If I had told you going into this game that Desmond Ridder would pass for under 100 yards and the Saints would score 21 points, your guess would likely have been that Atlanta lost this one. The exact manner of the loss—how close it was, how dominant the ground game ended up being, the heroism of individual defenders in a tough effort after a shocking pregame injury knocked out Dean Pees—would have been difficult to outline.
It was more of the same from the Falcons, albeit with a slightly different cast of characters. They once again lost a close game—they’re 4-7 in those this season, one year after going 7-2—and they once again dropped a divisional game they really wanted to win despite some late defensive feistiness.