The New Orleans Saints
hadn’t lost to the Atlanta Falcons by 20 points or more in nearly 27 years. That changed on Monday night. Their 45-24 loss was New Orleans’ largest margin of defeat against Atlanta since a 35-12 loss on Dec. 5, 1999. The Saints fell to 1-3 after allowing five rushing touchdowns, making an already disappointing start worse with a historically lopsided loss to their biggest rival.Atlanta took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and never trailed. Bijan Robinson scored twice on the ground, while Brian Robinson Jr. added three rushing touchdowns. New Orleans had no answer for either back. The final score could have looked worse. After the Saints cut the deficit to 31-17 early in the fourth quarter, Atlanta answered with consecutive
touchdown drives. Devaughn Vele’s late touchdown catch reduced a 28-point deficit to 21, but it couldn’t prevent New Orleans from reaching a mark it had avoided since 1999.
That earlier defeat came during a five-game losing streak. The Saints went 1-3 over their remaining four games that season. This team has considerably more time to respond, with 13 games remaining, but Monday offered little encouragement after last week’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
New Orleans won’t face Atlanta again until Jan. 3, 2027, on the road. First comes a home matchup with the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday and a chance to avoid a third consecutive loss at the Caesars Superdome. The Saints need to make that opportunity count. A loss would drop them to 1-4, leaving an even steeper climb just five weeks into the season.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints suffer their worst loss to Falcons in a generation
