There is no denying that the Atlanta Falcons played awful against a team on a seven-game losing streak. It was a disappointing loss, especially when you consider the opponent, and many players failed to step up.
That said, there is reason to think this will be an outlier when the season concludes.
Atlanta Falcons Week 10 disappointment shouldn't have you worried
Divisional games are the most difficult games you play every year. Until Week 10, the Atlanta Falcons had overcome those tough games with some end-of-game wins.
Struggling against a divisional opponent is to be expected every season. Rarely do teams go undefeated in their division and while it appeared like the Falcons were on track to do that, we shouldn't have expected it.
The other part of the equation is that the Saints fired their head coach this week. The Falcons' coaching staff didn't have film on interim head coach Darren Rizzi's tendencies.
You could feel going into Sunday's game that the Falcons would have to grind out a win if they wanted to stay perfect in their division. They kept themselves in the game despite their offense and special teams struggling.
Moving forward, the offense needs to erase Sunday's game from their memory, Younghoe Koo needs to get his accuracy back, and the defense needs to continue their strong play.
Don't be too worried about this game. If you had been told before the season that the Falcons would be 5-1 in their division, you would've taken it—even if the loss came against the Saints.
Expect the offense to get back on track on Sunday against a tough Denver defense. As for Koo, we will have to see if he can get back on track.