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Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA — After it was all over — snapping a three-game losing streak, posting a season high in rushing and, despite an under-.500 record, claiming the NFC South lead — the Atlanta Falcons could exhale for a few seconds.
Sunday’s 24-15 win against the New Orleans Saints was what the Falcons needed. The running game was effective. The defense held the Saints without a touchdown. Special teams didn’t have a busted play. All three of those aspects had been issues in the Falcons’ losses to Tennessee, Minnesota and Arizona in their previous three games.
After beating the Saints, the Falcons could take pride in the fact that they were in first place with six games left in the season.
“It’s just one game,” Falcons coach Arthur Smith said, “but we needed that win in the worst way.”
It’s a game that felt tenuous throughout — despite the fact that Atlanta did not relinquish its lead after the 1:46 mark of the first quarter, when safety Jessie Bates III intercepted Derek Carr and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown.
Had the Falcons lost, they would have been two games back in the division and would have been losers of four straight and in a precarious position even with just one over-.500 team (Indianapolis) left on the schedule.
It’s why, perhaps, the Falcons had almost an early-training-camp level of energy at practice during the week, noticeable enough that Smith and multiple players brought it up after the game. This came after a couple of weeks in which multiple players said the energy wasn’t where it needed to be. It showed in how the Falcons performed.
The offense couldn’t find a rhythm during their three-game losing streak. The defense, cornerback Jeff Okudah said, couldn’t make plays to finish games.
As a result, the Falcons’ first game following the bye week had a little more meaning to it.
“This was an important game, and we knew the potential that it had for us,” defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. “This team is a team that has underachieved for a while, feel like we could have been so much better than we have been playing.
“All right, all that doesn’t matter no more. Go into the bye, make our corrections and just go get one win against a division opponent at home that would put us in first place.”
The Falcons recognize first place after 12 weeks is relatively meaningless — especially in a division in which no teams are over .500. The NFC South’s champion last season (the Buccaneers, at 8-9) also had an under-.500 record.
But the relative mediocrity among their division foes gives the Falcons hope, despite their recent slide.
“We needed this one,” Okudah said. “We lost three games but come back and win this game and now you’re right where you want to be. It’s interesting how football works like that.”
Atlanta registered a season-best 228 yards rushing. Bijan Robinson, with 91 yards rushing and 32 yards receiving, became the first rookie in franchise history with 100 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in back-to-back games.
Bates, who also forced a fumble against the Saints, became the first player in the NFL this year to have an interception and a forced fumble in two games.
Yet the Falcons recognize this can’t be a short-term plan. The energy they showed Sunday has to carry over to next week against the New York Jets, the week after against Tampa Bay and for the rest of the season. According to ESPN Analytics, Atlanta now has a 44% chance to make the playoffs and a 38% chance to win the division.
Had they lost Sunday, the Falcons would have had less than a 15% chance to do either.
“Those things have got to play out,” Smith said. “I mean, we’ve got six games to go, right? And it’ll feel like six lifetimes.”
ESPN Stats & Information research contributed to this report.
