MNF Week 4 Recap: Legit Falcons Embarrass the Saints

That was Bajon Robinson on the third snap of one of the most embarrassing performances in New Orleans Saints history.

And one of the greatest nights in Atlanta Falcons history when it comes to the best rivalry in the NFL. 45 to 24, the Falcons crash the party that the Saints were throwing to remember one of the most important days in their franchise's history, the 20th anniversary of the Rebirth game, the Steve Gleason block. And I couldn't help but think, Jordan, as Bajon is running through this hapless Saints secondary to start that game. Man, that Gleason block happened about a minute and a half into that game, and it set the tone. And damned if Bajon Robinson didn't do the same thing tonight on what was an absolutely brutal performance by the Saints defense and an incredible one by this Falcons rushing attack that we are going

to start having to take very seriously.

Yeah, it turns out the NFL knew what it was doing when it put the Falcons in primetime, right?

I did not see that coming. I did not think these games were going to be great. And suddenly, yeah, they're playing the Ravens on Sunday Night Football. They're 2-2. We can get into their playoff odds a little later because I think the NFC South is looking more interesting between them and the Panthers. But let's just give some of the stats. 205 yards rushing. Bajon ends up with 145.

Brian Robinson ends up with three on the ground in terms of touchdowns and in 62 yards rushing. And this shouldn't be that surprising, Jordan, because the Saints entered tonight as the worst rushing defense in the entire NFL. And then they were playing without Caden Ellis, without Curtis Granderson, so they're down a couple bodies, but that is no excuse.

I just think you saw the biggest strength for the Falcons going up against the biggest weakness for the Saints, and this is a matchup, Jordan, by the way. These two teams should have been even last year. They pretty much took the Saints' lunch money a year ago, especially Jeff Ulbrich. We'll get to that side of the ball, but they won this matchup two times a year ago, and it does not bode well for Kellen Moore to lose to your arch rivals three straight times to start out your tenure, what were you thinking watching this running performance by Atlanta?

Oh, well, first of all, I just love this run game so much. They get so much movement up front from their tight ends. They get a ton of push from their offensive line. In case you're new here, the Falcons offensive line has been good and it looks very, very good right now.

And I like how multidimensional.

They create this surface that has a lot of different miniature layers to it all sort of just like opening up these different lanes in little pieces that all make so much sense when you watch the play actually unfold in full. And B. John Robinson does a great job making that all come to life, obviously. Brian Robinson does a great job making that all come to life.

And I just, I really enjoy watching it.

It was especially exposing of the Saints defense that they could just be blocked out of every play by tight ends, doubling with guards, with, uh, pullers with even isolation tight ends, uh, with tight ends that were sifting and sort of lead blocking.

Like to me, it was so, um, probably.

One of the most disappointing things, even more so in the, with the score than the score for saints fans would have have to have been watching how big of a mismatch, even the design of this, uh, offensive system and this run game from the Falcons, just how dominant it was, how it pushed players out of the way. And then they didn't help themselves either. The effort was, was poor.

The tackling was poor. The effort was getting criticized by the broadcast booth by the fourth quarter.

It was disappointing. It was crazy to, to, to watch Kellen Moore kick a field goal after a long drive to start the second half to cut the lead to 14 points. at that stage. And it was on a fourth and three in the red zone after your offense took up half the quarter, almost like taking time away from you. And he kicks a field goal on fourth and three. I'm thinking, brother, do you know what game you're in? Have you watched your defense? Because it looks a lot like those Brandon Staley defenses that got him fired midseason by the Chargers. And we talked up Brandon Staley and he did a good job. I don't think this is the most talented group in the world. He did some nice things last year, but They try to

play with less men in the box. They don't have the personnel. In fact, it sounds like he knew that they didn't have the personnel. Let's listen to Troy Aikman during the broadcast.

Well, Brandon Staley, he just simply doesn't have any answers. And I think he knew it when we talked to him coming in. I think he knew he didn't tell us. But the guys that are out, I mentioned earlier, some of their big edge rushers and guys who can play the run and set the edge, they're not on the field.

And they just don't have that star defender that can erase mistakes for other people. And this was a matchup issue coming into this game, and.

It's proven true.

