What Went Wrong in Saints’ Blowout Loss to Falcons?

The New Orleans Saints were decimated on Monday night in a big divisional matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. And while New Orleans came out flat in nearly every phase, the biggest issue was the run defense.

Atlanta completely dominated the game on the ground, rushing for 205 yards on 35 carries and averaging nearly six yards per attempt with five rushing touchdowns. Bijan Robinson finished with 145 yards and two scores, including a 59-yard touchdown on Atlanta’s third offensive play. Brian Robinson Jr. added another 62 yards and three touchdowns of his own.

The Saints were undermanned defensively, but Atlanta simply had its way with New Orleans up front.

Conversely, the Saints had virtually no rushing attack of their own. New Orleans finished with only 50 rushing yards on 19 attempts. Alvin Kamara did score twice, but managed just 23 yards on seven carries. The Saints were able to punch the ball into the end zone when they got close to the goal line, but the rushing attack was never a meaningful part of the offense.

That’s especially brutal in a game like this because Atlanta was able to control the clock with its ground game while New Orleans was forced to play from behind. Time becomes precious in that situation, and every time the Falcons got the ball, they could burn clock, stay ahead of the chains and still consistently put points on the board.

Atlanta was also simply the more explosive team. Michael Penix Jr. needed only 20 pass attempts to produce 223 yards because the Falcons were dominating on the ground and rarely had to put him in difficult situations. Atlanta also finished without a turnover, allowing the Falcons to play relatively conservative football without sacrificing offensive production.

There were plenty of issues for the Saints on Monday night, but the run defense was at the center of nearly all of them. When a divisional opponent can dictate the game that thoroughly on the ground, it becomes a recipe for disaster.

From here, the Saints will prepare for a Week 5 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. While their offense is structured quite differently, Kyler Murray is one of the most dynamic running QBs in the NFL and keeping him contained in the ground game should be a top priority for New Orleans. If he starts getting lose, next week could look a lot like Monday night all over again.