The New Orleans Saints walked into their divisional matchup against the Atlanta Falcons hoping to turn the tide. Instead, the afternoon quickly became a painful reminder of how far they still have to go. For veteran defensive end Cam Jordan, the loss was not just disappointing, as it exposed the problems across every phase of the team.
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After watching the Falcons take control of the New Orleans Saints’ home game played at the Caesars Superdome, with a 45-24 win, Jordan admitted what went wrong.
“Yeah, I doubt I’m sleeping much tonight, there’s things that we have to do. It’s so upsetting. I hate that we had a slow start, we got punched in our mouths early, and then you’re looking to respond.
“It’s one of those games where we weren’t good enough on offense, defense, and special teams. And you look over the second half, fight back. When you have a division rival, it’s damn near worth two games.”
The Saints struggled to settle in from the opening drive, allowing Atlanta to gain control before New Orleans could produce. The slow start proved to be costly, especially against a divisional rival where every possession and mistake carries added weight.
For Jordan, the problem could not be pinned on one unit.
Atlanta’s rushing attack continuously put pressure on the Saints’ defense, forcing the secondary unit to become more involved in stopping the run.
“When you have outcomes come into our building, you got to be able to get behind you, not like, what, almost 200 yards rational? That’s on the defensive line. You can’t look anywhere else. When you have a ground game like that, you have to look at your defensive line and say, “Hey, we got to tighten up,” Jordan added.
Jordan also pointed to the consequences for the secondary, which had to shift its attention toward stopping Atlanta’s rushing attack.
“So our secondary had to come down and try to focus on the run, and that’s where they get to have their way. They had their way, but it’s embarrassing.”
For Jordan, the result was especially difficult to digest because of what the matchup represented. Divisional games can carry great consequences, making poor performance against familiar opponents even more devastating.
Jordan’s comments underscored the urgency facing the Saints. Fighting back after a terrible start showed some resilience, but resilience cannot solely brush away the issues that allowed Atlanta to take over.