I mean, that does not sound good for Brandon Staley. That's not what I want to hear out of my coach, that he already thinks they don't have a chance going into it. I know the Falcons are a good running team, and what you said about the running game is well said. Bill Callahan is the GOAT in terms of offensive line coaches and zone blocking, and he's down in Atlanta. He apparently is only great when he's not working with his son, Brian.

Other than that, he's incredible.

It's like a reverse Nepo situation.

Right.

It didn't really work for him when it was in Tennessee, but man, it's just a bad look, and I'm hearing from our friend Adam, who hosts the Saints Block Party podcast, and they are not going to be happy in New Orleans. This is a college-like rivalry, and to lose to Atlanta like this, it's going to get people talking about Kellen Moore's job locally way earlier than I think we would talk nationally. But this is an organization that feels stale because Mickey Loomis is at the top, and the even though Kellen Moore and Brandon Staley have done some good things, it's just one of those, like, it's going to put a nasty circle, a spotlight on this team that they are going to have to fix soon now at one

and three.

Well, it, what it, to me, it absolutely is a huge step backward from a lot of positive progress that that coaching staff and that roster made last season. And yes, I do understand, you know, the caveat is the injuries, et cetera, but, But to be so unbalanced in every way, as the Saints were, they could not defend the run.

They could not run the ball. Every single human being in New Orleans and the surrounding area knows that you cannot win a football game if you cannot stop the run and if you cannot run the ball. And it's a smart fan base. It's a passionate fan base. And it's one that knows exactly what the problems are here, injuries or no injuries. And it really created what was sort of like this lifeless effort where, you know, Troy Aikman, who I felt was very, and probably rightfully so, protective of Over Tyler Shuck and and really likes him and what I like these broadcasters because they kind of say things they hint about things without overtly saying it because they hear a lot during these broadcasting meetings and the

amount that they're putting on Tyler Shuck who's getting pressured at like a 50% rate throughout the entire game and all he's doing is dropping back and they've got 15 rushing yards by the fourth by halftime and 18 by the fourth quarter. It's just it can't happen and It is absolutely unacceptable for that to be the case.

It is too bad. Alvin Kamara was out there and, you know, he ends up scoring like a couple touchdowns in this game. He had one longer catch, but he doesn't have the same juice that he used to. And I'm glad you mentioned the rushing stats, which they ended up at 50 yards with 2.6 rush yards per carry. And that was juiced by a garbage time drive. But of course, it's not the offense. I mean, they went up and down the field. Okay. Their offense was fine.

Like Chuck actually hit a lot of third and long throws.

They just shouldn't have to Greg. He shouldn't have to be in that situation.

Right.

I mean, they're just there. This is how the Falcons ended the game. You had that Bajon touchdown to start the game. Then they did have a couple of punts early, but they ended the game on offense, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, kneel down. I mean, that is absolutely outrageous. And, Michael Penix is part of that. And that reminds me, of course, Bajon Robinson deserves to be the player of the game.

But it's time for Player of the Week presented by Nationwide. And I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to give it to Michael Penix because as great as Bajon Robinson is, and it is fascinating to think about his last, what, four primetime games. There was that Bills game last year. It was just bananas. There was the Rams game last year.

It was insane. Thursday night football last week. And now, yeah, this one, and we're going to get him again in primetime. I mean, he is that dude. But, you know, the first two weeks of the season, they were not a good offense. Michael Penix, considering the injuries he's coming back from, I think he deserves this award. He played a nice game, and he had a nice finishing touch with his throw to Jahan Dutt.

Pennix under center again. Play clock now to two. Play fake by Michael. He's going to boot back to the left.

Tee it up.

Fire the deep.

Ball caught. Touchdown, Jahan Dotson. Oh, my goodness. That'll be it.

Get your bag.

Get your coat.

Get your souvenir program.

And you are so right.

They are headed across the lake tonight.

Oh, that is West Durham, one of my favorites. W-Z-G-C. That's the call. Just rubbing the salt in the wound that I was looking for on this rivalry night.

I'm so glad we got a lot of West Durham calls. I'm really glad we got a great West Durham call where he's saying Michael off the play action because the way he says it, it just makes me happy. There was a couple things that brought me joy from this game, and most of them were Falcons-related. Obviously, the preamble to the game... Brought me a lot of joy, but a lot of emotion too.

