Saints 31, Falcons 27
Saints 31, Falcons 27: Drew Brees passed for 298 yards and three touchdowns - two of them to tight end Jimmy Graham - and New Orleans handed visiting Atlanta its first loss.
Matt Ryan passed for a career-high 411 yards and three touchdowns, but the Falcons (8-1) were unable to score after having second-and-goal from the 1 at the two-minute warning. Ryan threw incomplete on second down, Michael Turner was stuffed for a one-yard loss on their down, and Jabari Greer broke up a pass intended for Roddy White on fourth down.
Brees was 21-of-32 and Graham caught seven passes for 146 yards for the Saints (4-5), who have won four of their past five games after starting the season with four consecutive losses. New Orleans won for the 11th time in 13 meetings against the Falcons.
Two of Ryan's touchdown passes went to Tony Gonzalez, who has 101 career touchdown catches, passing Tim Brown and Steve Largent to move into sixth all-time. He is the first tight end with 100 touchdown receptions and ranks second among active players behind Randy Moss (155).
Brees has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 52 consecutive games, extending his NFL record.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ryan's passing total is the third-highest in franchise history behind Chris Chandler (431) and Steve Bartkowski (416). … Saints WR Marques Colston's 7-yard scoring catch in the third quarter was the 55th touchdown of his career, tying him with Deuce McAllister for the most in Saints history. … The Falcons dropped to 29-1 when Ryan starts and has a rating over 100 and 15-1 when he has at least three touchdown passes.