New Orleans Saints: Why you shouldn’t panic about loss to Falcons

The New Orleans Saints dropped a pretty disappointing game to the division-rival Atlanta Falcons, which has led to some panic among the fanbase.

The New Orleans Saints entered Week 10’s matchup against the Atlanta Falcons as a double-digit favorite and ended up losing the game by double digits, 26-9.

There were a lot of things not to like about the Saints in this game. First of all, the offensive line, which is one of the best in the league, did not play well at all and allowed Drew Brees to be sacked six times and pressured countless times more.

Brees, because of this constant pressure, did not have a great game. He completed 32 of 45 attempts for 287 yards without a touchdown.

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The running game was stuffed as well, as Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray combined for nine carries and 36 yards. The offense did not score a touchdown, Wil Lutz made all nine points with three field goals.

This is shocking coming up against the Falcons, who have an above-average offense but one of the worst defenses in the league. The Saints’ defense did not play all that bad, allowing 317 yards, which was seven more than the Saints had.

What really killed the Saints were penalties. The team committed 12 penalties for 90 yards, always seeming to come in the most inopportune moments. From top to bottom, it was an ugly game for the Saints.

I have already seen some backlash against the team and the way they played, which is understandable, any fan should be upset with that performance.

However, this game is no reason to panic. Yes, the Saints’ offense struggled against a terrible defense, and yes, they lost to their biggest rival that was 1-7.

This game was the Falcons’ Super Bowl. The team is already out of the running for anything other than a high draft pick and beating the Saints and potentially spoiling some playoff seeding is exactly what the Falcons wanted to do.

And quite frankly, these games just happen. It does not matter how good a team is, they are always prone to losing a game that they should not have lost. The Baltimore Ravens lost to the Cleveland Browns, the Green Bay Packers lost to the Los Angeles Chargers.

It happened last year against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1 and then almost happened against the then-bottom-feeder Cleveland Browns in Week 2. Last year’s team turned out perfectly fine and should have been the team representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

It was ugly. There is no denying that. If this becomes a trend, then there would be something to worry about.

But for now, the New Orleans Saints are 7-2, which is still a lot better than most people would have predicted after Drew Brees’ injury (and loss) in Week 2. Let’s focus on Tampa Bay next week.