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New Orleans veterans Drew Brees and Ben Watson summoned their best performances of the season to spearhead a 31-21 win against Atlanta on Thursday and restore a bit of swagger to the recently reeling Saints.
Brees passed for 312 yards, Watson racked up a career-high 127 yards receiving to go with a fourth-down touchdown catch, and New Orleans handed the Falcons their first loss of the season.
"Ben Watson had a huge night," Brees said. "Either his number was called or he was just getting open. He was getting some opportunities and, man, he made the most of it."
Desperate for a victory, the Saints (2-4) enjoyed big plays in all phases, a common occurrence when New Orleans hosts night games. Including the playoffs, the Saints have now won 19 of 21 games in the Superdome in prime time.
NFL 2015 in picturesShow all 48 NFL 2015 in pictures New Orleans Saints 31 Atlanta Falcons 21 Benjamin Watson had a career-high 127 yards as the Saints beat the Falcons
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NFL 2015 in pictures San Diego Chargers 20 Pittsburgh Steelers 24 Le'Veon Bell scores a 1-yard touchdown to win the game with time running out
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NFL 2015 in pictures New York Giants 30 San Francisco 49ers 27 Larry Donnell scored a spectacular game-winning touchdown with only 21 seconds left
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NFL 2015 in pictures Tennessee Titans 13 Buffalo Bills 14 Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw a touchdown and run in another
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NFL 2015 in pictures Detroit Lions 17 Arizona Falcons 42 Matthew Stafford was benched and the Lions are still winless
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NFL 2015 in pictures Atlanta Falcons 25 Washington Redskins 19 Robert Alford returns an interception for a long touchdown
NFL 2015 in pictures Philadelphia Eagles 39 New Orleans Saints 17 DeMarco Murray finally delivered for the Eagles with 83 yards and a touchdown
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NFL 2015 in pictures Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38 Jacksonville Jaguars 31 Dough Martin scores one of his three touchdowns for the Bucs
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NFL 2015 in pictures Green Bay Packers 24 St Louis Rams 10 Aaron Rodgers threw his first home interception in nearly two years - James Jones ran in a long score
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NFL 2015 in pictures Oakland Raiders 10 Denver Broncos 16 Cornerback Chris Harris Jr returned a late touchdown 74 yards for a decisive score
NFL 2015 in pictures Dallas Cowboys 6 New England Patriots 30 Julian Edelman catches a touchdown as the Pats kept their 100 per cent record
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NFL 2015 in pictures Cincinatti Bengals 27 Seattle Seahawks 24 Andy Dalton led the Bengals to win from 17 points down
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NFL 2015 in pictures Baltimore Ravens 30 Cleveland Browns 33 Travis Coons kicks a game-winning field goal in OT
NFL 2015 in pictures Kansas City Chiefs 17 Chicago Bears 18 Running back Jamaal Charles seriously hurt his knee during the defeat
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NFL 2015 in pictures Houston Texans 20 Indianapolis Colts 27 Matt Hasselbeck won again in the absence of star man Andrew Luck on Thursday night
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NFL 2015 in pictures Week 4 Steelers 20 Ravens 23; Dolphins 14 Jets 27; Bills 10 Giants 24; Bucs 23 Panthers 37; Bears 22 Raiders 20; Bengals 36 Chiefs 21; Falcons 48 Texans 21; Colts 16 Jaguars 13; Redskins 23 Eagles 20; Chargers 30 Browns 27; Broncos 23 Vikings 20; 49ers 3 Packers 17; Cardinals 22 Rams 24; Saints 26 Cowboys 20; Seahawks 13 Lions 10
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NFL 2015 in pictures Green Bay Packers 38 Kansas City Chiefs 28 Randall Cobb scores one of his three touchdowns for the Packers - quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw five in total
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NFL 2015 in pictures Detroit Lions 12 Denver Broncos 24 Demaryius Thomas scores a touchdown as the Broncos continued their perfect start to the season; the Lions are still without a win
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NFL 2015 in pictures Seattle Seahawks 26 Chicago Bears 0 Star tight end Jimmy Graham scored his first touchdown as the Seahawks ended their losing streak for their first win of the season
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NFL 2015 in pictures Miami Dolphins 14 Buffalo Bills 41 Ryan Tannehill threw three interceptions as the Dolphins lost to their divisional rivals
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NFL 2015 in pictures Arizona Cardinals 47 San Francisco 49ers 7 Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu picked off two of Colin Kaepernick's four interceptions
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NFL 2015 in pictures Baltimore Ravens 24 Cincinnati Bengals 28 AJ Green caught 10 passes for 227 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Bengals beat the Ravens in a topsy-turvy clash
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NFL 2015 in pictures New York Giants 32 Washington Redskins 21 Rueben Randle celebrates a touchdown as the Giants beat their long-time rivals in New York on Thursday night
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NFL 2015 in pictures Carolina Panthers 27 New Orleans Saints 22 Josh Normanintercepted a last-gasp touchdown throw from Luke McCown as the Panthers held on against the Saints
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NFL 2015 in pictures Cleveland Browns 20 Oakland Raiders 27 Latavius Murray rushed for 139 yards and the Raiders ended an 11-game losing streak on the road
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NFL 2015 in pictures Dallas Cowboys 28 Atlanta Falcons 39 Devonta Freeman ran for three touchdowns as the Falcons came from behind to beat the Cowboys, who were missing stars Tony Romo and Dez Bryant
