New Orleans Saints' massive nightmare strikes in Week 4 loss to Atlanta Falcons

The New Orleans Saints hype train has hit the brakes a bit. They fall to 2-2 after a loss to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 4. With the loss, they drop to third in the NFC South.

Additionally, the Saints continued to suffer major injuries to key players during the matchup.

Taysom Hill & Tyrann Mathieu leave with injury

Both Hill and Mathieu did not return after exiting. Hill scored two touchdowns in the first half before leaving with an injured abdomen. He was banged up entering the week, with a chest injury.

Mathieu was also dealing with an injury ahead of this game. He practiced throughout the week, though, and started. His status going forward is unknown.

Will Harris and Jordan Howden were the safety duo for much of the second half of football. Adam Prentice saw more fullback snaps after Hill left.

Offensive line injuries slow Saints offense

On some occasions, the running game mimicked 2023's rushing attack for New Orleans.

Instant pressure on Alvin Kamara after getting the handoff from Derek Carr.

Losing Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz prior to this game showed up in a massive way for the Saints.

Kamara made the most of his touches, though. He once again totaled over 100 yards from scrimmage. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry.

Carr was under some heat on a handful of occasions, too. Trevor Penning did not play his best game, and overall, the right side of the line had some overarching issues.

New Orleans desperately needs to get healthier, but that won't be easy. Their bye week is not until Week 12 .

Keep an eye out for long-term updates on Taysom and Mathieu. Both are massively important pieces for the black and gold.

Related: NFL adds a brand new layer to Saints-Eagles "dirty hit" controversy before Week 4