NEW ORLEANS -- Michael Vick walked over to his cousin, Aaron Brooks, minutes after the wild end to the Falcons' 37-35 last-second upset of the Saints on Sunday.

Brooks was stunned by a game that featured six lead changes, culminating with Jay Feely's 47-yard field goal aimed perfectly at the end zone where actor Dustin Hoffman stood. Vick, the star of the game, was so exhausted that on the final drive he had to pull himself out for the second time in as many weeks.

	Aaron Brooks and Michael Vick shake hands after the Falcons' win.

"I walked up to him and said, 'There are going to be many more like this, so I can't get comfortable baby,' " Vick said. "We shook hands and I said 'See you when I see you.' "

Buy tickets now because these twice-yearly matchups should be classics. An exhausted Dan Reeves said afterward, "It was one of the greatest games I've ever been involved in."

Too bad the Nov. 17 game in Atlanta is already a sellout.

Vick drew first blood by outperforming his second cousin.

Brooks might have the better talent around him, but Vick has the best talent in the family. The come-from-behind victory Sunday was the stuff of legends. On artificial turf in a dome, Vick should be outlawed. He really is Barry Sanders with an arm. Personally, Vick accounted for 277 of the Falcons' 446 yards and 14 of the Falcons' 37 points, but those numbers don't do justice to his performance.

San Diego might be the best team in the AFC because of the trade with Atlanta that netted them LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees and Tim Dwight, but Vick ultimately could be better than all three players forged into one body. Adding the fact he turned a deflected pass into a completion and a big gain last week against Panthers, Vick is a runner, thrower and receiver.

"He's better than everybody on the field," Falcons defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said of Vick. "Today, our quarterback was little bit better than theirs. Mike is tough on every defensive player. Defenders think they are going to get him in the open field and they can't. And when those big linemen try to get him and miss, he's gone."

Let's go to the video tape. Trailing 10-0, Vick started his show in the second quarter. On a second-and-25 from the Falcons 49, Vick ran left -- leaving Saints defenders flat-footed and frustrated -- and busted a 27-yard run for a first down. Five plays later, he runs right, follows blockers and scores a 3-yard touchdown.

"He's elusive and a great football player," Saints coach Jim Haslett conceded after the game. "That's why he was the first player taken in the draft. He's got great mobility. He's hard to get down. We got him down early with three sacks in the first quarter, but we couldn't get him down after that."

Vick's elusive feet allows the Falcons to make some of the most unusual third-down calls in football. The Falcons had a third-and-8 at the Saints' 32-yard line in the fourth quarter. Reeves called a quarterback run. That's right. A quarterback run on a third-and-8 with a one-point lead, 26-25, with 5:57 left in the fourth quarterback.

Falcons blockers broke to their right and Vick followed. As it turned out, the Saints were in a blitz, but it didn't matter. Vick was too slick anyway.

"We had the right play called on a blitz when he went for the touchdown (32 yards)," Reeves said. "We had a planned run where we put hats on everybody and everybody picked it up. He made a great run for a touchdown."

There might be no better third-down quarterback in football than Vick. He entered the game with a 112.5 quarterback rating on third downs, completing 19 of 30 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns. Against the Saints, Vick converted 64 percent of his third-down opportunities (seven of 11) and had three big plays (a 33-yard completion, a 32-yard touchdown run and a 56-yard short-yardage conversion by Warrick Dunn).

Because of Vick, third-and-long is a scoring play because he is so dangerous with his feet.

"Mike gives you a juke here or a juke there and then he's got one left over in his tank if he wants to use it," Falcons cornerback Ray Buchanan said. "He's got a speed burst and a third gear. If you are out there in the secondary, a quarterback like that makes you tired. It makes you want to start to play zone. But you are out there covering and then he puts it in his pocket and he's running."

Still, there is a toll that grows on Vick as the game progresses. Saints defensive end Darren Howard chased him to the left sideline and gave him a push after he released the ball. Despite the protests from the Saints sidelines, an official flagged Howard for a personal foul. Vick landed on his left thumb and it started to hurt. A first-quarter sack made his left shoulder ache. Remember he's already playing with a sore right shoulder that sidelined him two weeks ago.

However, Vick kept fighting back.

"I'm very calm under pressure," Vick said. "I've been under pressure all my life. It's nothing new to me. That's the way the great quarterbacks try to do it by making plays in the final seconds. I want to be put in the same category."

	“	Mike gives you a juke here or a juke there and then he's got one left over in his tank if he wants to use it. He's got a speed burst and a third gear. If you are out there in the secondary, a quarterback like that makes you tired. ”
		— Falcons CB Ray Buchanan

Vick's second cousin, Brooks, also fought back, which made for an amazing second half. Brooks threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Deuce McAllister and found Boo Williams for a two-point conversion that cut the Falcons' lead to 21-18. Vick marched the Saints' 44 yards for a 31-yard Feely field goal. Brooks came back with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Joe Horn to take a 25-24 lead, but Vick got another field goal drive and his 32-yard quarterback draw to open a 34-25 fourth-quarter lead.

Thanks to a controversial Dunn fumble following a Saints' field goal, the Saints had the ball at the Falcons' 28 with 3:23 left. Brooks kept the Falcons' defense off-balance and got a 16-yard touchdown run from McAllister and had a 35-34 lead with 2:20 left.

That's almost too much time for a quarterback who can run a 4.2 40-yard dash. First, Vick told a troubled Dunn to hang in there and maintain focus, putting the fumble behind him. He did. Then by running outside of the pocket, Vick started a drive from his 11 and with a combination of runs and passes, he had the Falcons at the Saints' 33 with 31 seconds left.

Here is where the controversy enters and rules might have to be studied. Vick rolled from the pocket and fired a pass to Shawn Jefferson that was broken up by Saints cornerback Fahkir Brown. The Saints contended that when a quarterback goes outside the pocket, defenders can be physical with downfield receivers.

After all, what's a defender to do? If he stays too close to his receiver, a cornerback could watch Vick scamper past him on a running play. As it was, defenders were locked up with blockers and didn't know what Vick was going to do.

"I was able to break contain whenever I wanted to," Vick said. "I can then find guys downfield and get the ball in their hands. I just use my God-given ability, so I've got to take advantage of it. Usually when I see defenders hanging with blockers, I usually take off and run with it."

The defensive holding penalty put the Falcons in field goal range to win the game. But Vick was exhausted and had to call on Doug Johnson to take over the last two plays.

"Last week I got so fatigued that I thought I was going to vomit and I felt the same thing this week," Vick said. "I didn't want to throw up and mess the field up."

Johnson set the stage for Feely to make his 47-yard field goal as the clock expired. At 4-3, the Falcons have life. They also have the most exciting young quarterback in football.

"I can't have too many more of these games," Falcons linebacker Keith Brooking said. "All I know is that as long as No. 7 is at quarterback, we have a shot."

Dustin Hoffman was impressed and nobody knows drama better than him.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.