Going into a Week 4 tilt against the Falcons, the biggest question was which team's pass rush could tilt the game in their team's favor.
In the end it certainly wasn't the Saints, as Bobby Hebert broke down after the game in his postgame rant on WWL Radio after a 26-24 loss on a 58-yard game-winning kick from Younghoe Koo.
"I think overall we still don’t have a pass rush," Hebert said. "I mean, Carl Granderson, we need Carl Granderson to have more of an impact as far as rushing the passer. If you look at today, it’s not like you did in past games, he ended up with a couple of tackles, no quarterback hurries, no tackles for loss, no sacks. Chase Young, if he wants to get paid he’s got to get sacks. He’s got to finish. He just can’t have quarterback hurries."
Listen to Bobby Hebert's full postgame rant in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
The Saints got one sack in the game from Payton Turner, who also forced a fumble that the Saints were unable to recover. The Saints logged four QB hits one the day, one each for Turner, Young, Nathan Shepherd and Bryan Bresee.
Meanwhile the Falcons pass rush picked up a sack and four QB hits and three QB hits of their own, but it was a batted ball my Matt Judon that set up a pick-6 for a pivotal score on a day that Atlanta's offense never found the end zone.
"Way too much time for Kirk Cousins to throw," Hebert said, "because he’s not really gonna scramble and make you miss, so overall no pass rush."
But the pass rush wasn't alone in letting the Cajun Cannon down. There was the obvious and bizarre decision by All-Pro returner Rashid Shaheed to field a ball inside the 5-yard line that he muffed for a touchdown before the Saints offense even got on the field. Then, after a go-ahead touchdown drive, it was Paulson Adebo picking up his third pass interference of the day to set up Koo's game-winning kick.
Adebo had a team-high three passes defensed and an interception. He also led the team in tackles (12) for the second consecutive week, but that's not a good thing.
"They’re picking on Adebo a lot, so he’s there to make the play … because the man he’s guarding may be making the catch and then you're making the tackle, but he panics too much. ... he doesn’t want to get burnt, so he’s giving up the penalty, so he’s grabbing or getting a hold."
In the end it was a second consecutive game where the Saints offense handed their defense a lead in the final two minutes and they couldn't close it out. After a high-flying 2-0 start, the Saints have crashed hard down to earth ahead of a showdown with the two-time reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
"If you look at it overall, I mean, it was kind of like a nightmare," Hebert said. "How you can almost see how the 4th quarter was going and I told you … I said, oh, look, we’re within 1 score, we’re all right, we are gonna come back, but I’m telling you, we come back, that doesn’t mean we’re gonna win."
