PRO FOOTBALL : Wilson’s Bootleg Gives the Saints a 14-9 Win : Against Atlanta, New Orleans Drives 75 Yards to Score With 1:55 Remaining

The New Orleans coaches let two players make their own decisions Sunday and it paid off with a 14-9 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Dave Wilson suggested a bootleg during a time out, and promptly ran six yards for the winning touchdown with 1:55 remaining, allowing the Saints to snap a three-game losing streak.

Linebacker Rickey Jackson wanted to be in on the pass rush, rather than retreating in coverage. And given the free hand, Jackson recorded four sacks, the last on the final play of the game with the Falcons threatening at the New Orleans five.

“We had that play in for several weeks,” Wilson said of his winning touchdown. “I turned and somebody (Atlanta’s Robert Moore) was there. It didn’t look like it would work. I made a move and I faked him. I don’t know how.”

Jackson said he convinced the coaching staff to change their thinking. “They turned me loose,” he said. “I probably did today what I should have been doing all year.

“They wanted me backing up all year and I told them I could play better moving forward. I’m not a crybaby. I’m a tough guy. I did it their way for 14 games and this is the first game they let me go. I always try to play the best game I can. Today I did.”

The Saints, who fell behind 9-7 on Ali Haji-Sheikh’s 43-yard field goal with 5:39 to play, drove 75 yards in 12 plays for the victory.

Wilson completed passes of 28 yards to Eric Martin and 24 and 11 yards to Kelvin Edwards to reach the 11 and then sent Reuben Mayes for five yards to the 6 before rolling out for the touchdown.

Jackson then made Wilson’s touchdown stand, dumping Turk Schonert for a six-yard loss to the 11 after Schonert had completed 6 of 7 passes for 75 yards to reach the New Orleans 5 with five seconds left.

Atlanta apparently scored a winning touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Schonert to Charlie Brown, but officials ruled time had expired on the sack.

“I couldn’t see the last play from my view,” Atlanta Coach Dan Henning said. “I thought there should have been a call of some kind.”

The Saints (7-8) scored their other touchdown in the opening period on Wilson’s seven-yard pass to Eric Martin.

The Falcons cut the lead to 7-6 with 2:17 left in the third quarter when Schonert hit Ken Whisenhunt on a three-yard scoring pass, but Haji-Sheikh’s extra point try hit the left upright and sailed away.

Atlanta, which had retained slim playoff hopes, dropped out of contention at 6-8-1, assuring the Falcons of their 14th losing season in 21 years.

The game had been billed as a running battle between Atlanta’s Gerald Riggs and rookie star Mayes of the Saints, but it never developed.

Riggs finished with 13 carries for 50 yards; Mayes had 51 yards in 27 attempts.

Schonert completed 24 of 36 passes for 238 yards. Wilson, who was sacked only once, hit on 13 of 23 for 170 yards.

Jackson led a strong Saints’ pass rush that sacked Schonert six times for losses of 53 yards.

The Falcons also had one touchdown called back, a 31-yard Schonert pass to Brown early in the third quarter. It was nullified when Jamie Dukes was called for holding.