If the Saints can get the rest of their home games flexed to prime time this season, they might have a shot at the playoffs.
The Saints might be down right now, but they proved Thursday that they're still pretty much unbeatable when they're hosting a prime-time game at the Superdome.
Thanks to Drew Brees and a defense that forced three timely turnovers, the Saints beat the previously undefeated Falcons 31-21 on Thursday.
Brees threw for 312 yards, something he was able to do because his offensive line kept him on his feet. Going into Thursday's game, Brees had been sacked 14 times on the season and it looked like that number might go way up after starting left tackle Andrus Peat was injured on New Orleans' first offensive series.
Peat was already a backup, so the Saints had to go to their backup's backup, Tony Hills, a guy they just signed last week. Hills didn't miss a beat though and the Saints line was able to keep Brees off the ground most of the game. The Saints quarterback was only sacked once.
For the most part, Brees threw with a big, clean pocket, which enabled him to hit on 30 of 39 passes.
That's a big pocket. Brees connected on a 19-yard pass to Josh Hill on the play above.
As good as Brees was, the Saints defense might have been better.
Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said he expected the Saints' 32nd-ranked unit to have a breakthrough soon and he was right.
On paper, the Falcons' fourth-ranked offense against the Saints' last-ranked defense seemed like a mismatch, but that mismatch never developed.
The Saints forced three turnovers against the Falcons, including two that came in true "bend but don't break" fashion. During the second quarter, the Falcons drove inside the Saints 15-yard line twice, but each time came away empty because New Orleans forced a fumble AND recovered it.
Besides forcing fumbles, the Saints defense also did a good job of harassing Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. Ryan was sacked five times after only being brought down nine times in the five previous games combined.
Ryan will probably be having nightmares about Cameron Jordan, who sacked the Falcons quarterback three times. Dannell Ellerbe also had a huge game, tallying 14 tackles and even recovering a fumble.
Ryan threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns.
Thanks to the win, the Saints are now 14-1 in prime-time home games since 2010.
Here's nine more things to know from Thursday's game.
Falcons-Saints things to know
2. Saints go Full Gleason in the first quarter. Although this game didn't turn into a blowout until the fourth quarter, everyone in the Superdome seemed pretty confident about the Saints' chances of winning after Michael Mauti did his best Steve Gleason impression late in the first quarter.
After a Falcons drive stalled deep in their own territory, they were forced to punt, a punt that went nowhere thanks to Mauti.
The Saints linebacker was in the backfield so quickly that Falcons punter Matt Bosher had zero chance to get the kick off.
The most impressive part of the block was that Mauti then picked up and returned it for a touchdown.
The fans at the Superdome went wild after the play and not just because of what Mauti did. The fans went crazy because it reminded them of another famous punt block in Saints history: Steve Gleason's block that came against the Falcons in 2006 in the Saints' first home game after Hurricane Katrina.
Here's Gleason's block.
Mauti's block became even more memorable because Gleason was actually at the game on Thursday to witness it.
Gleason was on hand because the Saints were presenting him with the George Halas Award. The former Saints player, who now suffers from ALS, even shot out a few tweets during the game.
3. Who needs Jimmy Graham? Jimmy Graham is going to be a distant memory soon if Ben Watson keeps playing like he did against the Falcons on Thursday. The Saints tight end caught 10 passes, which matched Graham's career high in New Orleans.
Watson's 10 catches went for 127 yards and a touchdown. The Falcons defense completely lost track of Watson on several occasions, including on the 2-yard touchdown pass below where Watson couldn't have been any more wide open.
Brees spent the entire game trying to get the ball to his tight end. The Saints quarterback targeted Watson 12 times, which was more than double the amount of times he targeted anyone else.
If Jimmy Graham was watching, I'm guessing he called his agent afterward and asked to be traded back to New Orleans.
4. The one Saint who struggled. When Sean Payton hands out game balls for Thursday's win, there's a zero percent chance he'll be giving one to kicker Zach Hocker. You might remember Hocker as the guy who missed a 30-yard field goal at the end of regulation against the Cowboys in Week 4.
