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New Orleans Saints fall short in season finale against Atlanta

"We're really proud of this group, the way they stuck together and battled each and every way"

Check out the game action photos from the New Orleans Saints game against the Atlanta Falcons for Week 18 of the 2025 NFL season on Jan. 4, 2026 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

For the first time in more than a month, the New Orleans Saints couldn't outmaneuver the math.

The mixture of a lost fumble, punt blocked, missed 56-yard field goal attempt, an interception and an offensive pass interference penalty in the end zone to negate a touchdown — stirred in with a lengthy list of missing offensive players — provided more hurdles than the Saints could clear in a 19-17 loss to the Falcons in the season finale at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

But it wasn't because the Saints (6-11) didn't try, and it didn't dampen the prevailing optimism that surrounds the franchise entering the offseason.

While attempting to win their fifth straight game, the Saints stalked the Falcons (7-9) until time and opportunity evaporated on the 2025 season, which concluded with New Orleans holding fourth place in the NFC South Division while Carolina (8-9) claimed the crown.

The Saints got another strong, poised performance from their rookie quarterback (Tyler Shough completed 23 of 35 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown, with the interception, and three carries for 34 yards and a touchdown).

And they received the final installment in an eight-game string of stout defensive performances — 49 rushing yards allowed on 25 carries and 208 yards allowed total, 10 tops in 14 third-down attempts, an interception (edge Carl Granderson), four sacks (Granderson and Chase Young 1.5 each, Cameron Jordan one), nine tackles for loss and eight passes defensed).

The Saints allowed 15.4 points per game over the final eight as they won five of them, and went 5-4 in games Shough started.

"Our guys battled," Saints first-year coach Kellen Moore said. "I thought the defense played some outstanding football out there, we just weren't able to quite get it done. We were close. A bunch of guys took advantage of some opportunities out there. Overall there's a little bit of reflection in the sense that we're really proud of this group, the way they've stuck together and battled each and every way, all the way down to the very end of this game."

New Orleans never led or tied, but nipped at the Falcons' heels for four quarters despite entering the game without its top five receivers, top three running backs, starting left guard and starting center. They also lost left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and jack-of-all-trades Taysom Hill during the game.

The Saints forced a punt on the opening possession (Granderson and Young shared a sack on third down), but the defense soon was back on the field when Juwan Johnson fumbled during a 19-yard catch-and-run, with Atlanta safety Xavier Watts recovering and returning it five yards to the Saints' 39-yard line.

The defense responded again; Atlanta drove to the 12 in seven plays where, on first-and-10, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins eyed a screen pass to the right that Granderson detected and made a diving interception of the short throw at the 14.

The teams traded punts, then the Falcons blocked Kai Kroeger's punt on fourth-and-8 from the Saints' 13-yard line, with Atlanta recovering at the 5. After a 10-yard penalty and incomplete pass, Cousins connected with Drake London on a 15-yard touchdown for a 7-0 Falcons lead.

Saints kicker Charlie Smyth missed his 56-yard attempt and the Falcons added a field goal in the second quarter before New Orleans constructed a 10-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that ended on Shough's 1-yard run around right end with 4:31 left in the half, pulling the Saints to within 10-7.

The teams swapped field goals in the third quarter, and the Falcons added two more field goals in the fourth — the second, following Shough's interception — to take a 19-10 lead with 2:52 remaining.

Shough then led New Orleans on a seven-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that ended on a 16-yard throw to Ronnie Bell, who made a one-handed, lefthanded catch in the back left of the end zone while his right hand was being held.

That pulled New Orleans to within 19-17 with 71 seconds left, but the Saints had no more timeouts and when Atlanta recovered the onside kick, the Falcons walked away with a sweep of the season series.

Smyth kicked a 29-yard field goal in the third; Shough threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Austin on fourth down, but it was nullified when Dante Pettis was flagged for offensive pass interference. Instead of a 14-13 lead, the Saints trailed 13-10.

Still, New Orleans left the field with an even more definitive portrait of its starting quarterback entering the future.

"I love what Tyler has done," Moore said. "His development, his growth, his ability to learn from each and every experience, he's put a ton of good football out there. We're all going to continue to try and improve and get better, collectively as a football team and certainly individually.

"I'm excited for what he'll have for this offseason. I think always having a full offseason is a huge benefit for guys just to kind of step away for a second, look at it. You get to watch a ton of film that you get to evaluate and then go from there."

There'll likely be lots to like of what is seen from Shough.

"I think if just shows the resiliency of the team, more than anything, kind of the ability to bond together, where a lot of teams may quit when the end result isn't exactly what you want," Shough said. "But we've just had fun building that together and with new faces, people coming and going, we've kind of really just shared that and it's been a lot of fun."

That fun spread to the defense, where Young recorded his first double-digit sack season (10) and Jordan, who completed his 15th season, raised his team-leading sack total to 10.5, his first 10-sack season since 2021 and the seventh of his career, setting a new franchise mark.

Young – with two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, a pass defensed and six tackles – had the most productive year of his career despite missing the first five games.

"I remember when the recruiting process was going on about if we're going to bring Chase Young in or not. And it was just like, no question," linebacker Demario Davis said. "No question, just get him here. Just get him here. There were all these narratives around him, about the type of player he was.

"I don't really follow people's storylines or really watch a lot of football with people who are not in our locker room, but it was just like, I remember when he came (of college), I knew who he was, knew of him. And when he came in, the first thing I noticed was his hunger for greatness."

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