We'll get into that.

But just.

I liked the way Michael Penix throws the ball. I have since he was at Washington.

He got, I think, some criticism early on, and there was a lot of questions about him. And the previous coaching staff, I don't think, did him many favors. But he really fits in what he's being asked to do here. And every once in a while, he gets this opportunity to just unfurl this really beautiful pass. And he's got some issues he's still ironing out with some of the touch on the short game. And that's what Kevin Stefanski is going to really want him to to, to hammer out because, um, you know, that a lot of this offense is predicated on, on some of that rhythmic stuff, but you know, that, that ball to John Dotson just made me smile. Cause it's just pretty the way the ball comes out of his hand and I'm a left-handed

person too. So I also am a little.

I'm a little biased.

I love that. Can you throw it? You know, can you sling it a little bit?

I used to be able to not, not like a, not like any, not like any actual, you know, athlete, but, uh, respectably, creditably flag.

I know you, I know you just used to run a little bit of tennis. We got to get out. We got to get out on the court together. Look, Michael Penix. He's the athlete here. I mean, yeah, I know he's got to work on some things and he's being put in an incredibly good situation, but, he is doing some of the things you saw at Washington and what you expected to see, you know, when even in that first four game stretch as a rookie, like he's not great at the quick stuff or maybe necessarily getting through his reads, always the fastest, uh, but he can push the ball to the outside. Well, and he was 15 for 20 tonight for 223 yards. Like they were playing extremely efficient football, despite, uh, the average depth of

target I'm looking for being pretty deep, uh, About six and a half yards. So not crazy. There's a good mix of deep and short. That's about average. You know, he had 75 percent of his passes, 11 yards per attempt. Like Drake London was bodying Kool-Aid McKinistry a few times in this game. Drake London is getting open. It's the same idea with when Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are really cooking together on the ground. It sets up the passing game. There's nothing wrong with that. He's showing that he can take advantage. And I do love that Kevin Stefanski is figuring out the way to use him because, man, this this team suddenly seems a little dangerous.

Well, it's like clockwork.

You saw it happen after the first drive. They you know, the shell defense pulls the safety down to try to help cover the run. And that's when you can get some of that single high. That's when you can get some of these receivers mismatches going, leave some extra voids in the field and the coverage.

It really is.

I mean, it is one plus one equals two for this team when a defense looks that bad. Michael Penix was only pressured on, I think, three of his dropbacks. And I wouldn't even say the pressure was all that altering anyway. And even the times that the Saints did get pressures.

Is that true? They blitzed 52% of the time. And you're right. On four of those plays, they got... Pressure. That's outrageous. Now, I know it's a small sample, like he only dropped back, whatever, 20, 21 times. But that that is outrageous that your boy, Brandon Staley, like who's not known to blitz like crazy, felt like he needed to because they just don't have the players and it still just did not matter.

Well, and they don't have an effective blitzer the way Caden Ellis has been for them. And so, you know, that's that's a huge factor, too. I think for me that you mentioned, you know, he's got Michael Penix is going to be working on some of the things that Kevin Stefanski really wants. in this offense, one of the big things I thought that we've seen from Kevin Stefanski offenses and the timing offenses, but then also like some of that, uh, the, the branches of the tree that split off from Kubiak and Shanahan, and then ultimately went into Miami's version of Mike McDaniel and Stefanski as well was some of the, um, just the, the way the flourish or the detail added to the handoffs themselves. some

of the ways that they set up the actual act of the play-action fake. Michael Penix, I never thought he was really known for anything like that, but some of the little flourishes and the little trickerations, there was a really long, on a third and two, late in the game that Bajon converted, there was a really long, delayed fake that almost dragged, dragged, dragged, and the defenders hesitated just long enough, and the second they hesitated.

Michael.

Penix pops the football into Bijan's stomach and he goes. And so for me, those are the little tiny things that if you don't necessarily have all of the timing stuff down right now, having that down is a huge step, in my opinion, in getting some of the like the tiny details of this offense down.

