The New Orleans Saints got absolutely flattened by their NFC South-rival Falcons on Monday night, losing 45-24 at home in the Caesars Superdome. This was their third defeat of the year, and let’s be real, it was brutal. They trailed by as many as 28 points with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter. After the game, veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan didn’t hold back, giving a message to his team that honestly, you gotta respect. “We got to look at the film to see how we can get better, because it can’t get worse than that s—,” Jordan said on Monday night after the Week 4 loss. Dude was visibly upset, saying, “Yeah, I doubt I’m sleeping much tonight. There are things that we have to do.”
The Defensive Line Got Shredded, And Jordan Blames Them
You wanna know why Jordan was so heated? The Saints’ defense gave up a mind-boggling 205 rushing yards to the Falcons. That’s just wild, especially against a division rival at home. Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson tore them up, rushing for a 59-yard touchdown on just the third play of the game. He ended up with two scores and 145 yards on the ground. Then his teammate, Brian Robinson Jr., piled on with 62 rushing yards and *three* touchdowns. That’s not just bad, that’s historically bad.
Jordan directly called out his unit for this disaster. “Two hundred yards rushing? That’s on the defensive line,” he said, pulling no punches. “When you have a ground game like that, you have to look at your defensive line and say, ‘Hey, we got to tighten up!’ It didn’t happen this game, 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 today. F—— embarrassing.” And he’s right to be that blunt. Through four games, this Saints defense is dead last in the NFL, surrendering the most points at 32.0 per game. They are 30th in opponent points (147.8 per game) and 26th in opponent total yards (360.3 per game). They’ve only managed eight combined sacks all season. That’s a mess.
A Total Team Failure, But There’s Some Offensive Hope?
It wasn’t just the defense that Jordan took issue with. He called it a complete team breakdown. “We got punched in the mouth early, and you’re looking to respond,” he explained. “It’s one of those games where we weren’t good enough on offense, defense and special teams.” Even quarterback Tyler Shough was on board with the fan frustration, saying he’d “boo, too” after such a divisional loss. It’s tough when your offense can only muster 50 rushing yards themselves, especially when the other team is running all over you.
But hey, if you’re looking for any tiny glimmer of light in this whole frustrating situation, the Saints offense hasn’t been completely horrible, statistically. Through four games, they’re actually fourth in passing yards (278.5 per game), ninth in total yards (367.0 per game), and tenth in points (26.3 per game). They’re just 27th in rushing yards (88.5 per game), which definitely doesn’t help. Still, Jordan, an eight-time Pro Bowler in his 16th season with the Saints and their all-time sacks leader, knows what a winning team looks like. He’s had a quiet start to the year with only four combined tackles in three games, after posting 10.5 sacks last season. His passion is still there, though, and it’s clear he expects more. “If you truly love this s—, you’ll be in there early in the morning,” he said. “There is no off-day.” That’s the mentality they need.
Next up for the Saints, they’ve got to find a way to tighten things up because losing to a division rival like this, in Jordan’s words, “is damn near worth two games.” They cannot let this happen again.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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