NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints now lead the regular season series against the Atlanta Falcons 54-53.
In a season filled with very few highs, lots of lows, and too much misery, the Saints at least showed their complete domination of the Falcons since 2006 remains intact.
Beating Atlanta never gets old. I loved it as a six-year-old and I love it at 46.
The 107th regular season meeting between these teams was quintessential Saints-Falcons; Two bad teams had a pillow fight with both teams trying hard to give the game away.
The 2022 Saints are not good but they are consistent at least. They gave us everything we’ve come to expect from this team in 2022 – some great fun plays on offense, weekly soul-crushing fumbles, awful tackling on defense, and some head-scratching play-calling mixed in for good measure. The only difference was the Saints got a lucky bounce of the football for what felt like the first time since the last time they played Atlanta in Week 1.
The Saints could have blown the doors off the Falcons yesterday, if only they could be something other than what they are. You won’t hear any complaints from me though, in fact, I kind of prefer wins over the Falcons that involve dumb luck to blowouts, because heart-breaking losses hurt more for Atlanta fans.
The Saints won because Justin Evans forced a fumble which just happened to land in the waiting arms of Bradley Roby. When the Saints win, we like to pretend it’s skill, grit, discipline, and smart coaching as opposed to blind luck when they lose.
That play was pure luck. I’m fine with it. After watching the Saints lose to Tampa two weeks ago because 9000 bad breaks went again them late, I feel like the football universe owed us one.
The Saints won because they had their best start to a game in 2022 by scoring touchdowns on their first 2 drives. When we build a Mount Rushmore of Saints' "Falcon Killers," Taysom Hill will be a member. That man destroys the Falcons every time he faces them. He’s 3-0 as a starting quarterback against them and Sunday he added another touchdown throw. Taysom hit the ookie receiver, Rashid Shaheed, for a 68-yard bomb and continued to look like a Hall of Fame quarterback whenever throwing passes against Atlanta.
Taysom infuriates Falcons fans to a degree that I’ll just describe as delightful. Taysom is going to be in the Saints Hall of Fame for his ability to torment Atlanta. I said what I said.
In a season with few bright spots, Juwan Johnson becoming a legitimate threat at tight end is my favorite story of 2022. Johnson has 35 catches and 7 touchdowns and has turned himself from a college receiver into an NFL tight end. Take a minute to appreciate how much physical and mental work that takes to do. Johnson has become the Saints' second-best receiving threat and it feels like Andy Dalton trusts him the most in big moments.
Alvin Kamara even made an appearance and had over 100 total yards. If the Saints can add another running back and Kamara can return to being part of a tandem, he can still be a very good player, but asking him to be the sole running back just isn’t going to be a successful plan every week.
Andy Dalton isn’t the long-term answer at quarterback, but I’m not sure we could ask for much more of him in 2022. Dalton currently has a QB rating of 98.1, which would be his best since 2015, and the second-highest of his career. As far as backup QBs go, that’s as good as it can get.
The offense of course had to have its weekly ‘Let’s step on these rakes’ moments with David Johnson fumbling deep in Atlanta territory and turning second and an inch into 4th and 16. Let’s be positive and give the Saints credit for overcoming adversity they themselves created.
On defense, the Saints were an absolute mess trying to stop the Falcons' rushing attack. I can’t decide if they were good at stopping Atlanta’s rookie quarterback from passing, or if Desmond Ridder is just terrible.
Ridder finished 13 of 26 for 97 yards and looked overwhelmed trying to pass and surprisingly nonathletic considering his Relative Athletic Score is off the charts for a QB.
The best news from this game was no NFC South team currently has a solution at quarterback for 2023 so this division is going to remain terrible. The NFC South in 2022 is like Haley’s Comet if Haley’s Comet was a burning dumpster fire. We will only get to see this combination of horrible football teams once every 75 years or so. I love it so much.
The math tells us Tampa Bay still has a 96% chance of winning the division if they just beat Carolina in 2 weeks, but my eyes tell me the Buccaneers are going to be hard-pressed to win a single game the rest of the season. I could give you a long explanation explaining the Saints’ playoff chances but the short version is they need more than a miracle --- they will need Trace McSorley to lead the 4-win Arizona Cardinals to a win over Tom Brady on Christmas night.
Let’s not bother ourselves thinking too hard about that. Just enjoy the Saints going 2-0 against the Falcons. It’s all we are likely to get in 2022 so savor it.
Ralph Malbrough is a contributing writer and Saints fan living in Houston. Email him at saintshappyhour@gmail.com, find him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter at @SaintsForecast or download the Saints Happy Hour Podcast.
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