| Good morning. Welcome to the latest edition of the Saints Insider newsletter, and we've got a lot to discuss after the Saints fell to .500 with a gut-punching loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Let's dive in. Heartbreak city Our Jeff Duncan had a fascinating stat in his day-after column that sums up the Saints' situation well: New Orleans is just 8-14 in one-score games under coach Dennis Allen. That doesn't reflect well on Allen in his third year at the helm. And Dunc' nails that the Saints have to learn how to reverse this trend. "A win would have given the Saints a two-game lead over Atlanta," Duncan writes, "The Falcons — everyone’s pick to win the division in the preseason — would have been forced to play catchup with the Saints and Bucs the rest of the way." Vibe shiftThe other notable part about losing two straight games is how quickly the vibe around a team can shift. Derek Carr said after the loss that no one on the Saints is pointing fingers, and while that may be true, several players expressed their frustration. "It feels like every close game, every big-time game, we’re just not winning,” wide receiver Chris Olave said. “So I’m tired of hearing we’ve got a good team. We’ve got to find a way.” I wrote about how the Saints are in the same spot as last year, having squandered a 2-0 lead after a promising start. Please check that out if you could be so kind. Player focusLet's focus on four specific players who had noticeable performances against the Falcons. 🗞️ Alvin Kamara deserves his flowers for battling through broken ribs and being the engine of the Saints' offense, Rod Walker writes. 🗞️ Chris Olave also was dealing with a hamstring injury, and Luke Johnson wrote about how the wide receiver still managed to deliver. 🗞️ Paulson Adebo didn't have his best day against the Falcons, who made him pay for his overly aggressive coverage. 🗞️ Rashid Shaheed explained his blunder on his crucial muffed punt that ended up making a huge difference in Sunday's loss. Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for reading and we'll have a lot more the rest of the week. Take care, Matthew Paras | 