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Smith’s Falcons winning close games, reach .500 at midpoint

Atlanta Falcons running back Cordarrelle Patterson (84) runs against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Atlanta Falcons running back Cordarrelle Patterson (84) runs against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) Atlanta Falcons running back Cordarrelle Patterson (84) runs against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

By CHARLES ODUM / The Associated Press 4 min read

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Cordarrelle Patterson says the Atlanta Falcons must “stop giving people heart attacks.”

Patterson is in his first season in Atlanta, so he lacks the historical perspective to know heart-stopping wins in the first half of 2021 are the Falcons fans’ preferred option to heartbreak losses of last year.

Thanks to the latest scary win, a last-second, 27-25 thriller at the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the Falcons (4-4) already have matched their 2020 win total at the midpoint of the season. Of their four wins, three have come by no more than three points.

First-year coach Arthur Smith’s Falcons now can aim for their first winning season since 2017, also the year of Atlanta’s last playoff appearance.

Smith has been successful in helping the Falcons learn how to finish games. That’s a noteworthy accomplishment one year after Atlanta lost four fourth-quarter leads and made inglorious history as the NFL’s first team to lose back-to-back games after holding fourth-quarter leads of at least 15 points.