NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Before interim New Orleans Saints coach Darren Rizzi disappeared down a tunnel toward the locker room, he paused, holding his gold, team-issued hat high above his head, and acknowledged fans still celebrating his triumphant debut in the Superdome.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling caught three passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns in his second game for New Orleans, and the Saints began Rizzi's tenure by snapping a seven-game skid with a 20-17 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
“What an unbelievable week,” said Rizzi, a 54-year-old, north New Jersey native and long-time special teams coach who was given his first head coaching opportunity on Monday after the firing of third-year coach Dennis Allen.
“Today doesn't happen without complete buy-in,” Rizzi added. “This city is starving for some wins and we were hungry to give them one — and that was awesome.”
Rizzi's auspicious debut came not only against the NFC South’s first-place team, but the Saints' oldest regional rival.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara, who had 109 yards from scrimmage and became the franchise’s all-time leading rusher, said New Orleans' recipe for winning “was just missing something — and I feel like we got that thing.”
“Rizzi came in and he had a clear message,” Kamara continued. “Unity was one of the words of the week. When you’re united, you all believe and you’re all together, man, there’s so much you can do.”
Tyrann Mathieu thwarted a promising Atlanta drive with an interception of Kirk Cousins at the New Orleans 38 with two minutes to go.
Atlanta (6-4) got the ball back after Kamara stunningly dropped Derek Carr's accurate third-down pass down the left sideline for what could have been a game-clinching first down.
But just as Atlanta crossed midfield, Chase Young's sack and strip of Cousins caused a 19-yard loss back to the Atlanta 32-yard line with 34 seconds remaining. Although the Falcons recovered, the play proved pivotal.
The Falcons were forced to use their final timeout and had to make a rushed decision two plays later on whether to try a 60-yard field goal or keep the offense on the field after a completion gave them fourth-and-4 on the New Orleans 43 with 18 seconds left and the clock running.
Atlanta tried a quick pass to Ray-Ray McCloud III, who was tackled short of first-down yardage by Ugo Amadi as time expired.
The Falcons (6-4) missed opportunities to score at least 13 more points than they did and lost despite rushing for 181 yards and outgaining New Orleans (3-7) 468 yards to 365.
Younghoe Koo had three failed field-goal attempts for the first time in his career. One missed wide, another was partially blocked and a third hit the upright.
On another drive, consecutive penalties pushed a first-and-goal from the 5 back 20 yards, helping the Saints limit Atlanta to a field goal.
Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns, including a tackle-breaking, 37-yard run in the third quarter.
“It was certainly a tough loss,” said Cousins, who completed 23 of 38 passes for 306 yards and was intercepted once. “We had chances to take the lead late in the game and not being able to do it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. This is one that you're sick over.”
Carr, who finished with a season-high 269 yards and two TDs passing without a turnover — despite top receivers Chris Olave (concussion) and Rashid Shaheed (knee) being sidelined.
But Valdes-Scantling, a two-time Super Bowl winner with Kansas City, added a veteran presence to a receiver group comprised mainly of young, unproven players. His touchdowns went for 40 and 2 yards.
“Thankfully we have a guy like MVS that has played a lot of football at a very high level in some big situations,” Carr said. “It felt good to be able to hit and connect on some of those, because we knew the potential was there.”
Record runner
Kamara's 55 yards rushing gave him 6,544 yards, eclipsing Mark Ingram's previous mark of 6,500.
“Any time you use the phrase, ‘all time,' it's a big deal," said Rizzi, who also selected the 29-year-old Kamara as a team captain this week." I know he's joking around about being old but he certainly doesn't look old.”
Injuries
Falcons: DT Ta’Quon Graham left the game in the first half with a pectoral injury.
Saints: LB Pete Werner went to the locker room in the fourth quarter for unspecified reasons and did not return.
Up next
Falcons: At Denver next Sunday.
Saints: Host Cleveland on Sunday.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Brett Martel, The Associated Press
