DEFENSE: Credit the unit for settling in after a start that was shaky, to say the least. New Orleans’ defense allowed pass completions of 56 and 71 yards on Atlanta’s first two possessions – the 71-yarder, a scoring pass from Desmond Ridder to Bijan Robinson – and the Saints fell into a 14-7 hole on the scoreboard, with the defense looking as if it wouldn’t find a stop. After that, the Falcons were held to three points and 262 yards in the final 49 minutes of play. New Orleans intercepted two passes (Alontae Taylor, Tyrann Mathieu), recovered a fumble (Payton Turner), produced a stop on fourth-and-goal from the 2 and held on seven of 11 third-down attempts. And the Falcons, who ran for 228 yards and a touchdown on 41 carries in Atlanta, finished with 78 rushing yards on 25 attempts. The Saints, after a choppy first two series, were exactly the defense they needed to be Sunday.
SPECIAL TEAMS: With so much going well on offense and defense, all the special team units needed to do was not make an egregious mistake. Mission accomplished. Blake Grupe made a couple of short field goals when the offense stalled in the red zone, Lou Hedley averaged 45.8 yards per punt and the Saints allowed just 12 yards on two returns, and no debilitating penalty was committed.
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