The Saints followed one part of a familiar script in Monday night’s loss to the Falcons when they fell behind their visitors from Atlanta early in the game.
The Falcons led 14-0 in the first quarter on Monday and stretched their lead to 24-7 before halftime in New Orleans. The Saints also trailed at halftime in the first three weeks of the season, but the difference on Monday was that they weren’t able to mount any kind of significant comeback in the second half.
On Tuesday, the slow starts were a topic for head coach Kellen Moore in a videoconference with reporters. The Saints have been outscored 61-26 in the first half so far this season and Moore said there is “definitely gonna be a discussion” about how to start games with a little more pep in their step.
“Logistics, scheduling, to kinda maybe adjust practice plans accordingly,” Moore said. “And then, obviously, looking at what the back end looks like as far as our preparation of what we’re doing early in games from a schematic standpoint. Those are really the two main areas.”
One thing that would help the Saints have better control early in games would be a consistent run game that picks up yards and chews up clock. Establishing that won’t be easy against a strong Vikings defense in Week 5, but Moore and company need to figure something out because consistently playing from behind isn’t a recipe for piling up wins.
Saints Clips
Running back Jamaal Williams last played in the NFL in 2024. On Tuesday, he got a chance to get a spot on a roster, or a practice squad.
Per the league’s daily transaction report, Williams had a workout with the Patriots.
He wasn’t signed; cornerback Al’Zillion Hamilton, who was one of the other players getting a workout on Tuesday, was added to the practice squad.
Williams, 31, was a fourth-round pick of the Packers in 2017. He spent four seasons in Green Bay, two in Detroit, and two in New Orleans.
He has 4,122 career rushing yards, 1,310 receiving yards, and 40 touchdowns. In 2022, Williams led the league with 17 rushing touchdowns.
The Saints defense was torn apart by the Falcons on Monday night and it’s unclear if they’ll be getting one of their starting linebackers back on the field for Week 5.
Head coach Kellen Moore said at a Tuesday press conference that “we’ll see” if linebacker Kaden Elliss is able to practice this week. Elliss missed practice all last week with a calf injury and was ruled out for the loss to the Falcons.
Elliss has 24 tackles and two tackles for loss in three games this season.
The Saints were also missing outside linebackers Carl Granderson and Anfernee Jennings on Monday night. They will face the Vikings in Week 5.
Monday night’s game in New Orleans started with a tribute to a storybook night in Saints history, but there was no happily ever after once the game got underway.
Falcons running back Bijan Robinson broke loose for a 59-yard touchdown a few plays into the game that took some life out of the Superdome crowd. The Saints weren’t able to stop the bleeding and the Falcons rolled to a 45-24 win that left the Superdome crowd feeling much differently than they did at the outset.
Cheers for the 20th anniversary of the Saints’ return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina were replaced by cascades of boos until enough Saints fans left the building that Falcons supporters had run of the place. The loss dropped the Saints to 1-3 and quarterback Tyler Shough could not take any issue with the way that the home crowd responded to the effort.
“Fans understandably are upset,” Shough said. “We had some opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of and you’re playing the Falcons and you lose like that? I mean, I’d boo, too. That sucks. We want to get everybody going. It’s part of it. You have to have the energy of the crowd and we’re gonna need them next week too against a really good team. That’s the best part about New Orleans. You feel it and we feel it too, and we’re gonna keep going.”
A 4-1 close to last season with Shough playing well led to hopes of a turnaround for a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2020, but the Saints have allowed the most points in the league through four weeks. They have two of their next three games at home before a bye week and they’ll need to plug a lot of leaks in order to ensure no one will be considering a return to paper bags on heads later in this year’s home schedule.
The NFL scheduled the Saints to host the Falcons on Monday night to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Superdome’s reopening after Hurricane Katrina. It was a big night in New Orleans, and the Saints did not match the fans’ energy.
Saints head coach Kellen Moore said after the 45-24 loss that the team came out flat despite the excitement of the moment.
“Really disappointing game for us,” Moore said. “The dome was an incredible night, incredible energy. I did a poor job preparing our football team. Didn’t coach well enough, didn’t play well enough. It wasn’t good enough. We’re at where we’re at, a 1-3 football team with some good moments but not enough consistent football to be where we ultimately want to be. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Moore said he addressed the historical significance of the game with his team and thought they bought into this being a particularly big game. But when it was time to put it all together, they didn’t.
“We talked about it at the beginning of the week, the guys were fired up,” Moore said. “I thought there was good energy, we just didn’t execute well enough.”
The Saints saw the nationally televised, much-discussed game as a big opportunity to show what kind of team they are, and they didn’t show much.
