The good, the bad, and the ugly: Saints vs. Falcons

By temporary On Oct 2, 2024 2 0

The Good: Defense

The New Orleans Saints defense held the Atlanta Falcons out of the end zone on Sunday, holding them to just four 40+ yard field goals and only one play inside the redzone. This without linebackers Demario Davis as well, and Willie Gay who was forced to leave the game due to injury. Paulson Adebo picked off Kirk Cousins and Payton Turner added a sack. Unfortunately, it was not enough to win, but the defense on its own played well enough to walk out with a win Sunday.

The Bad: Offense without Taysom Hill

The Saints scored on their first two drives for the third game this season. With Taysom Hill available the offense this year had been elite. But as soon as he was forced to leave the game on Sunday the offense once again sputtered like it did against Philadelphia. After Hill’s departure the offense didn’t score again until late in the third quarter. The offense has failed to score with Hill on the field just four times this season, and without him they have scored only five times. Early returns show he is clearly the motor behind the offense, and his injury should be concerning for us all.

The Ugly: Opportunistic Football

The Saints had plenty of opportunities to put this game out of reach, but mistakes early on and the failure of the offense in the middle of the game cost the Saints what should have been a pretty easy win. A muffed punt touchdown by Rashid Shaheed gave the Falcons a free 7 points, as did a flukish pick 6 that bounced off a helmet high in the air and straight into the hands of Falcons linebacker Troy Anderson who returned it for a touchdown. The Saints again cost themselves a game but going for a 4th down and not taking the points in the 4th quarter. They failed to pick up a 4th and 7, and if they had taken the points, they would have finished with 27 points to the Falcons 26. We should hope Dennis Allen never makes this decision again as so far it has cost them two games. Even on their final defensive drive, a costly pass interference penalty by Paulson Adebo gave the Falcons all 30 of their yards on their game winning drive. This team should be 4-0 but missed opportunities and bad decisions have now cost them back-to-back games.

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