Falcons - Saints: Overjoyed reactions from The Falcoholic Staff

More of that please

Sometimes, you lose sight of why it is you watch football. Why you follow this team. Why you root for them. You get buried in a hundred arguments about draft position and the kind of season you want to have next year. It’s easy to forget how to enjoy the game for what it is, outside of the concerns over the salary cap and which players we can or can’t afford. The win against the Saints was a reminder of what a good, fun game feels like. And yes, I want more of it. I want this team to win every time they’re on the field, draft position be damned. If I can watch Drew Brees get sacked 6 times every week, I would be the happiest man alive. As it is, I got it this week. And that’s enough ... until Sunday. - David Walker

Football was fun again

I have said it before and I will say it again: Going 2-14 is completely fine if the Falcons beat the Saints twice. Half of the point is beating the Saints. I do not care if it costs us Chase Young or some other “can’t miss” prospect. The Falcons should beat the Saints. And somehow... they did it. I had zero expectations for this game. The small part of me that believes deep down the team has a chance has long disappeared. To see the team bounce back like this was amazing. They manhandled one of the presumed best teams in the league. While I may wonder where this team was all year, watching the Saints lose is the highlight of the 2019 season. - Matt Chambers

Still trying to process this

The Falcons looked like an entirely different team yesterday. The ground game, anemic as it’s been all season, got going early. The defense — the defense! — was swarming and put Drew Brees on his back six times. It’s always a joy to beat the Saints on their home turf, but it’s also maddening to see what this team is capable of and what they had yet to display until yesterday. Sunday was certainly a step in the right direction in what’s been a dreadful season so far. Let’s see if they can build on that momentum against the Panthers. - Carter Breazeale

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I still cannot believe the Falcons pulled that one off. They looked like a completely different team against the Saints. I don’t know if they can replicate that, or if they’ll revert back to being a terrible football team, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop laughing about the Falcons literally doubling their win total for the season on the road against a playoff-bound Saints team. - Jeanna Thomas

Wait, what just happened?

The Atlanta Falcons did the one thing I did not expect them to do, which was play tremendously well against one of the best teams in the NFL after nearly two months of garbage. To echo the thoughts above, that was not the team we’ve been watching this season by any means. The defense just looked so much more organized and potent, and that was without Desmond Trufant in tow. The team did make some changes that could’ve made them difficult for New Orleans to scout, and those can evaporate. But if this team plays like this the rest of the way out, our conversation on the future of this team may change pretty drastically. - Cory Woodroof

I’m...happy?

Of course I hoped the Falcons would win Sunday against the Saints. Of course I even let myself believe it a little bit. A 17 point win, though, where Drew Brees didn’t throw a single stinking touchdown? I must still be dreaming.

What the Falcons did was overdue, to say the least, given that the talent has always suggested they could hang with the NFL’s best teams. Raheem Morris is a folk hero, Damontae Kazee and his helmet-popping ways an icon, and Grady Jarrett the sort of leviathan who will be spoken of in hushed, angry tones in New Orleans for years to come. This season may still be quite lost, but the Falcons concentrated a lot of magic into beating the Saints, and I’ll remember this game fondly forever. - Dave Choate