Breakthrough or Bust: The Saints' Fight Against Their Problematic Losing Cycle

This losing cycle is getting real old real fast for the Saints, and if they don't figure it out soon, it's going to be a long season.

Sep 29, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs the ball against the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

ATLANTA -- The Saints are just a couple of plays away from being undefeated at 4-0, but instead are what their record says they are at 2-2. In back-to-back weeks, New Orleans has managed to take a lead late and then have been unable to close it out. It's too easy to point fingers, and that's the low-hanging fruit here. Does it help anything? Probably not, but venting is understood following Sunday's outcome.

The Saints didn't give up a touchdown defensively and still lost the game. How does this type of stuff keep happening to New Orleans? It honestly doesn't matter, but one thing that does is the response is from the players and coaches. They had a good week of practice and were able to come out of the gate strong despite the big Rashid Shaheed miscue. They battled through everything and put themselves in a position to win again only to lose. That has to change at some point. You have to close out a game when you get the chance to.

Unsurprisingly, Dennis Allen said what most everyone felt following the loss. He said, "Sucks to lose a game like that. Those are the kind to fucking rip your heart out. Excuse me.”

Sep 29, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) muffs a punt against the Atlanta Falcons in the first quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The reality is that this is another game that could come back to haunt you at the end of the season if you're having to play catch-up, and naturally they'll see the Falcons again in November. For now, they'll watch the film and learn from it but then turn their attention to the the Chiefs for a Monday Night Football primetime meeting that they'll surely be underdogs in.

The Saints are in a familiar boat like last year, drawing major parallels to that squad. But, I'd argue that they aren't that team. Why is that? What's actually different about this year's 2-2 Saints as opposed to last year's?

“Just as a team we’re in a much better place,” Derek Carr said after the game. He said that this one hurts and that you try not to be angry about losing but hate it. Carr said that the team knows who they are and what they've earned (a 2-2 record), but did mention something particularly interesting. He said that there’s no pointing fingers and there's a lot of ownership. Because of that, Carr believes the team is going to get tighter and push through the adversity. He's not the only one either, but it's going to take a village.

Paulson Adebo, who had three pass interference penalties in the game and none more critical than the one on the final drive, was actually at the podium to talk. That's not really something we see every day, and that's just an observation. Adebo was humble and accepted a lot of the personal blame for things, and whether you're encouraged by that or not is most likely irrelevant. Everyone has to get better and execute at the end of the day.

That's certainly going to be even more challenging going forward. The injuries are piling up again for New Orleans. The Saints lost Willie Gay Jr. (hand), Taysom Hill (ribs) and Tyrann Mathieu (groin) in this game, and they were already down two starters in Demario Davis and Cesar Ruiz. It's not going to get any easier for them to climb up the hill and try to get back above .500, and no one will believe it'll happen in Week 5.

The bottom line is that this losing cycle is getting real old real fast for the Saints, and if they don't figure it out soon, it's going to be a long season. Good teams overcome, and the Saints have been good enough to win but not good enough to overcome themselves. When they figure that out, it'll be something to see. Hopefully, it just doesn't come too late again.

Join us for our post-game show to break everything down on Second And Saints.