What we learned from the Saints' loss to the Atlanta Falcons | Saints

The New Orleans Saints lost a heartbreaker on Sunday when Younghoe Koo hit a 58-yard field goal with two seconds left to give the Atlanta Falcons a 26-24 victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.

Here's what we learned from the game:

Gives and takes

The Saints entered the game with an aggressive attitude and lived and died by their courageous approach as it progressed.

First, the good. Dennis Allen rolled the dice late in the game, and his aggressiveness paid off in the form of a go-ahead touchdown.

Trailing 23-17 with just over four minutes left, the Saints attempted a fourth-and-goal touchdown at the 7 but came up empty when Derek Carr threw an incomplete pass to Rashid Shaheed in the end zone.

While the Saints didn't score, the aggressive move sent a message to the players and they responded.

On the Falcons' next possession, the Saints' powerful defense forced a quick three-pointer and the offense got the ball back into Atlanta territory with more than three minutes to play, needing just one more touchdown to win.

The offense rallied with a nine-play, 52-yard touchdown drive to take a 24-23 lead on Alvin Kamara's 1-yard touchdown run.

However, the Saints' aggressive man-to-man defensive approach gave them trouble on the Falcons' ensuing possession, when Paulson Adebo was assessed a 30-yard pass interference penalty for a single coverage on Darnell Mooney. The penalty put the Falcons in position to score Younghoe Koos' game-winning 58-yard field goal.

Double trouble

The Saints dominated the first half, but trailed Atlanta 17-14 at halftime due to two disastrous turnovers.

Rashid Shaheed's fumble on Brad Pinion's first punt was recovered by KhaDarel Hodge in the end zone for a touchdown. The normally confident Shaheed never seemed comfortable under the punt, turning around as he tried to land it inside his own 5-yard line and dropping the ball.

Later, Troy Andersen intercepted a deflected pass from Derek Carr and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown. It was the second pick-6 in the last two meetings with the Falcons in Atlanta. Jessie Bates had a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown last season.

In the first half, the Saints outscored the Falcons 179-170 yards and 14-6 on first downs, but found themselves at the bottom of the scoreboard due to two big turnovers. These mistakes would come back to haunt them in the second half.

Missed opportunity

The loss, coupled with Tampa Bay's win over Philadelphia, pushed the Saints (2-2) out of first place in the NFC South and missed a golden opportunity to put the Falcons (2-2) in a big gap early in the division race bring to .

The setback was particularly difficult to swallow after the Saints fought hard in the final minutes to take the lead despite being undermanned on both sides of the ball.

The offense played without starters Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz and lost Taysom Hill to an abdominal injury in the first half.

In the second half, the Saints were without four regular players due to injuries. Demario Davis missed the game with a hamstring injury and Willie Gay (hand), Alontae Taylor and Tyrann Mathieu (groin) were sidelined by various illnesses.

A win would have reduced the Falcons to 1-3 and given the Saints a two-game lead in the NFC South. Now the injury-plagued Saints are on a two-game losing streak and face the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs on the road next Monday night in Kansas City.