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NFL 2015 in pictures Houston Texans 19 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9 Ryan Mallett secured the first win of his career
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NFL 2015 in pictures Minnesota Vikings 31 San Diego Chargers 14 Chad Greenway returned a Philip Rivers interception for a touchdown
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NFL 2015 in pictures Tennessee Titans 33 Indianapolis Colts 35 Frank Gore scored two rushing touchdowns as the Colts and the Titans played out a thriller
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NFL 2015 in pictures New England Patriots 51 Jacksonville Jaguars 17 Tom Brady became only the fourth quarterback to throw 400 touchdown passes in a career - he threw two against the Jags
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NFL 2015 in pictures St Louis Rams 6 Pittsburgh Steelers 12 The Steelers won but will be without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for at least four weeks because of a serious knee injury
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NFL 2015 in pictures New York Jets 17 Philadelphia Eagles 24 Darren Sproles returns a punt for an 89-yard touchdown - the 5ft 6in running back also rushed for a touchdown
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NFL 2015 in pictures New England Patriots 28 Pittsburgh Steelers 21 New England Patriots quarter-back Tom Brady throws a pass
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NFL 2015 in pictures San Francisco 49ers 20 Minnesota Vikings 3 Adrian Peterson returned after a year on the sidelines but the Vikings lost to the 49ers
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NFL 2015 in pictures Atlanta Falcons 26 Philadelphia Eagles 24 Julio Jones had 140 yards and two touchdowns as th Falcons impressed against the Eagles
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NFL 2015 in pictures Dallas Cowboys 27 New York Giants 26 Jasson Witten celebrates a last minute touchdown after the Cowboys drove down the field
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NFL 2015 in pictures St Louis Rams 34 Seattle Seahawks 31 The Rams celebrate after Greg Zuerlein's overtime field goal pushed them past their rivals
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NFL 2015 in pictures Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 Tennessee Titans 42 No 1 draft pick Jameis Winston was outplayed by No 2 pick Marcus Mariota as the Titans beat the Bucs
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NFL 2015 in pictures Chicago Bears 23 Green Bay Packers 31 Former league MVP Aaron Rodgers three three touchdowns as the Packers beat their divisional rivals
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NFL 2015 in pictures Buffalo Bills 27 Indianapolis Colts 14 The Bills surprised play-off contenders the Colts thanks to a great performance by Tyrod Taylor, who impressed in his first NFL start
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NFL 2015 in pictures Kansas City Chiefs 27 Houston Texans 20 Travis Kelce scored two first quarter touchdowns as the Chiefs held on after a late Houston rally
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NFL 2015 in pictures Washington Redskins 10 Miami Dolphins 17 Jarvis Landry returned a punt for what turned out to be the game-winning score
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NFL 2015 in pictures New York Jets 31 Cleveland Browns 10 Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdowns as the Jets had five takeaways to beat the Browns
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NFL 2015 in pictures Jacksonville Jaguars 9 Carolina Panthers 20 Cam Newton and the Panthers managed just 263 total yards but did enough to beat the Jaguars
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NFL 2015 in pictures Denver Broncos 19 Baltimore Ravens 13 Former Raven Darian Stewart intercepted a Joe Flacco pass with 28 seconds left to seal a Broncos win
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NFL 2015 in pictures Arizona Cardinals 31 New Orleans Saints 19 Carson Palmer threw three touchdowns in his comeback game from a torn ACL
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NFL 2015 in pictures San Diego Chargers 33 Detroit Lions 28 Philip Rivers led the Chargers to 30 straight points for San Diego to comeback against Detroit
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NFL 2015 in pictures Cincinnati Bengals 33 Oakland Raiders 13 Jeremy Hill ran for two touchdowns as the Bengals beat the Raiders
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Michael Mauti, who grew up near New Orleans after his father, Rich, played for the Saints, blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown, delighting the Superdome crowd with a play reminiscent of Steve Gleason's famous block against Atlanta in 2006.
Gleason, now paralyzed by ALS, was at the game, watching from his motorized wheel chair.
"The cool thing was that Steve was here to see that," Brees said. "It brought back some good memories."
Mark Ingram ran for two short touchdowns, and New Orleans' defense recovered three fumbles - two inside its own 20.
Devonta Freeman rushed for 100 yards, including a 25-yard TD, for Atlanta (5-1). Matt Ryan passed for 295 yards and two TDs.
Freeman also turned a short pass into a 13-yard touchdown, but by then it was too late for the Falcons.
"We made mistakes early on and it cost us," Freeman said. "I feel like we beat ourselves, but they're a talented team and they did a lot of great things tonight."
Freeman's first touchdown cut New Orleans' lead to 24-14 with 13:07 remaining, putting pressure on the Saints to answer.
The Saints responded with the type of drive that was commonplace during much of the decade since coach Sean Payton and Brees arrived in New Orleans, but seldom seen this season.
New Orleans drove 80 yards in 11 plays, eating about five minutes off the clock. During the series, Watson tied a career high with his 10th catch of the game. Brees found Brandon Cooks for 26 yards on one third down. Ingram capped the drive by powering in for his second TD to make it 31-14.
AP
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