Twenty Years After ‘Rebirth,’ the Falcons Crashed the Domecoming: 45-24 Rout

NEW ORLEANS — Twenty years ago, the Atlanta Falcons walked into a reborn Superdome and played the perfect party guests, losing 23-3 on the night New Orleans celebrated its post-Katrina resurrection. On Monday, handed the same invitation, the Falcons tore it up. Atlanta crashed the Saints’ 20th-anniversary “Domecoming” with a 45-24 rout on Monday Night Football, a beating so thorough the building started clearing out in the second half — and a statement so loud it echoed all the way to the top of the NFC South.

The tone was set on Atlanta’s third snap. Bijan Robinson took his first carry, found the left sideline, and went untouched for a 59-yard touchdown 86 seconds into the game. The Falcons never trailed. They led 14-0 after the first quarter and 24-7 at halftime, and kept pouring it on until the only drama left was the final score.

The third snap, and everything after

The numbers read like a different sport than the one Atlanta played in September. The Falcons piled up 420 yards of offense, and 205 of them came on the ground. Robinson finished with 19 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns — 147 total yards on the night — entering the game already averaging 145.4 yards from scrimmage in prime-time games, the most by any player since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

Then there was the other Robinson. Brian Robinson — no relation — carried 14 times for 62 yards and three touchdowns of his own, and together the two backs pushed Atlanta to five rushing touchdowns, tying a franchise record. The Saints’ defense, banged up and getting worse by the quarter, had no answers for either of them.

Michael Penix Jr. didn’t need to be spectacular; he needed to be in charge, and he was. The second-year quarterback went 15-of-20 for 223 yards and a touchdown for a 127.7 passer rating, including a 31-yard play-action strike to Jahan Dotson in the fourth quarter — Dotson’s first touchdown as a Falcon. Drake London caught five passes for 96 yards. Head coach Kevin Stefanski liked what he saw from his quarterback.

“I thought Mike played well. He took care of the football, made some really good throws,” Stefanski said after the game, singling out the late throw to London. “I really like Mike — his demeanor on game day. I like how he’s operating. He’s doing a nice job.”

Stefanski, coaching his first season in Atlanta, kept the big picture in frame: “I think all these games are challenges in tough environments on the road, great defenses across the other side. We’re excited about this one, we’ll learn from this one and then we’ll get to the next one.”

A celebration twenty years in the making

None of this was supposed to happen on this night, in this building. The Saints spent Monday honoring the 20th anniversary of Sept. 25, 2006 — the night the Superdome reopened a year after Hurricane Katrina savaged it, and Steve Gleason’s blocked punt against these same Falcons launched a moment now commemorated in the “Rebirth” statue outside the stadium. Drew Brees, Gleason, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore, Scott Fujita and Curtis DeLoatch were all on hand for the festivities, and the pregame atmosphere was electric.

ESPN leaned into the history all night: Mike Tirico, who called the 2006 game, was interviewed; Trombone Shorty performed; and a feature reunited Gleason with former Falcons punter Michael Koenen, the two principals in the blocked punt that started it all. It was a beautiful setup for a football game. It just wasn’t much of a football game.

The cruel symmetry wasn’t lost on anyone who remembered 2006. Back then, Atlanta was the accommodating visitor in a 23-3 Saints win that meant more than football. On Monday, the Falcons returned the favor in reverse: guests who ate everything in the house.

The Penix effect is real

Step back from the score and look at the shape of Atlanta’s season, because it has bent completely in two weeks. The Falcons scored 16 points total in Weeks 1 and 2 — the fewest in the NFL. In the two games since Penix returned in Week 3, they have scored 80 — the most in the league over that span. The quarterback’s personal numbers Monday were efficient rather than gaudy, but his presence has unlocked the offense at the macro level, and Robinson in particular.

At 2-2, Atlanta is tied with Carolina atop the NFC South, and the schedule offers no soft landing: the Falcons host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football this week — a Ravens team that, per USA Today’s Nate Davis, may be without an injured Lamar Jackson. The short week got shorter in the worst way Monday night. Left tackle Jake Matthews, the NFL’s ironman with 199 consecutive regular-season starts, left with a groin injury and did not return. Edge rusher Za’Darius Smith exited with a concussion. Both are now races against the clock.

For New Orleans, the bill comes due

If the night was a celebration, the football was an audit — and the Saints failed it. New Orleans is 1-3, winless in two home games, and a defense that was supposed to carry playoff-dark-horse hopes has now surrendered at least 30 points in three of its four games. The unit is banged up, but Monday it was simply run over.

The bright spots belonged to Alvin Kamara, who turned back the clock with touchdown runs of 3 and 5 yards — his 14th career game with multiple rushing touchdowns, tying Deuce McAllister’s franchise record. Quarterback Tyler Shough went 30-of-48 for 286 yards and a touchdown despite banging up his left hand, and Chris Olave caught eight passes for 116 yards before taking a hard hit to his knee late in the game. Devaughn Vele provided the night’s prettiest consolation prize, toe-tapping both feet down for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:13 left.

Atlanta’s defense did its share of the damage beyond the scoreboard. Cornerback CJ Henderson forced a fumble in the first quarter, and rookie Harold Perkins teamed with Xavier Watts for a sack in what was the young linebacker’s best night as a pro.

What comes next

The Falcons fly home tied for first, with a Sunday night showcase against Baltimore that suddenly looks like a division statement game. The Saints fly into a reckoning: a 1-3 record, a defense getting caved in weekly, and two skill players — Shough’s hand, Olave’s knee — whose statuses will dominate the week.

Twenty years ago, the Saints announced their rebirth by beating the Falcons in this building. On Monday, the Falcons announced their own arrival by doing the same thing back. The party was lovely. The guests were terrible. And the NFC South has a new co-tenant at the top.

More NFL coverage at Previously’s news hub, including the full game final and the Domecoming anniversary preview.