Roddy White: Falcons gave game to Saints

• Roddy White said the Falcons gave the game away in Sunday's 31-27 loss to the Saints.
• Curtis Lofton took exception to White's comments, calling the remarks insulting.
• The Saints have won 11 of their past 13 games against the Falcons.

NEW ORLEANS -- Roddy White gives the New Orleans Saints little credit for keeping their season alive with a 31-27 victory at the Superdome.

Frustrated by blown opportunities near the goal line in the fourth quarter, the Atlanta Falcons' star receiver maintained that the outcome was some kind of gift.

"We kind of gave it away," White said after the setback marked the first loss for the NFL's last unbeaten team. "You know, we gave it to 'em."

After grumbling about the lack of national respect for the Falcons and making headlines by declaring that his team has the pedigree to go undefeated, White totally dissed the Saints before leaving the Superdome.

"I'll take a gift, any day of the week," Saints linebacker Curtis Lofton, a former Falcon, told USA TODAY Sports when White's comments were relayed. "It's the NFL. You've got to come out and prove yourself, week in and week out.

"That's very insulting. You take your loss, and be a man about it."

Said Saints quarterback Drew Brees: "They do a lot of talking."

Sunday's outcome marked New Orleans' 11th victory in the past 13 meetings between the bitter NFC South rivals, and it came down to a goal-line stand inside the 2-minute warning. Jabari Greer's deflection of a Matt Ryan pass intended for White in the middle of the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line virtually sealed the outcome.

Atlanta got a last-gasp possession with 37 seconds left and no timeouts, but the Saints forced a heavily-pressured Ryan to misfire on his final three passes.

Still, White was in no mood to give the Saints credit afterward.

"It's really frustrating," he said. "We had every opportunity to win the game and we just didn't get it done."

Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez was more diplomatic. He praised the Saints as a good football team.

"At the end, we had our chances and didn't capitalize," Gonzalez said.

The Falcons will see the Saints again soon. They meet at the Georgia Dome in a nationally-televised Thursday night game on Nov. 29. But first the Falcons (8-1) will regroup for Sunday's home game against the Arizona Cardinals.

"This is football," Gonzalez said. "No one is going to go around crying and panicking or anything like that. We're a good football team. Our confidence hasn't changed. Our scheme isn't going to change, and I'm not going to give you a magic answer as to why they won."