"After nearly five quarters of football, Atlanta center Todd McClure could barely raise his right arm above his head in celebration. Like the rest of his teammates, he was spent. However, the Falcons had just enough energy and strength left to pull out a hard-earned 27-24 overtime victory over the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints on Sunday at the Superdome. Matt Bryant's 46-yard field goal with 1:55 left in the extra session capped off a grueling yet deeply satisfying day for the Falcons, who somehow survived a 29-yard attempt by New Orleans' Garrett Hartley in overtime that missed to the left. "I was gassed," said McClure, who, with the rest of the offensive line, led the Falcons on a final drive to set up the winning kick. The Falcons improved to 2-1, and the Saints dropped to 2-1, to keep the NFC South Division race competitive and interesting. "In order to win our division, you have to beat that team," McClure said. "To make it happen, we had to beat that team down here." The Saints had won seven of the last eight meetings, and the Falcons had not won at the Superdome since the 2002 season. Every time that it looked as if the Saints were going to pull away on Sunday and extend their dominance one more game, this Atlanta team managed to scramble back and keep the match-up in question." http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-falcons/falcons-survive-pull-out-636784.html