Yeah, I think that's a great point. And he was under center again today, 40% of the time, which is a lot in today's NFL and certainly a lot for Penix. He was play action most of the time when he was when he was throwing the ball and yeah, just a step forward. I'm glad this is a team that I'm going to want to watch every week. And Pettis is a big part of that. That was player of the week presented by nationwide for your insurance and financial needs.

Nationwide is on your side. We've given the Falcons often some credit. We're going to give the Falcons defense some credit too, but. I don't think we can lose track of what this night meant for the Saints and why... This is a haters rivalry, and this was such a night for haters. I mean, I just know the Falcons fans that were there, and there were a lot of them.

I follow a couple people that were in the stadium that night, friends with one, and they were saying that the Falcons chants were happening in the second quarter, which is just driving... the Saints fans absolutely crazy. And so for this huge celebration of this like emotional, amazing moment to be tonight and Drew Brees is there and Steve Gleason is there and Steve Weiss will get to like, he had this great piece before they get all that's happening for them to just pull the Saints pants down is kind of incredible. Like this is what rivalries are absolutely all about. And, Like the Falcons hate the fact that when you see all those old clips of what happened back in 2006 and you know, it's, it's the

home sweet dome stuff and all the fans out there. And of course it's the, the Gleason block and nothing's ever going to change that. Nothing's ever gonna replace that. And what that meant to them tonight, but they're here now and they're just trying to warm up to this team. Because they hated the Dennis Allen era. I mean, to go from Sean Payton to Dennis Allen was so disappointing.

And they know what good ball looks like and what well-managed ball looks like. It looks like this 2016, which was just shot out of a cannon out of nowhere to get to the NFC Championship game. And they're just trying, you know, after this offseason, they feel like they have a quarterback. We might have a coach. We've gotten our salary cap in order. I don't think we can overstate what an embarrassing, horrible loss this was and how much the Saints fans hated every moment of it. They ruined the juvenile Kirk Franklin performance at halftime, which was pretty great.

And I think the fans were still kind of into that, but they would have been so much more into that if the Falcons weren't just crushing them. And the Falcons, who have just seen themselves at those highlights for all these years, now get to like... like remember this one and bring this back up when the saints fans are just constantly mentioning 28 to three, 28 to three. They're like, bro, you're not even the Patriots fans. You have to shut up about 28 to three. Now they're going to bring up 45 to 24.

I think there was a moment.

I think it was the early in the second quarter where I was walking toward like my seating viewing area where I was watching this game. And I banged the back of my heel slash Achilles on the wooden underside of my couch and And I hit it so hard that I screamed the F word. And I actually, I wasn't crying because I was like actually crying, but it was, it brought actual tears gushing down my face. And I thought, actually, I am still having more fun right now than Saints.

Fans sitting in that crowd.

And in that moment, I felt equally lucky and satisfied for what was happening.

It's sports. It's why we love sports too, right? Because you can set up this whole thing, but you don't know what's going to happen tonight, right? Like you can set up all this emotion and all that was true before the game, but you can't plan what's going to happen. So You know, sometimes it goes like this. And yeah, some of those shots, you texted me about it, like the ownership booth shots. And just for a thought of for Gale Benson, because I think Dennis Allen partly lost the fans like he had already lost them. But when he got mad at Jameis Winston for running up the score because Jameis Winston called his own play against the Falcons against Dennis Allen's order. And Dennis Allen called him

out for that. Like that was the moment where he completely lost everyone. And I'm telling you, like there's a lot of fans that, that Kellen, Kellen Moore, I think lost them tonight. They're going to, he's going to have to get them back.

I am curious about how, if at all, the saints do come back from this, not saying on the field schematically, I'm saying sort of culturally in the locker room, because to me, Joe and Troy, again, noted it. And I think we're correct in doing so just some of the listlessness that that seemed to be apparent. And then just the, um, yes, that, you know, the offense was, was moving the ball, but it felt so like Sisyphean to watch Tyler Shuck, try to move the ball down the field, basically with one, one arm tied behind his back. Cause he had no run game and, you know, they're banged up on the offensive line, which Mickey Loomis has invested in, as you pointed out on social media, they have, you know, Travis

HN is out. Noel Fant, one of his favorite targets, is out. Jordan Tyson's obviously not been there. The receivers, when he was scrambling around trying to avoid the sacks, the receivers and he were not out of structure on the same page at times, and that's to be expected when you've got basically fill-in players at certain spots. It just felt to me like, what is it, Kellen, what is it that you're going to do to bring the juice here? Not to me, being known as a juice-forward individual, you know?

