And then there were none.
The Atlanta Falcons took a perfect 8-0 record into New Orleans on Sunday afternoon in Week 10, and came up short on the road in a 31-27 loss.
But this loss was not without several missed opportunities, that included two goal line stands by a Saints defense that has been pretty awful all season long. Twice in the fourth quarter, Atlanta was on the two-yard line.
They came away with a total of three points between those chances.
The most important was the four-downs stop by New Orleans with the Falcons trying to take the lead inside three minutes of the game. The Falcons were unable to convert on the first three downs, with quarterback Matt Ryan throwing an unsuccessful crossing route to receiver Roddy White on fourth down.
The Falcons turned it over on downs.
Atlanta stopped New Orleans on three-straight plays, forcing a punt with under a minute to go. Ryan has the most fourth quarter comebacks of any player since 2008. But when asked to step up again, the Saints answered the call, forcing Atlanta into another fourth down. That attempt failed, and the Falcons suffered their first loss of the season.
It’s not all bad for Atlanta though. Many teams who go undefeated this long almost feel better losing that first game. It takes the pressure off, and eliminates the undefeated questions. The distractions are less, and it returns to business as usual.
The Falcons were aided by Houston beating Chicago as well, as Atlanta still holds the best record in the NFC by one game over the Bears.
But what’s also getting lost in this, is that the saints have found their groove again, and are now 4-5 and in position to make a second-half run towards the postseason.
With the defense appearing to be making more plays, we already knew the offense could put up some points. New Orleans might be the team to watch over the final weeks.