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Against their historic rival, Atlanta screws everything up, resulting in a narrow win.
The Atlanta Falcons were wary of the interim head coach bounce. They talked about matching energy and knowing what the road environment would be like. They’ve preached the importance of overcoming their mistakes and finding success doing what they do best, and they knew they were facing a New Orleans Saints team that would treat Week 10 like their Super Bowl.
All of that added up to…well, not much. A strong second half from the defense and some legitimate good fortune—Alvin Kamara doesn’t drop a wide open sideline ball all that often, and that would’ve salted the game away—couldn’t get Atlanta the victory. That’s in large part because they scored just 17 points on the day, with a masterful game from Bijan Robinson and some very game efforts from Atlanta’s pass catchers mattering little because Kirk Cousins got hit and looked tentative. That didn’t add up to much because while they got in range multiple times despite their struggles, Younghoe Koo missed not one, not two, but three field goal tries, with one of those tipped.
It was a game the Saints repeatedly tried and failed to lose, because the Falcons couldn’t and wouldn’t oblige them. The fact that it was only a three point loss is incredible, given that the Falcons had the opportunity to win by a lot and instead squandered countless opportunities against a Saints team that had lost seven in a row. This is why I always say divisional games sow chaos, because the worst team in the division can and will give you hell on their best day, especially on a second meeting.
This was a loss that combined all the worst features of Falcons teams of yesteryear and the glaring weaknesses of 2024. The Falcons pass rush was actually impactful for stretches, but disappeared at all the wrong moments and came away with zero sacks. The defense surrendered big plays that used to doom them but hadn’t this year. The missed field goals were a new problem, but a Falcons quarterback turning the ball over late and making the wrong decision in big moments is straight out of 2022 and 2023. Even acknowledging how shaky New Orleans is, it’s a miracle the Falcons only lost by three points on a day where nearly everything went wrong for long stretches.
Coming out of this one, the Falcons have soul searching to do about the way their mistakes tend to compound, and the way it costs them severely against teams they should be able to beat. Their two NFC losses have now come against a pair of teams struggling badly coming into their matchups with Atlanta, and both of them won after Cousins faded and the Falcons made a raft of preventable mistakes. The confidence that they’ll win the division is still very much there, given the talent on hand and the results they’ve put together to this point in the season, but the disquieting fact that the Falcons are capable of falling apart to this degree will mean our optimism is laced with dread until they kick some of these awful habits.
Also, losing to the Saints just sucks. It always, always sucks.
Big picture, it’s a loss that stings but isn’t fatal, given that the Buccaneers dropped one to the Chiefs to move to 4-6. But it tightens the margins on the NFC South and the larger NFC with the Saints not totally dead yet, and it puts additional pressure on the Falcons to be sharp in the coming weeks with the surging Broncos, solid Vikings, and very good Commanders on the way in the near future. We’re not going to readily forgive or forget this loss—playing like that against the Saints is rage-inducing—but Atlanta just needs to pull it together to stay ahead in the division and stay in favorable position for a playoff run. If they play like they did Sunday, well, there won’t be a lot of happy Falcons fans once again.
On to the full recap.
Bijan Robinson, who scored both touchdowns for Atlanta and was so instrumental for keeping their hopes alive throughout the game despite shakiness from so many other areas of the team.
The Falcons can’t overcome failure in all three phases—no team can—but they have to put work into getting off to faster starts offensively, getting Cousins on track when he’s shaky, and figuring out whatever is going on with Koo to ensure they don’t put up more duds like this one.
One more game before the bye, this one against a very tough Broncos defense and capable enough offense. That will be a genuine challenge, and we’ll hope the Falcons can bounce back.
Hideous.
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