Sloppy Falcons Give Away Win to Saints, Highlight Biggest Obstacle in 2015

The Atlanta Falcons have made an ugly habit out of falling behind early in games this season. In fact, the team has trailed at the end of the first half in all but two of their first six games so far.

So, playing from behind is nothing new for the Falcons, but continuous early deficits are a dangerous thing to flirt with in the NFL. Play sloppy football and fall behind enough, and you'll eventually see it come back to haunt you.

That's exactly what happened to the Falcons in their Week 6 loss to the division-rival New Orleans Saints.

On their first drive of the game—they were already down 7-0 at that point—Matt Ryan drove the Falcons down to the Saints' 39-yard line, fumbled on fourth down (he recovered that fumble), and the team turned the ball over on downs.

They were able to hold the Saints on defense, but when the offense got the ball back, they sputtered. When the special-teams unit took the field, the line collapsed and allowed a world of pressure up the middle that led to a blocked punt and another Saints touchdown.

At this point, with just 13 minutes off the clock, the score was already 14-0 in favor of the home team.

The Falcons were able to trim the lead to just seven points on their ensuing drive, but they unraveled and fumbled to end each of their next two drives.

It wasn't the fumbles themselves that cost the Falcons though, it was the manner in which they fumbled. On both occasions, the Falcons turned the ball over deep in the Saints' side of the field.

The first came on the back end of a 17-yard Tevin Coleman run that would have set the Falcons up with a first-and-goal opportunity at the Saints' nine-yard line.

The second fumble ended a 57-yard drive and came in the form of a botched snap at the Saints' 17-yard line.

At the very least, those two drives should have resulted in field goals, which would have set the Falcons up with only a one-point deficit to overcome.

Instead, the team's first eight drives were essentially a blueprint on how to lose a football game.

Drive #	Yards Traveled	Drive Result	Saints Starting Position for Following Drive	Result of Following Drive
1	34	Turnover on Downs	NO 39	Punt
2	-4	Blocked Punt	--	Touchdown on Punt Block
3	80	Touchdown	--	Punt
4	61	Fumble	NO 9	Punt
5	57	Fumble	NO 17	Missed Field Goal
6	14	End of First Half	--	--
7	16	Punt	NO 31	Field Goal
8	2	Punt	NO 37	Touchdown

Still, despite all the missteps, the Falcons found themselves down just seven points when the first half came to an end.

What's most incredible, though, is that the tone of the game didn't change much in the second half. 

After being held scoreless in the third quarter—they totaled just 18 yards on their first two drives of the quarter—the Falcons trekked down the field, converted on a gutsy decision to go for it on fourth down and scored to bring themselves back within 10.

Sloppy play reared its ugly head again.

After a Saints touchdown to expand the lead back out to 17, the Falcons fumbled on third down while pinned deep in their own territory. Though they were able to recover their own fumble and get a punt off, they set the Saints up with prime field position.

The Falcons would eventually miss a field goal, and the Saints countered with a late score to draw back within 10. Unfortunately for the visitors, the game was already well out of reach.

The Falcons' struggles culminated in perhaps the most fitting way to end any delusions of a comeback, a sack and fumble with 24 seconds left on the game clock.

All told, it was an ugly performance, and an even uglier loss for a team that has repeatedly put themselves in similar positions. The only difference this time was that the Falcons were unable to rebound from their mistakes, and they caught a team that happens to be trending in the right direction.

Devonta Freeman made a point of this in his post-game comments, per ESPN, stating that, "We made mistakes early on and it cost us. I feel like we beat ourselves, but they're a talented team and they did a lot of great things tonight."

Freeman is spot on in his analysis of the problems that plagued Atlanta this week, but to be fair, the Falcons haven't had an issue with turning the ball over through the early stages of the season. In fact, coming into this Week 6 matchup with the Saints, Atlanta had turned the ball over just five times—good for the fourth-best mark in the NFL.

Over the next three weeks, Atlanta will face off against the Tennessee Titans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers before heading into their bye week.

On paper, this is a rather soft stretch of games. However, repeatedly turning the ball over—most notably fumbling—like they did against the Saints could prove disastrous for a team with otherwise legitimate playoff aspirations.

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