Juice-forward! You're absolutely right. He doesn't get you fired up. They're so good at third and long. if you're joining us on YouTube live, we appreciate you late on, on a Monday night. And you're seeing some awesome throws by Chuck tonight. I think Chuck played pretty well. I don't think Troy was just being pro quarterback. He's not perfect.

Like there, there are some times where he gets a little panicky in the pocket and he takes those sacks and the accuracy isn't like always on point, but he also had like seven or eight dimes in this game. And he was under pressure 50% of the time. It's just not a way to live. And it's, If you haven't watched the Saints this year, obviously they've been more competitive and much better overall in games, but this kind of is what the offenses look like. Offensively, it hasn't been that different. The difference is their defense just wasn't giving them any chance tonight. They haven't been that bad on defense, but it's a lot of him having to do trick shots. You can say, okay, your left tackle, Kelvin Banks, is out. You mentioned some of the other injuries.

That is all true, but then you look at what Jeff Ulbrich is working with on defense. Here are the players with multiple sacks for the Falcons tonight. Samson Ebicom, a journeyman with six. Cam Thomas, who's been good this year out of nowhere with five. Yasir Abdullah, a player I don't think anyone knows about outside linebacker. Mason Smith, who they traded for the Jaguars didn't want, has been very good for them this year. Brandon Dorless, who has emerged for them the last couple of years. Gervon Dexter, who has looked so good for them that they gave him a big contract extension a couple of weeks ago after trading for him from the bears. Like these are not big time names. He's not even having to blitz

that crazy. They are the ultimate playing as one and better than the names on the back of their Jersey because they're without one of their biggest stars, AJ Terrell. They're without James Pierce. They're without Jalen Walker and they've been awesome this year. And I give Ulbricht a ton of credit for that, but I think that's, Just a reminder, just because you're injured doesn't mean you can't show out on a big performance.

Well, that's what I mean when it's like I was asking the question, how do you kind of recoup from this or reconvene after something like this if you're the Saints? Because on the other side, there's identity. It's so clear in everything that that group is doing, and it's coming together, too, offensively and certainly runs through Bajon. But this Jeff Ulbrich-Falcons situation defense, I mean, of anybody, by the way, who would have. Really, really good reasons to not be fully there, present, fully ready to do the job after the horrible tragedy that he and his family suffered earlier this year. You, you have seen a connected group. You have seen him giving, you know, pouring everything into this in a way that

makes the whole greater than the sum of its parts. And I just think it's, it's really admirable the job that, that he's done. And I think when you, when you have identity like that, even when things go bad for you at the beginning of the season, like they did for the Falcons, especially on the offensive side, like that connectivity is what helps you rally like this.

And I, I just, I have yet to see it. I believe in Tyler Shuck.

I believe in a lot of players on this offense and I believe in a lot of players on this defense, you know, and, and I believe in what Brandon Staley had, had accomplished to this point, but I just, I just need to see them finish a game that you're losing like this in, in a, I guess, more creditable fashion even.

And I know it's hard and it's, it's not on the players.

To me, it's, it's a lot of it's, it's on the coaches and injuries and all this stuff, but you know, I just, I need to see them come back with some, you know, some enthusiasm, you know?

And look, I, I think on some level it is a player's problem. I, I don't love the players on defense. Chase Young, who had an incredible... I like a couple.

I mean, I like a couple.

Yeah, I mean, I like them. I like them. I guess what I'm saying is Chase Young is the difference maker on this defense. He's a Pro Bowl-level player right now, and he's been great. Caden Ellis is like a good veteran player, but where are the other plus-plus players? Who are you worried about? You know, Kool-Aid McKinistry until tonight has had like a solid season. And they're trying to do what Atlanta's doing, which is being greater than the sum of their parts. Yeah, exactly. I'm glad you mentioned Ulbricht. Yeah, his wife passed away earlier this year. I thought it was really touching the words that he had for Troy Aikman saying, like, how much this team, these guys has meant to him that they've given him so much and

that he wants to pour into them. And so that, you know, that highlights some of. what they've been through as a team, as a unit and what a story they've been. Cause frankly, they played well the first two weeks when they were losing, it was really all the offense that, that was the problem. They have a great formula.

