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The Falcons and Saints will meet Sunday in a pivotal NFC South showdown with plenty of playoff implications on the line. Their meeting will come just 17 days after the Falcons edged the Saints with a last-second win, which ended when Saints coach Sean Payton got a penalty for stepping too far out onto the field as he tried to call timeout.

That wasn't the only controversy Payton got involved in. During the game, Payton was caught making a choking gesture at Falcons running back Devonta Freeman. After, Payton played dumb -- he said, "I don't remember that" -- but he had a change of heart on Wednesday.

Talking with members of the Atlanta media, Payton acknowledged the gesture and expressed regret.

"Listen, the mistake I made that night was letting my emotions get the best of me," Payton said, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's the same thing that we talk about with our players all of the time. It wasn't good and I felt like as that game went on, it even affected me in calling plays. I've got to better that way. It was frustrating from some of the officiating. But you learn even when you've been in this thing as long as I have. It's something that you regret and you look back on 'what are you doing?' So, I think that's the thing that bugged me for the better part of the week." 

Payton added that he lost his composure in the moment.

"Just knowing that as a head coach you're always talking about being composed," Payton said. "I felt like at that point in the game I wasn't."

Here's the gesture, which is almost definitely Payton referring to the Super Bowl, when the Falcons choked away a 28-3 lead to the Patriots.

Freeman isn't holding a grudge against Payton.

"Like I said two weeks ago, it was a competitors' moment," Freeman said. "I talk trash. He talks trash. Players talk trash. Coaches talk trash. This is what we're in it for, to compete. At the end of the day, it's all fun, it's all love. We all understand, everybody in the situation. We understand each other because we go through the same things, so I don't take it as disrespect at all." 

Of course, Sunday's game doesn't need any added drama. It's already going to be one of the most important games of the season. 

The Falcons are 9-5 and a game back of both the Saints and Panthers in the NFC South. If they beat the Saints, they'll clinch a playoff spot and slip past them in the standings because they'll own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Meanwhile, the Saints can clinch a playoff berth with a win or a tie, and they can clinch the NFC South with a win and a Panthers loss (they're up against the Buccaneers).

To check out the entire playoff picture, click right here.