Monday Night Football: Falcons run over Saints 45-24 to ruin New Orleans' celebration

Posted by Admin October 6, 2026 NFL

The Saints will always have the Hurricane Katrina game on Sept. 25, 2006. Steve Gleason’s block of a Falcons’ punt is commemorated in a statue outside the Superdome titled “Rebirth.”

But Monday night belonged to the Falcons.

Atlanta ruined New Orleans’ “Domecoming” celebration, routing the Saints 45-24.

The Superdome cleared out in the second half as the Falcons ran over the Saints, with 205 of their 420 yards coming on the ground. Bijan Robinson had 19 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and Brian Robinson added 14 carries for 62 yards and three touchdowns.

Bijan Robinson went 59 yards for a touchdown on the third play from scrimmage, a foreshadowing of how the night was going to go.

The Falcons led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and 24-7 at halftime before continuing to pour on the points in the second half.

The Falcons scored the fewest points in the NFL the first two weeks, with 16. In the past two games, since quarterback Michael Penix returned, the Falcons have an NFL-leading 80 points. The Falcons are 2-2 and tied with the Panthers atop the NFC South. The Saints are 1-3.

Penix went 15-of-20 for 223 yards and a touchdown, which was a 31-yard throw to Jahan Dotson. Drake London caught five passes for 96 yards and Dotson had two for 54.

Alvin Kamara turned back time in scoring two of the Saints’ touchdowns on runs of 3 and 5 yards. He tied Deuce McAllister’s franchise record for most multiple-rushing touchdown games with his 14th.

Late in the fourth quarter, with the game out of reach, Devaughn Vele made one of the best catches of the season. He got both feet down for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:13 left.

Tyler Shough went 30-of-48 for 286 yards and a touchdown despite banging up his left hand. Chris Olave caught eight passes for 116 yards before taking a hard hit on his knee late in the game.

The only bad news for the Falcons was the loss of edge rusher Za’Darius Smith (concussion) and left tackle Jake Matthews (groin). They left in the first half with their injuries and now have a short week to try to get back for the Ravens on Sunday Night Football.