The New Orleans Saints looked unprepared and unready when the Atlanta Falcons collectively punched them in the mouth, and Saints coach Sean Payton took responsibility for it during his postgame press conference.
“Collectively, we have to do a better job and it starts with me,” Payton said in his opening statement. The Saints lost, falling 26-9 to a team that had gone 1-for-8 in the first half of the season. It was a huge upset and arguably the worst regular season loss New Orleans has seen in recent memory. The Saints played sloppy, drawing a dozen penalty flags and costing themselves 90 yards of field positioning.
Still, Saints quarterback Drew Brees pushed back against the notion that his team had put in low-energy practices or taken this opponent too lightly; he told John Hendrix of Canal Street Chronicles after the game, “Felt like we had good practices. Up tempo.”
Maybe this will be a wakeup call for the Saints. This team and the young core that it’s built around has experienced plenty of success over the last few years, even if their playoff exits have been painful. Even if the established veterans like Brees haven’t seen problems in their practice habits, this sort of slap to the face can provide some clarity, bringing better practice habits with it.
Whatever the case, New Orleans doesn’t have much time to get on track. They have a strong grip on the NFC South title for now, but their next three games will come against divisional rivals — ending with a Thanksgiving night rematch in Atlanta.
