Baffling late-game decisions doom Saints in loss to Falcons

The New Orleans Saints may have looked like Super Bowl contenders through the first two weeks of the season, but poor game management by head coach Dennis Allen has made the promising start to the season go south.

After an aggressive fourth-down call one week ago against the Eagles, poor playcalling and a baffling fourth-down call ended up being pivotal turning points in New Orleans' 26-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

New Orleans faced a third-and-goal at Atlanta's five-yard line with 4:46 to play. In a classic passing situation, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak opted to run the football to the right — the notoriously weaker side of the Saints' offensive line — resulting in Kamara losing two yards.

Kicking a field goal seemed like the obvious call given the Saints defense had only allowed six points all day and had kept Atlanta's offense in check. But rather than take the points and cut the deficit to three, the Saints decided to be aggressive, going for it on fourth-and-goal from the seven-yard line.

On a play that looked eerily similar to many goal-line calls for the Saints in 2023, Derek Carr's pass to Rashid Shaheed fell incomplete, rendering a methodical drive useless.

While the Saints were able to get a stop and score on their ensuing drive, they only held a one-point lead when Kirk Cousins and the Falcons got the ball back with one minute to play. A pass interference penalty on Paulson Adebo got Atlanta into field goal range, with Younghoe Koo effortlessly knocking a 58-yard field goal through the uprights to give the Falcons their second win of the season.

If New Orleans had opted to kick the field goal before the following series of events, Atlanta would've needed a miraculous touchdown on its final drive to win the game.

If Allen and the Saints want to prove the naysayers wrong and make a run to the postseason, improving late-game decisions must be at the top of the agenda. It's past time for Allen — a veteran coach with plenty of talent at his disposal — to win big games consistently, or risk seeing his second tenure as an NFL coach burn out.