Saints pull off improbable comeback to edge Falcons

ATLANTA (AP) — A new coach. A bunch of guys coming back from injuries. A 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

None of it flustered the New Orleans Saints, who pulled off a stunning comeback Sunday.

Wil Lutz kicked a 51-yard field goal with 19 seconds remaining after Jameis Winston guided a pair of lighting-quick touchdown drives, giving the Saints a 27-26 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Dennis Allen's coaching debut.

“It was exciting,” Winston said with a smile. “We've just got to find a way to get there quicker.”

After struggling offensively through most of the season opener, the Saints finally found their rhythm.

Winston threw for 269 yards after going down last season on Halloween with a knee injury. Michael Thomas hauled in a pair of fourth-quarter TD passes in his first game since the 2020 season, having missed an entire campaign with complications from an ankle injury.

And Lutz delivered at the end, showing he's fully recovered from a core issue that kept him out for all of 2021.

“I'm happy with our resilience,” Winston said. “We never gave up.”

Winston hooked up with Thomas on touchdown passes of 3 and 9 yards. The Saints converted one 2-point try, but failed on the other, leaving the Falcons clinging to a 26-24 lead.

New Orleans got the ball back one more time, taking over at its own 20 with 48 seconds remaining and no timeouts.

No problem.

Winston connected on a 40-yard pass to Jarvis Landry and a 17-yarder to Juwan Johnson to set up Lutz's winning field goal.

A personal foul on the Saints gave the Falcons a chance to pull out the victory, but Younghoe Koo's 63-yard field goal attempt was blocked as the clock ran out.

It was a stirring start to the Allen era.

Sean Payton, who coached the team for 15