“A Big Huge No-Show” - Rich on the Saints’ 45-24 Blowout Loss to the Falcons on MNF

Some losses only cost you a game in the standings. Rich thinks the Saints' Monday night loss to the Falcons cost them something bigger. "That was just a big huge no-show against a team they hate," he said.

The stakes, in his view, had nothing to do with the record. "I'm not talking about wins and losses for the standings," Rich said. "I'm talking about for the city and for the dome, for the culture." On a night when the building was full of people who showed up for a good reason, the team did not.

That is a jarring turn for a season that had real promise in it. Rich walked through it: a close loss in Detroit in Week 1 that left New Orleans feeling poised, a win in Baltimore in Week 2 to get to 1-1, and then a home game against Las Vegas that they had in hand before turning it over four times in the fourth quarter. That Raiders team, Rich noted, just went toe to toe with the Chiefs and is, as he said on Monday's show, "full real."

Monday night was different. "They had the doors blown off them," he said. Defensively, "they had no answers." Rich pointed to a revealing moment from the broadcast, when Troy Aikman described talking with Saints defensive coordinator Brandon Staley before the game. According to Aikman, they sensed Staley knew he did not have the right pieces to stop Atlanta. "And sure enough, it was borne out," Rich said.

There was one thing Rich liked: how the quarterback handled it. He is 27, not as young as people think, but Rich called him "a very prideful guy," and his postgame answer was exactly what a franchise wants to hear. "It's extremely disappointing. It's embarrassing," he said, praising the fans for showing up and acknowledging what the game meant. "We fell short as a team," he continued, adding that the offense has to start faster against another really good offense. "We got to do a lot better there, and it starts with myself."

The good news is that it is only four games in. The bad news is the schedule. Next up is an undefeated Minnesota team in Week 5, though Rich sees an opening there. Even if Justin Jefferson returns, he said the Vikings offense with Kyler Murray looks lost. "Just play the way that the Dolphins defense did and you got yourself a shot in that dome," he said. "You always do."

After that comes a trip to the resurgent 3-1 Giants, a team that seems to win regardless of who plays quarterback, and then the Steelers in the first game ever played in Paris before the bye. Rich's prescription for all of it: fix the defense, and treat this as "a check the mirror game."

He also insisted his reaction had nothing to do with switching his pick to the Saints before kickoff and watching them lose. He just thought the atmosphere made it a wrap. Instead, the Falcons kept hitting them in the mouth, with new team president Matt Ryan in the building. "That was a big win for the Falcons," Rich said.