NFL Recap & Results | October 5, 2026
Week 4 closed with the road team in control from the third play on. Atlanta ran for 205 yards and five touchdowns in the Superdome and beat New Orleans 45-24 on Monday Night Football, on a night the Saints had set aside to mark the 20th anniversary of the building's reopening after Hurricane Katrina. Michael Penix Jr. was efficient again, and the two Robinsons did the rest. Here's how it went down, plus a look at how the card and the season-to-date record held up.
Falcons Run Over the Saints in the Superdome
Atlanta Falcons 45, New Orleans Saints 24
Atlanta never trailed. Bijan Robinson broke a 59-yard touchdown run on the Falcons' third play, and after Daniel Carlson missed a 52-yard field goal, Kendre Miller lost a fumble on the Saints' 22-yard line. Atlanta won a challenge to get the ball, and Robinson scored from 4 yards out for a 14-0 lead after one quarter. Alvin Kamara answered with a 3-yard touchdown to open the second, but Brian Robinson Jr. scored from 4 yards and Nick Folk's 29-yard field goal made it 24-7 at the half. Robinson Jr. added an 8-yard score in the third for 31-10, and the fourth quarter belonged to Atlanta too: a 31-yard touchdown pass from Penix to Jahan Dotson, then an 11-yard run from Robinson Jr. for 45-17.
Bijan Robinson finished with 19 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns, which the Falcons say was his fourth straight Monday game with at least 125 rushing yards, tying Eric Dickerson and Emmitt Smith for the longest such streak in NFL history. Brian Robinson Jr. ran 14 times for 62 yards and three touchdowns. Penix was 15-of-20 for 223 yards with a touchdown and no turnovers, a 127.7 rating, and Atlanta piled up 420 total yards, 205 of them on the ground at 5.9 yards per carry. In the two games since Penix returned from his ACL tear, the Falcons have scored 80 points, the most in the NFL over that span.
New Orleans never found a way to slow the run. The Saints, already without linebacker Kaden Elliss and edge rusher Carl Granderson, allowed those five rushing touchdowns while managing just 50 rushing yards of their own on 19 carries. Tyler Shough was 30-of-48 for 286 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, but that came to only 5.4 yards per attempt, and he was sacked twice. Kamara scored his first two touchdowns of the season on runs of 3 and 5 yards, and Shough's 3-yard touchdown pass late only made the final score look closer. Atlanta lost left tackle Jake Matthews to an injury during the game, and a stretcher was brought out for defensive end Za'Darius Smith, who walked to the sideline. The Falcons are 2-2 and tied with Carolina atop the NFC South, and the Saints fell to 1-3.
ATL 45 · NO 24
Falcons Make It Two Straight.
Atlanta closes Week 4 at 2-2 with back-to-back lopsided wins and a share of the NFC South lead, while New Orleans falls to 1-3 after a fourth game in which it played from behind early. Week 5 opens Thursday night.
Star of the Night: Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta
19 carries | 145 yards | 2 rushing TD | 59-yard run
Brian Robinson Jr.'s three touchdowns and Michael Penix Jr.'s 15-of-20 night made cases of their own, but Bijan Robinson's 59-yard run on the third play set the tone for the whole night, and the Monday-night rushing streak he extended is one only Dickerson and Emmitt Smith had matched.
Dud of the Night: New Orleans' run defense
205 rushing yards allowed | 5 rushing TD | 5.9 yards per carry
Kendre Miller's first-quarter fumble and Tyler Shough's 5.4 yards per attempt were in the conversation, but a front missing Kaden Elliss and Carl Granderson allowing five rushing touchdowns, the exact mismatch the preview flagged, is the clearer dud.
How We Did: Checking the Card
Monday's card went 2-for-2: the side and the total both cleared.
Atlanta @ New Orleans: The preview leaned Atlanta +1.5 (Lean) with the over at 47.5 (Toss-up), driven by Atlanta's top-ranked run defense and second-ranked run game lining up against a Saints defense missing three front-seven players. Atlanta won outright by 21, clearing the number with room to spare, and the teams combined for 69 points, 21.5 past the total. The side lean cleared; the over lean cleared.
By tier: Lean 1-0, Toss-up 1-0.
That closes Week 4 at 7-7-2 on sides and 8-8 on totals across 16 games.
Season Predictions Record
Tracking every graded card against the spread and total from the preview articles, updated through October 5:
Spread / Side: 31-31-2
Total (Over/Under): 35-29
The side leans sit at 50%, while the totals sit at 55%. Records read wins-losses-ties, and ties (pushes) are left out of the percentages. We'll keep this tally updated through the rest of the season.
Week 5 opens Thursday night with the Buccaneers at the Cowboys, 8:15 PM ET. We'll have the preview, the card, and both leans before kickoff.