The Falcons were defeated by the New Orleans Saints on Thanksgiving night, 26-18, falling to 3-9 on the season. Despite a valiant comeback effort, this team continues to struggle in front of its fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, losing a fifth of six home games this season.

Here’s a look at how the Falcons’ offense, defense and special teams units fared on Thursday night’s disappointing yet predictable loss.

Offense

With Julio Jones out, Matt Ryan had to look to Calvin Ridley, Russell Gage and Christian Blake. Atlanta started slow, and wasted an early drive by failing on a fourth-and-short inside the five. The running game was a tad better, but Matt Ryan’s two second-half interceptions killed any realistic comeback attempt — until the Falcons recovered two onside kicks (and technically three with a penalty calling back the first). Still, it was too little, too late. Sound familiar?

Defense

Defensively, the Falcons were put in a bad spot after a first-quarter punt block, giving the Saints an easy score to go up 7-0. From there, Atlanta’s defense tightened up. If the offense had controlled the ball a little better, we’d probably be talking about how well they played. Still, it was another sack-less game for Atlanta, which is inexcusable given what we’ve seen this team do against the same New Orleans team three weeks ago.

Special Teams

After a quick three-and-out on the team’s opening possession, Atlanta had a punt blocked and the Saints quickly scored a touchdown a few plays later. Kicker Younghoe Koo missed a field goal and an extra point. He’d later make his next two and keep the Falcons in the game.

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