“Those are big-time opportunities,” Moore said. “It’s just disappointing for us and I know there’s frustration for everyone.”
The Saints will always have the Hurricane Katrina game on Sept. 25, 2006. Steve Gleason’s block of a Falcons’ punt is commemorated in a statue outside the Superdome titled “Rebirth.”
But Monday night belonged to the Falcons.
Atlanta ruined New Orleans’ “Domecoming” celebration, routing the Saints 45-24.
The Superdome cleared out in the second half as the Falcons ran over the Saints, with 205 of their 420 yards coming on the ground. Bijan Robinson had 19 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and Brian Robinson added 14 carries for 62 yards and three touchdowns.
Bijan Robinson went 59 yards for a touchdown on the third play from scrimmage, a foreshadowing of how the night was going to go.
The Falcons led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and 24-7 at halftime before continuing to pour on the points in the second half.
The Falcons scored the fewest points in the NFL the first two weeks, with 16. In the past two games, since quarterback Michael Penix returned, the Falcons have an NFL-leading 80 points. The Falcons are 2-2 and tied with the Panthers atop the NFC South. The Saints are 1-3.
Penix went 15-of-20 for 223 yards and a touchdown, which was a 31-yard throw to Jahan Dotson. Drake London caught five passes for 96 yards and Dotson had two for 54.
Alvin Kamara turned back time in scoring two of the Saints’ touchdowns on runs of 3 and 5 yards. He tied Deuce McAllister’s franchise record for most multiple-rushing touchdown games with his 14th.
Late in the fourth quarter, with the game out of reach, Devaughn Vele made one of the best catches of the season. He got both feet down for a 3-yard touchdown with 1:13 left.
Tyler Shough went 30-of-48 for 286 yards and a touchdown despite banging up his left hand. Chris Olave caught eight passes for 116 yards before taking a hard hit on his knee late in the game.
The only bad news for the Falcons was the loss of edge rusher Za’Darius Smith (concussion) and left tackle Jake Matthews (groin). They left in the first half with their injuries and now have a short week to try to get back for the Ravens on Sunday Night Football.
Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews will not return tonight.
The Falcons have ruled him out.
Now, the question becomes: Will his groin injury keep him out of Sunday night’s game against the Ravens on a short week?
Matthews has started 199 games in a row, the longest active streak in the NFL. He made his 200th career start on Monday night but left in the first quarter.
The Falcons are rolling in the third quarter, holding a 31-10 lead after Brian Robinson’s second rushing touchdown. The Falcons have 173 rushing yards, with Bijan Robinson running for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Brian Robinson has 11 carries for 41 yards.
Veteran pass rusher Marcus Davenport didn’t request his release from the Bears’ practice squad so that he could sign with another team’s practice squad.
Via NFL Network, the 30-year-old Davenport will retire.
He was a first-round pick of the Saints in 2018 (14th overall). He spent five years in New Orleans, one in Minnesota, and two in Detroit before joining the Bears.
Davenport has 78 regular-season appearances with 43 starts. He hasn’t played much since leaving the Saints — 19 regular-season games and 11 starts in four seasons. He also has four postseason appearances and one start, all of which came with the Saints.
Davenport has 25.0 career sacks, with a career-high of 9.0 in 2021.
Saints fans were ready to party like it’s 2006. Bijan Robinson, though, has reigned over their parade.
The Falcons running back has 12 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns, and Atlanta leads 24-7 at halftime.
The pregame celebration had barely cleared the field from their “Domecoming” when Robinson broke a 59-yard touchdown run. It came on the third play from scrimmage.
He later added a 4-yard touchdown run.
The Falcons scored on four of their seven first-half possessions, and they outgained the Saints 255 to 147 yards.
Brian Robinson scored the Falcons’ third touchdown on a 4-yard run, and he has nine carries for 35 yards.
Michael Penix has completed 10 of 15 passes for 125 yards, with Drake London catching four for 82.
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough is 12-of-19 for 139 yards, with Chris Olave catching three for 62. The team’s only touchdown came on Alvin Kamara’s 3-yard run.
The Saints, though, have only 15 yards rushing on seven carries.
Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews made his 199th consecutive start on Monday night. But he watched the Falcons’ 10-play, 65-yard scoring drive from the sideline.
Matthews left in the first quarter with a groin injury that has him questionable to return.
He does not look as if he will.
Matthews’ starting streak is the longest active streak in the NFL.
Michael Jerrell has replaced Matthews, and Jerrell helped Brian Robinson score on a 4-yard run. The Falcons lead 21-7.
The Falcons have ruled out pass rusher Za’Darius Smith with a concussion. Smith took a knee to the head from a teammate early in the first quarter.
