They are becoming healthier, and they overcame a 16-point deficit for the first time in team history with the help of Jameis Winston at quarterback and new coach Dennis Allen.
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I find it intriguing how the Saints are sort of skulking.
From 2017 through 2020, they won the NFC South four times in a row. They managed to put together a 9-8 season last year, their first without Drew Brees, despite losing Jameis Winston to a ruptured ACL in the middle of the season. Sean Payton isn’t there either this year. However, they still have a tonne of skill, and most of the Payton era’s infrastructure is still in place.
And in the first game, while appearing to be a layup, it wasn’t, and it still resulted in a gut-check victory in which New Orleans overcame a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter for the first time in team history.
You might not see Saints 27, Falcons 26 until you look a little closer.
About an hour after the game, Saints coach Dennis Allen told me, “Man, that felt nice.” “Look, to be really honest, I disliked how we played. Atlanta, in my opinion, is a far superior squad than most people realise. Smith performs well. They clash. They fight. He makes some problems offensively. Having said that, there were a lot of mistakes made when we had the chance to coach off a victory like that.\
“Everyone, including the players, coaches, and me. It will be beneficial to go in tomorrow and examine the film and make the necessary improvements since we get to coach off a victory.
Allen promises that there will be many of corrections to be made.
Taysom Hill was the offensive catalyst at the half, Winston had passed for 24 yards and a passer rating of 56.2, and the run defence was porous. But there was also a purpose behind all of that.
With the exception of a few plays where Taysom ran the ball, Allen said, “I don’t think we stopped the run very well, and then we weren’t running the ball very well offensively. “We simply lost our rhythm. A few of the passes to Mike were rather off-target; those two guys were simply out of sync. You see, a handful of our guys have missed a lot of time. Mike Thomas has recently lost a lot of time, and Jameis missed a fair bit as well. Pete Werner on defence, who essentially missed the entire training camp.
We didn’t perform well, but it will be interesting to see how the tape ultimately turns out. We did not carry out. We missed opportunities to make plays that we could have.
Then things started to alter. Defense gained stability. Juwan Johnson and Alvin Kamara received chunk plays as the Falcons played poorly, and the offence found its groove.
As a result, the fourth-quarter statistics were very astounding.
With 13 of 16, Winston managed 213 yards and two touchdowns. Jarvis Landy and Thomas both got four catches. The Falcons were limited to 3.4 yards per carry by the tight run defence.
Winston directed touchdown drives of 75 and 86 yards during this process. Additionally, he and the offence drove 47 yards to set up Wil Lutz’s 51-yard game-winning kick after a failed two-point conversion attempt to level the score.
Allen remarked, “He never flinched. You know what I mean? Jameis would probably admit, “Man, I could’ve played better in the first half,” if you asked him. Furthermore, I believe we and he both had the opportunity to play better to sort of start the third quarter. He simply never flinched though. Simply keep moving forward and never give up; that is what our team is all about.
So, there’s a new level here, it’s hoped, with a healthier group and the bugs ironed out.
Naturally, we’re very much capable of playing good defensively and having a dynamic attack, according to Allen. “I believe you can kind of see that if you watch the fourth quarter. We eventually settled into a rhythm and managed to win the game. The first time we played this team last year, in my opinion, was not all that different from this game. The difference between this one and previous year is that we won.
Allen is hoping that it portends better things for the Saints.
