Only a week after trouncing the Raiders by a whopping 37 points, the Atlanta Falcons stumbled to their second loss of the season to the Saints and sixth in their last seven meetings.
And this one hurt.
This Falcons team cannot seem to get out of its own way. Opportunities presented themselves in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but only one team took advantage of them. Early in the game, the Falcons appeared to have held the Saints to their second consecutive three-and-out. But a questionable roughing the passer call on Grady Jarrett ended that. The Saints took advantage and swiped a seven-point lead five plays later. Soon after, A.J. Terrell dropped a potentially game-changing interception that would have set up the Falcons on a short field. Then on offense, Russell Gage dropped a sure-fire first down that forced the Falcons to kick a field goal.
These are only a few examples the moments that produce our unmitigated frustration with this team and are a microcosm of what the season has been in Atlanta.
The defense was playing well, but the Saints were inevitably going to wake up and start scoring. Meanwhile, the Falcons' offense kept hitting the snooze button. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the offense logged its first touchdown against the Saints.
The afternoon ended in a similarly soul-crushing manner.
In the final quarter, the offense was finally rolling with Matt Ryan operating up-tempo. Atlanta had scored on its previous drive and forced the Saints to punt, inconceivably putting Atlanta in position to take a lead. Yet for whatever reason, the Falcons seemed to lose themselves as soon as they get into the red zone. How Dirk Koetter cannot figure out how to utilize the weapons he has at his disposal when he gets deep into opponent’s territory, I will never fully understand.
This was just a frustrating afternoon, especially when you consider how different this game could have been if any of the aforementioned gaffes went the other way.
All of these irritating moments aside, this is still a good football team and took the NFC-leading Saints down to the wire. We aren’t talking about the Jets here. This team has shown that they can compete, but there has to be a change.
Raheem Morris has been admirable and should be worth considering for the full-time job, but I don’t see him receiving said promotion. Ultimately what this team needs is a fresh perspective at offensive coordinator. There is too much talent that is being underutilized. This team does not need a rebuild. The Falcons just need a coach that puts its players in position to succeed because if they had that today, we wouldn’t be talking about missed opportunities.