Well, things weren't much better Thursday. Hocker missed two kicks, one from 48 yards and one from 51 yards. Hocker is now 9 of 13 on the season, which means he's making less than 70 percent of his kicks. That's not going to cut it in the NFL, especially for a guy who gets to kick indoors.
I don't think Saints fans want him around anymore.
5. Falcons fell apart in red zone. Falcons coach Dan Quinn is probably going to have nightmares about the way his team played once they got into the red zone. On consecutive drives in the second quarter, the Falcons drove deep inside New Orleans' territory and on both drives the Falcons somehow came away with no points.
On the first drive, Falcons running back Tevin Coleman fumbled the ball at the Saints' 9-yard line and New Orleans' Brandon Browner recovered.
Things actually got uglier for the Falcons on their next drive. On a third-and-8 play from the Saints 14, Matt Ryan lined up in shotgun formation when a big problem hit: The ball never made it to him.
Falcons center James Stone somehow bounced the snap off of his own leg. You can see the ball hitting off his right ankle below. It wasn't quite the butt-fumble, but it was bad.
New Orleans' Dannell Ellerbe would recover the fumble, ending the Falcons drive. That's two drives where the Falcons should have come away with points.
6. Roddy White might stop complaining this week. After the Falcons' Week 4 win over the Texans, a game where Atlanta scored 48 points, Roddy White made it clear he wasn't happy with his role in the offense.
"For me, at the end of the day, I want to catch passes," White said at the time. "I'm not out here just f---ing around just to sit around to just block f---ing people all day. It's not what I want to do."
White didn't spend the whole game blocking against the Saints. Not only did White catch three passes, but he also scored his first touchdown of the 2015 season when Ryan found him for a 7-yard score early in the second quarter. White ended the night with only 23 yards, but I'm guessing that touchdown will keep him happy for at least two more weeks.
7. No one can stop Devonta Freeman. After falling behind 14-0 in the first half, the Falcons kind of ditched their running game, which was a bad idea because Freeman was seemingly able to find a hole every time he touched the ball.
The Falcons running back finished with 13 carries for 100 yards, which averaged out to a ridiculous 7.7 yards per carry. The Saints did stack the box early to stop the run, which didn't exactly work, but it did put enough fear in the Falcons offense that Atlanta decided to throw the ball 21 times in the first half and 44 times in the game.
Although the Falcons did trail the entire game, they were never really in a situation where they had to throw until the they fell down 31-14 with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
8. Falcons' fourth-quarter magic disappears. Going into Thursday night's game, it was almost like the Falcons wanted to be trailing in the fourth quarter. In four of Atlanta's five wins, the Falcons won by coming back in the fourth quarter, something the team hadn't been able to do in the past two seasons.
In 2013 and 2014 combined, the Falcons were 4-22 when trailing in the fourth quarter. Going into Thursday's game Atlanta was 4-0 when trailing in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Falcons, they dug themselves too deep a whole and weren't able to muster any of their fourth quarter magic.
9. Undefeated Falcons teams need to avoid the Superdome. This season marked only the second time in franchise history that the Falcons started at least 5-0. The other 5-0 start came in 2012 when the Falcons actually started 8-0. Guess who handed the Falcons their first loss that year? Yup, the Saints.
In Week 9, the Falcons traveled to New Orleans and were beaten 31-27. Of course, the Falcons probably wouldn't mind if the 2015 seasons ends up like 2012 because they made it to the NFC title game that year.
10. Fandemonium. One of the best things about a game in New Orleans is that the fans almost always dress up and Thursday was no exception.
Fake Sean Payton and his best friend fake Rob Ryan were at the game.
The "Pope" showed up at the SuperDome.
There were some happy old ladies in attendance. They were probably starting to get worried that they'd never see another Saints win again.
I'm guessing this guy's paper bag was gone by halftime.
Falcons fans even got in on the action. It's not quite Christmas yet, but I guess red is Atlanta's color. Also, judging by the length of that dress, it's probably going to need to be dry-cleaned after a lap around the Superdome.
There was also a cat at the game.
Finally, let's not forget about these guys because it looks like they went through a lot work to paint themselves.