For a New Orleans Saints team with four defensive starters on the inactive list Monday night, it would've been easy to make excuses for the poor performance against the Atlanta Falcons.
Instead, after allowing 217 rushing yards and having zero takeaways, the Saints players took their lumps after an ugly 45-32 loss to their division rival at home.
"That was embarrassing," free safety Jairus Byrd said.
The depleted Saints defense simply had no recourse as Atlanta running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman created play after play at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The young running back duo finished with 296 yards from scrimmage.