It was a wave that would have made Queen Elizabeth proud: There was Atlanta Falcons defensive end Osi Umenyiora, the football in his right hand and 50 yards of unfettered green in his field of vision, turning back toward the north end zone of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday and using his left hand to say goodbye to the New Orleans Saints, figuratively and literally.
A few hours after completing the 86-yard fumble return that closed out the Falcons‘ 30-14 victory — setting up a winner-take-all showdown with the Carolina Panthers at the Georgia Dome next Sunday for the NFC South title — Umenyiora put his team’s surprising revival in perspective, recalling a late-October collapse that would have made London Bridge seem historically sturdy by comparison.
Eight weeks earlier at Wembley Stadium, after blowing a 21-0 halftime lead and making a series of unconscionable late-game mistakes in a 22-21 defeat to the Detroit Lions, the Falcons flew home from London carrying a looming sense of doom. With a 2-6 record, a five-game losing streak and an embattled head coach in Mike Smith, Atlanta — just two seasons removed from a heartbreaking NFC championship game defeat — looked headed for oblivion.
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