Well, the New Orleans Saints definitely needed hat one and while it did not come as easily as they would have liked, they found a way to win. Concerted efforts were clear when it came to getting playmakers involved, though there were still some curious decisions about when the team’s best personnel was taken off the field. Despite those continued concerns, though, New Orleans was aggressive in the passing game, showed some more diversity in their approach with running back Alvin Kamara and completely eliminated the Atlanta Falcons’ passing game from minutes 1 through 60.
Though the Saints surrendered 235 rushing yards, letting up over 200 for the third time this season and allowing their third individual rusher (rookie running back Tyler Allgeier) to cross the century mark, they did enough to win. They will not always be pretty, but the will not always be wins either. Taking the good with the bad, here are seven takeaways from Sunday’s win over, and sweep of, the Falcons: