DOWN X DOWN › week 4 › Falcons at Saints
Updated Nov 2, 5:48 PM ET
2026

Week 4 · Monday 8:15 PM ET · Caesars Superdome

NOvsATL

Saints offensevsFalcons defense

Season numbers through Week 8: 7 games for Saints, 8 for Falcons. Ranks are out of 32; #1 is the best offense or the stingiest defense.

How it played out · win probability, snap by snapFinal · ATL 45 · NO 24

The Falcons won 45–24; their low point was 47% at Q1 15:00. The Saints had been 52% favorites at kickoff. The game turned for good at Q1 14:22: M.Penix pass short left to A.Hooper to ATL 41 for 9 yards (J.Sanker) (50% → 51%). The biggest single swing came at Q1 2:52, 12 points for the Falcons.

At kickoffNO 52%NO by 1.5 on the line
ATL low point47%Q1 15:00 · tied 0⁠–⁠0
Swings past 50%1times the favorite changed
Biggest swing12 ptsATL · Q1 2:52
NO wins50%ATL wins
Q1Q2Q3Q4

The plays that swung it

  1. 1Q1 2:52ATLK.Miller left guard to NO 23 for 3 yards (L.London). Atlanta challenged the runner was down by contact ruling, and the play was REVERSED. K.Miller…63% → 75%+12
  2. 2Q1 13:43ATLBi.Robinson left end for 59 yards, TOUCHDOWN.51% → 60%+9
  3. 3Q1 5:08ATLD.Carlson 52 yard field goal is No Good, Wide Left62% → 70%+7
  4. 4Q1 0:44NOT.Shough pass deep left to C.Olave to ATL 10 for 44 yards (X.Watts) [Y.Abdullah].24% → 30%+6
  5. 5Q1 9:19NOT.Shough pass deep right to J.Johnson pushed ob at NO 34 for 23 yards (C.Henderson) [Z.Harrison].32% → 38%+6
  6. ★Q1 14:22ATLM.Penix pass short left to A.Hooper to ATL 41 for 9 yards (J.Sanker).turning point50% → 51%+1

Win probability is nflverse's model, which starts from the betting line and updates before every snap with the score, the clock, down, distance, field position and timeouts. A swing is the change in one team's chance across a play, in percentage points. The turning point is the play after which the winner never fell to 50% again.

Box score · every offensive player who touched the ballWeek 4

M.Jr. led the Falcons at +10.7 EPA (15 of 20 for 223). C.Olave led the Saints at +7.2 EPA (8 catches for 116).

ATL Falcons

PassingC/AYdsTDINTSkEPA
M.Jr.100%15/2022311+10.7
RushingCarShareYdsTDEPA
B.Robinson60%1954%1452+6.4
B.Robinson42%1440%623+5.6
M.Jr.100%26%-20.0
ReceivingTgtShareRecYdsTDEPA
D.London89%630%596+6.9
K.Pitts51%315%347+3.7
J.Dotson63%315%2541+3.6
B.Robinson60%210%12-0.6
Z.Branch23%210%210+0.3
A.Hooper23%15%19+0.8
O.Zaccheaus37%15%00-0.9
C.Woerner58%15%00-0.7
B.Robinson42%15%15+0.1

Defense S.Ebukam 1 sack, X.Watts 0.5 sacks, H.Jr. 0.5 sacks · Kicking N.Folk 1/1 FG (long 29)

NO Saints

PassingC/AYdsTDINTSkEPA
T.Shough100%30/4828612+0.7
RushingCarShareYdsTDEPA
A.Kamara38%737%232+3.1
K.Miller26%632%9-8.2
C.Donaldson38%316%18+0.7
T.Shough100%211%5+0.0
B.Brown4%15%-5-1.3
ReceivingTgtShareRecYdsTDEPA
C.Olave86%1226%8116+7.2
D.Vele89%919%6541+4.0
J.Johnson78%817%659+2.2
A.Kamara38%715%535-0.3
B.Lance85%511%17-4.8
K.Miller26%36%210-1.3
C.Donaldson38%24%25-0.4
T.Welch9%12%00-0.6

Defense T.Wilson 1 sack · Kicking D.Carlson 1/2 FG (long 27)

Each player's line for this game from nflverse's weekly stats; the percentage beside his name is his share of the offense's snaps. Share is his part of the team's carries or targets in this game. Defense lists sacks and interceptions; kicking lists field goals.

Keys to the game · from the season numbers, not this game alone4 reads
01
Biggest edge

Red zone touchdowns

Saints score a touchdown on 74% of red zone trips (2nd). Falcons allow 63% (17th).

02
Opportunity

Deep left is open

Falcons are worst against deep left throws, allowing +0.17 EPA per attempt. Saints send 7% of their throws there. That is a small part of their offense so far.

03
Watch out

Nowhere to run

Saints' run game is 26th in EPA per carry (-0.16). Falcons allow -0.08 (14th).

04
Wash

Success rate

Call this one even. Saints succeed on 42% of plays (23rd) against a defense that allows 44% (18th).

The series · Falcons and Saints since 1999, and this season's records55 meetings

The Saints lead the series 32–23 since 1999. The Falcons have won the last 3. This game is the latest meeting.

Falcons at home12–15the Falcons' record
In New Orleans11–17the Falcons' record
Most pointsFalcons 45 · Saints 482016 · 2023
Biggest winFalcons by 23 · Saints by 311999 · 2023

The last 5

2026 · Wk 4ATL 45 at NO 24
2025 · Wk 18NO 17 at ATL 19
2025 · Wk 12ATL 24 at NO 10
2024 · Wk 10ATL 17 at NO 20
2024 · Wk 4NO 24 at ATL 26

2026 records

FalconsSaints
Overall3–52–5
Division1–20–1
Conference3–31–3
Other conference0–21–2
Home1–30–4
Away2–22–1
Last 5WLLWLLLLWL
StreakLost 1Lost 1
Points a game21.4 – 23.623.1 – 27.7

Every meeting since 1999, regular season and playoffs, from nflverse's game list, which starts in 1999; the all-time series goes back further. Franchises that moved count as one team (the Raiders, Chargers and Rams). Home and away are from the Falcons' side. Records are this regular season.

Head to head · NO offense against ATL defense
StatNO NO offFavors NO · Favors ATLATL ATL def allowsNFL avg
Overall
EPA per play
-0.04#22
-0.04#11+0.00
Success rate
42%#23
44%#1844%
Yards per play
4.9#29
5.3#135.4
Explosive play rate
7%#30
9%#139%
Passing
Pass EPA per dropback
+0.01#19
+0.00#14+0.03
Sack rate
5%#10
6%#207%
Running
Run EPA per carry
-0.16#26
-0.08#14-0.08
Yards per carry
3.2#31
4.6#264.1
Money downs
3rd down conversion
43%#10
42%#1841%
Red zone TD rate
74%#2
63%#1761%
Targets by position
WR yards per game
162#9
150#20147
TE yards per game
51#20
55#1755
TE targets per game
8.3#10
7.6#167.6
RB receiving yards per game
33#13
33#1732
Where the ball goes · EPA per throwDeep is 15+ air yds

Saints: EPA per throw

Left
Middle
Right
Deep
-0.137% of throws
+0.893% of throws
+1.026% of throws
Short
+0.1935% of throws
+0.0510% of throws
-0.0340% of throws

Falcons: EPA allowed per throw

Left
Middle
Right
Deep
+0.1727 throws
+1.598 throws
-0.0521 throws
Short
+0.1293 throws
-0.1533 throws
+0.06106 throws

Green gains more than expected, red loses value. Cells with fewer than 5 throws are grayed out.