Saints Players Defied Orders to Not Score a Touchdown in Blowout vs. Falcons, Sparking Heat Between Coaches

Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith did not hide his frustration when he met New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Smith at midfield after New Orleans scored a touchdown after lining up in victory formation with a minute remaining to push its leas to 48-17.

"That's f---ing bulls---," Smith appeared to say, as other coaches from both sides attempted to calm the situation.

The Saints regained possession with just under 90 seconds remaining when safety Tyrann Mathieu returned an interception to the 1-yard line.

New Orleans lined up as if it was taking a knee to run the clock down, holding a 41-17 lead, but quarterback Jameis Winston handed the ball off to running back Jamaal Williams for the score instead.

After the game, Winston explained that the players made a "collective decision" to override Allen's call to take a knee.

Allen recognized that the touchdown was wrong and apologized to Smith and the Falcons in his postgame press conference.

"I'm gonna start off by apologizing to Arthur Smith and the Falcons," Allen said. "That was not a play we intended to run down there to finish out that game. That's not who we are. That's not how we operate. We should've taken a knee.

"We 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."

With the win the Saints improved to 9-8, moving into seventh place in the NFC to keep their playoff hopes alive, while the Falcons fell to 7-10 and were eliminated.