28 yards. Instead of it being first-and-10 from the Saints 31 after a catch by Ray-Ray McCloud, it was second-and-25 from the Falcon 41. The drive stalled after the Falcons couldn’t convert on third-and-20 and were forced to punt.
“I think we just shoot ourselves in the foot a few times with the penalties,” Bergeron said. “Especially for me. I had two of them critical times. I’ve got to do better than that for the team.”
On the ensuing punt, New Orleans’ Rashid Shaheed called for a fair catch at the 3 but dropped the ball. Micah Abernathy hit Shaheed as the Saint returner attempted to recover the ball, and Hodge dove on the loose ball to give Atlanta a 7-0 lead.
“I saw the ball pop up,” Abernathy said. “I was hoping that he made a mistake. He did, and we were able to capitalize on it. I should have got the ball, but I was trying to prevent him from getting the ball because I knew (Hodge) was going to be somewhere down there.”
The Saints answered with a nine-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by 2-yard touchdown run by Taysom Hill.
Cousins was intercepted by Adebo on the ensuing series, as Adebo appeared to push McCloud as he was coming out of his break. The Saints, running the ball with authority, drove 53 yards on 11 plays and Hill scored from 5-yards out to make it 14-7.
The Falcons were on the move again and drove down to the Saints 30. They went for it on fourth-and-1, but backup center Ryan Neuzil, who was starting for Drew Dalman, was charged with a false-start penalty. The drive was halted, and the Falcons settled for Koo’s first field goal of the game, a 53-yarder to make it 14-10.
On the Saints’ next possession, outside linebacker Matthew Judon tipped a ball and Andersen, a former college quarterback/running back, tracked it and went off to the races to give the Falcons the 17-14 lead they took into the half.
The Saints had the ball to open the third quarter but were forced to punt. On the Falcons’ ensuring series, Tyler Allgeier caught a check-down pass on third-and-9 from the Atlanta 47 and powered his way through two defenders for 13-yard gain. The drive stalled on the Saints 26, and Koo hit a 44-yard field goal to make it 20-14 with 6:46 left in the third quarter.
The Saints answered with a 44-yard field goal by Blake Grupe to make it 20-17 with 1:03 left in the third quarter.
The Falcons’ offense tried to take control of the game, marching down the field and apparently scoring on a 19-yard screen to Robinson. However, left tackle Jake Matthews was called for a holding, erasing the TD.
The Falcons couldn’t overcome the penalty, and Matthews was beat by Payton Turner for a sack and strip of Cousins. Bergeron recovered for the Falcons, but after a 16-yard catch by Drake London had to settle for a 42-yard field goal to make it 23-17 with 10:09 to play.
The Saints then drove to the Falcons 6, but Derek Carr’s fourth-and-goal pass was incomplete. New Orleans forced Atlanta into a three-and-out, then went on a nine-play, 42-yard touchdown drive capped by Alvin Kamara’s 1-yard score.
The Falcons are set to host the Buccaneers at 8:20 p.m. Thursday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Bucs beat the Eagles 33-16 on Sunday to improve to 3-1.
“It’s a great opportunity for us — home game, divisional opponent,” said Cousins, who was 21-of-35 for 238 yards and the interception. “We dug ourselves a hole going 1-2. We now give ourselves a chance to go into a long weekend above .500. We know what’s out there for us.”
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