Cause I think the running game can kind of get them leads and keep them off the field and they're better rushing the passer. So it all sets up well. And, and the effort is always there. And you kind of alluded to it. Let's have our last call of the night because when the Falcons put the 40 burger on the saints, this, this was the highlight to me. that set it all for where the effort level was for the Saints defense.

Robinson, a long back. Now Pennix will go under center hand to Brian one more time and he will step out of a tackle. Keep his balance and score. He went left side. Brad Robinson did. They thought they had him twice. He stepped out of two different tackles and score standing from 11 yards out to add more to the total.

Yeah. I mean, there's, there's some backups there. I think one of those was, Rajon Wright, Eric Reid's out there. Justin. Justin Reid. I had Eric Reid in the brain after the Kaepernick anniversary that happened recently. But, man, what a night for the Saints. And, yeah, a night for the haters. And, look, the Saints fans would have been giving it back even worse.

When Zedarius Smith was apparently concussed, and left this game. At first, they brought the stretcher out for him, and then he popped up and actually jogged off the field. When he jogged off the field, I heard some boos. I hate to laugh about this, but it's just fan hatred. And he had a smile on his face. And I think he even returned to the game briefly. I could be wrong. And then they ended up ruling him out.

But it was the Saints fans that were mad that he was down for a while. But then he popped up. They wouldn't have been booing if like he had been taken off. But it was like it's not great. But that's that's fan hatred. And then for the Falcons to just to just give it back. There are such things as entertaining blowouts. I consider that Seahawks Broncos Super Bowl like an incredibly entertaining blowout. Because this got so bad, I actually think this was quite an entertaining blowout, if not the result that the Saints wanted.

A couple of things that are on my radar.

How emphatically and, again, knowingly the broadcast talked about Kyle Pitts at the opening of the game, even to the point where when he was on the field in a shorter yardage passing situation as the game continued, they... sounded surprised by that. Just something that's sort of on my radar as we move closer towards the trade deadline, for example.

And then also on my radar was up in the booth, up in the owner's box, the Falcon side of it, it was Matt Ryan sitting directly next to Arthur Blank and two seats down in the four-man row was the GM of the team.

Ian Cunningham.

So as far That's on the total opposite side of where the owner's sitting. You know that they always talk about whoever, you know, it's the person who's sitting right next to the owner, which I think we all knew anyway, but that it's so blatant the way that it is is interesting to me. It's not good or bad. It's just something that is on my radar.

Yeah. I think Matt Ryan has the juice in almost a way that Mickey Loomis has had the juice in New Orleans for so long.

Yeah.

Juice forward individual is what you're saying? Or is it slightly different meaning?

By juice, I mean the one who has the ownership's ear. Mickey Loomis has been one of the most powerful non-owners in the league ever since Sean Payton left. And I don't know, that era could be ending soon. You know who else has the juice? Two people. Number one, Steve Weiss.

Yes.

Great piece that he put together on ESPN right before the game started. about the bonding between Michael Caine and the punter who was there on the field when Steve Gleason blocked that punt and them meeting for the first time since Steve Gleason got ALS all these years later at the site of the statue. Really touching. Find it on social media. Check it out. I think it'll really hit you and let Steve know if you enjoyed it, how much you enjoyed it, because it was a really great piece and badass by Steve. And also wanted to say, Kyrie. Kyrie, who's been producing these Monday nights, he found full-time employment. Talent.

He's a great talent, great producer, and we appreciate all the help that he's given us.

Talent speaks loudly, and Kyrie's got it.

Let's get out of here. Fun night. Not the fun I was expecting, but fun in kind of a dark way, which is what happens sometimes in New Orleans.

We're back.

Our next show is going to be QB Island. It's a big one. I don't know who's staying on this island. Who even deserves it at this point? Might be the most wildest QB Island ever. We'll see you then.

MNF Week 4 Recap: Legit Falcons Embarrass the Saints

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