NEW ORLEANS -- A few thoughts on the New Orleans Saints' 30-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome:
What it means: The Saints (6-9) are done. They were officially eliminated from playoff contention with their loss and the Carolina Panthers' win. And they have their offense to blame.
Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham and the offensive line all came up small with one of their worst performances yet in their biggest game to date -- against the NFL's 32nd-ranked defense, no less. The Saints tried to make things interesting with a late rally. But fittingly it ended with yet another forced interception by Brees when the Saints still had a chance to win with less than three minutes remaining.
It didn't help that the Saints had a potential Graham touchdown ruled as a fumble near the goal line early in the fourth quarter. But they put themselves in that position by coming up so small in the first three quarters.
Stock watch: This was easily one of Brees' worst performances of the entire season -- and the late interception was a microcosm of his entire year. The Saints were down by six points with 2:40 remaining with a chance to win the game. But he forced an out pass into the waiting arms of cornerback Robert McClain -- Brees' second interception of the game and 14th of the season.
Brees was very good at times this year, but he had way too many turnovers in big situations. As I wrote almost every other week this year, the Saints needed him to be Superman, and he wasn't.
He added a sack-fumble that was returned for an 86-yard touchdown by Osi Umenyiora on the final play of Sunday’s game -- the fifth sack of the day by a Falcons team that also ranked 32nd in the NFL in sacks before Sunday. Brees finished 30-of-47 for 313 yards and one TD.
Home flop: Stunningly, the Saints have now lost five straight games in the Superdome for the first time in a single season since 1980. Before that, they had won 20 straight home games with Sean Payton as coach, including the playoffs.
Game ball: For the second time this year, Saints kick returner Jalen Saunders gets the game ball for providing the team's only spark. His 99-yard return on the opening kickoff set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Mark Ingram before the offense went to sleep for the rest of the day.
Up next: The Saints will finish the season at Tampa Bay (2-13) in a game that only matters for draft positioning.
