Needed Dat! Saints End Losing Streak By Beating Out Their Biggest NFC South Rival

The Saints start the Darren Rizzi era off on the right foot, breaking a horrid losing skid in the process.

Nov 10, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi reacts to a fourth down stop of the Atlanta Falcons to in his first game as interim head coach during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

NEW ORLEANS – The losing streak is over for the Saints. The leaders, including a recent move to make Alvin Kamara a captain, pulled them through. The defense made two crucial stops at the end of the game. The team never trailed. They even got some Superdome magic that had been lost for years. Finally, a week of actual high-energy practice sees New Orleans get a hard-fought victory. Darren Rizzi’s first game as an interim head coach was a winner against the Falcons, as they pulled off the upset 20-17.

The game wasn’t without its flaws for the black and gold, but it certainly saw a lot go right for them to improve to 3-7. They still have a long way to go, but players and coaches are just happy to get back into the win column. They finally beat a better team.

Nov 10, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi reacts to a fourth down stop of the Atlanta Falcons to in his first game as interim head coach during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

"What an unbelievable week," Rizzi said following the game during his opening statement. "Today doesn't happen without complete buy-in." He later added, "Nothing substitutes great preparation."

It didn't start out as a typical day for the new interim head coach. When Rizzi got the stadium and settled into his head coach's locker room, he ended up clogging the toilet. He thought it was a sign of things to come, saying to himself, “this is going to be a crappy day.” He meant the pun, but things got easier. The emotion he showed on the sideline hasn't been seen in quite some time, and it was infectious.

Alvin Kamara, who became the team's all-time leading rusher, says the win over the Falcons was a culmination of a lot of things. He mentioned energy, belief, getting some swag back, details and fundamentals were why they won. He added that the players were accountable to each other and they haven't had that. He also said that the team was united and that 'unity' was one of the words of the week. Even after dropping that big pass that could have finished the Falcons off, Kamara was accountable to the sideline and hated that he put the defense back on the field.

"Today everybody was bought in for all four quarters," Kamara said during his post-game presser.

Unity and buy-in is what we saw out there, and to be fair, it was evident all week. Rizzi said that he was going to go over to hype up the defense in between the 3rd and 4th Quarter, but saw that Demario Davis had things in hand and walked away. Rizzi's reasoning was simple, saying that no one will do it better than Davis in that situation and that he's the best leader he's seen in his career.

Cam Jordan, who played a whopping 10 snaps a week ago, played a heck of a lot more this week and got a key sack on Kirk Cousins in the second half. Derek Carr was balling at the half and finished with a pretty strong game, connecting with Marquez Valdes-Scantling twice on big bombs to get into the end zone. Tyrann Mathieu got a huge pick on Cousins late, and although it didn't exactly ice the game, it turned Atlanta away. Coming in, they had 58 points in the past two games, and just finished with 17.

I was honestly surprised that the Superdome has as many fans as it did today. There were plenty of Falcons fans in the stands, but Saints fans showed up and showed out. The team won one for the city, and they were a big factor in forcing pre-snap penalties on Atlanta and also juicing up the team. Rizzi acknowledged fan's frustration in his opening press conference and said following the win, "We're going to get this Dome back where it used to be."

Before we get too excited, yes, it's just one game for the Saints. But, this is a game that they needed to show that the right process can produce results with the talent they have in the locker room. Even being down several key players, they still delivered. That's what good teams do, overcoming adversity and producing despite the deck being stacked against you.

New Orleans can use this game in a variety of ways for the rest of the season, but they're looking at the short-term. They have a date with the Browns coming to town next Sunday. And that's what the focus will be after they finally get to revel in a good 24-hour rule that's been long overdue.