By Ross Jackson
Every loss hurts, but some hurt more than others. The New Orleans Saints’ Week Four loss could linger for a while.
Despite the New Orleans defense surrendering no touchdowns, the Atlanta Falcons sealed a last second win on the back of the Saints’ costly miscues in all three phases.
New Orleans falls to 2-2 after a hot start and questions are rising about the validity of their early-season dominance. They now face the urgent task of rebounding before losing too much ground. Here are some of the important numbers that tell the story of a game all about New Orleans beating themselves.
0 – After giving up 170 receiving yards to Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert one week ago, the Saints limited Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts to zero catches and yards on three targets.
2 – The Saints contributed two more points to the Falcons than the Atlanta offense scored on their own. A muffed punt and fluke pick-six gifted Atlanta 14 points while the Falcons put up only 12 points on offense. All of Atlanta’s points came from kicker Younghoe Koo.
3 – Per sports stats and research expert Drew Porche, New Orleans became just the third team in NFL history to lose a game in which it scored 24 or more points and surrendered no offensive touchdowns.
4 – The Saints have scored on their opening drives in each of their four games so far this season.
4.3 – New Orleans pass-catchers averaged 4.3 yards of separation on their targets.
7.5 – Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier averaged 7.5 yards per carry.
30 – Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo was called for a trio of defensive pass interference penalties, a fact the team is willing to gamble on with his physical play. Unfortunately, one of those calls granted the Falcons 30 yards in a clutch moment. That put the team in range for Koo’s game-winning field goal.
58 – Koo’s game winner was from 58 yards out. That field goal was the longest of his career and the longest ever successful in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Falcons’ game-winning drive also began with just 58 seconds left in the game. The second week in a row that New Orleans gave up go-ahead scores within the final minutes.
97 – Before the Monday Night Football double-header, Kamara leads the NFL in touches with 97. The running back has had at least 20 touches every game this season, two shy of his longest 20+ touch streak of six games.
119 – Saints running back Alvin Kamara played another spectacular game despite nursing broken ribs and a hip injury. He contributed 119 yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown while taking on several big blocks and hits. Kamara remains the league leader of scrimmage and all-purpose yards ahead of Monday Night Football with 536 combined rushing and receiving yards.
