3 Saints to blame for disheartening loss to Falcons in Week 4

The New Orleans Saints lost a game to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday that they should’ve won. However, sports aren’t about what should’ve happened; they’re about what actually happened. What happened on Sunday was New Orleans making too many costly mistakes to overcome.

Losing 26-24, on a game-winning kick, the Monday morning film session is going to be a brutal watch for New Orleans. It will be especially tough for these three Saints players who are receiving a lot of blame for the loss.

3. Chase Young

It’s easy to look at how the game unfolded and not want to blame the defense. New Orleans’ defense didn’t allow a touchdown, holding the Falcons to four field goals— two points less than the special teams and offense gave up. However, there was room for the defense to have a much better game that could’ve led to a win.

That room for improvement starts up front with Chase Young and the pass rush. Often throughout the game, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was able to chill in the pocket and eventually find an open target. The Saints secondary is good, but they can only cover for so long.

Young was brought to New Orleans to get after quarterbacks but he wasn’t able to do that in Week 4. He finished the game with just three tackles, one for a loss, and only one QB hit. A more productive day from him certainly would’ve led to less field goals for Atlanta.

2. Paulson Adebo

Paulson Adebo is a good corner, and he’ll likely get a nice new contract this offseason that says so. Unfortunately, Sunday wasn’t his best day. Adebo was responsible for the 30-yard pass interference call that set up the game-winning kick for Atlanta, but his struggles started well before that.

That pass interference was his third of the game, and he gave up quite a few big catches throughout the action. He did have an interception, but that was overshadowed by his negative plays on Sunday.

1. Rashid Shaheed

There’s no other way to put it; Rashid Shaheed’s costly mistake on the first series of the game is a big reason why New Orleans lost this game. Despite being an All-Pro returner, he made the rookie mistake of going back to the three-yard line to try and fair catch a punt. After muffing the punt, the Falcons were able to recover the ball for a score.

To Shaheed’s credit, he bounced back from the mistake and had a good game, catching eight passes for 83 yard, and running the ball twice for 14 yards. However, spotting a team, that couldn’t score an offensive touchdown, seven points was a costly mistake.

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