FALCONS FIRE SMITH IN MIDNIGHT HOUR

Arthur Smith, who inherited a rebuilding project in his first NFL head coaching job and failed to lift Atlanta from its playoff drought, was fired late Sunday night (early this morning EST), hours after completing his third season with the Falcons.

Smith, the 41-year-old son of FedEx founder Fred Smith, went 7-10 in each of his three seasons. The Falcons’ 48-17 loss at New Orleans was the second consecutive lopsided defeated that sealed Smith’s fate, following a 37-17 loss at Chicago.

The Falcons have posted six straight losing seasons since their last playoff appearance in 2017.

Smith was hired by the Falcons in 2021 after a decade-long stint as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans, moving up to become their offensive coordinator.

Smith never got reliable quarterback play, switching back and forth between Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke this season.

Saints defy coach

Reserve quarterback Jameis Winston and New Orleans’ offense capped off a convincing victory with an aggressive play call that defied the orders of their own coaches and upset the rival Falcons.

Leading 41-17 with 1:10 left, the Saints lined up in “victory formation” — indicating Winston intended to take a knee to run out the clock — but surprisingly handed off to

Williams for a 1-yard touchdown that made the final score 48-17.

As the game ended, Saints coach Dennis Allen apologized on the field to Smith — who did not appear to accept that apology initially. Allen then explained during postgame interviews that Saints coaches called for the offense to run out the clock, but they were overruled by the players on the field.

“They did that on their own. That’s not acceptable,” Allen said, adding that Smith “should be” upset about it.

Lions lose LaPorta

Detroit rookie tight end Sam LaPorta may have been a casualty of coach Dan Campbell’s decision to play all his starters in hopes of his team making a modest improvement in its playoff position.

LaPorta limped off the field after appearing to hurt his left knee against Minnesota on Sunday and was later taken toward the locker room on a cart.

“It’s not as bad as it looked, but it’s not good news,” Campbell said after his team closed the regular season with a 30-20 win over the Vikings. “We’ll know more (today). I know it looked awful.”

The Lions secured the No. 3 seed in the NFC by winning a division title for the first time in three decades. They needed Dallas to lose later Sunday at Washington to move into the No. 2 spot, but the Cowboys didn’t cooperate, breezing past the lastplace Commanders 38-10.