The New Orleans Saints finished their season with a blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons punctuated by an extra dig at their biggest rivals.
After the game, Falcons coach Arthur Smith was heated. He let Saints coach Dennis Allen know it. Smith's fury was triggered by a tricky late Saints touchdown that piled on to the lopsided final score.
With New Orleans leading 41-17 late in the fourth quarter, Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu intercepted Logan Woodside and returned the ball to the Atlanta 1-yard line. With a 24-point lead, the Saints lined up on the ensuing play for what looked like a kneel-down with 1:13 remaining. Instead of kneeling, quarterback Jameis Winston handed the ball off to Jamaal Williams, who ran it in for a touchdown.
Take it away Jamaal 😏#Saints | 📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/L8vZjocAzQ
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) January 7, 2024
The touchdown extended the Saints' lead to 48-17 as Williams found the end zone for the first time this season. It also left Smith furious with Allen.
There was no postgame handshake between the two coaches. Smith instead gave Allen an earful as the two met at midfield at the end of the game.
"That's f***ing bulls***," Smith said.
"I understand that," Allen responded.
We'll leave the rest of the lip reading for you.
Arthur Smith and Dennis Allen have a postgame chat 😳 pic.twitter.com/s469d2OcWq
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 7, 2024
The play and Smith's retort were just the latest in one of the NFL's most bitter rivalries. It all prompted a postgame response from Allen, who told reporters that players made the decision on their own.
Dennis Allen apologizes
"We should have taken a knee right there," Allen told reporters at the top of his news conference. "They asked me about getting Jamaal a touchdown at the end. I said I wanted to take a knee, we put victory out there. The guys kind of wanted to get him a touchdown. They did that on their own. That's unacceptable."
Allen then apologized.
Dennis Allen apologies to the Falcons pic.twitter.com/tpJMmxkFBC
— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) January 7, 2024
"That's not who we are," Allen said. "That's not how we operate. We should have taken a knee. I want to apologize to them. We've got a good rivalry, and it's a heated rivalry. But there's a way we go about doing our business, and I wasn't happy about that."
The win by the Saints eliminated the Falcons from the postseason while keeping their own slim wild-card hopes alive. The late touchdown added spice to an already heated rivalry. Don't expect the Falcons to forget this when the two meet again next season.
