3 Atlanta Falcons to blame for squandering a great chance to run away with NFC South

While seeing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drop to 4-6 with a loss to the San Francisco 49ers is a nice consolation prize, the Atlanta Falcons royally screwed up in a very winnable game on Sunday. The rival New Orleans Saints were riding a seven-game losing streak and just fired their head coach. Yet for whatever reason, the Falcons were not sharp enough in all three phases to win the ballgame.

Offensively, it was a bit of a struggle at times. Defensively, there were too many breakdowns and not enough pass rush to take advantage of a reeling Saints team. Specials teams, well, it was a nightmare. Atlanta is still in a good position to win the NFC South for the first time in eight years. The Falcons are two games up on the Buccaneers and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, but this Saints split stinks!

With a critical game vs. the Denver Broncos next Sunday at Mile High before the bye, the Falcons need to get their collective stuff together to ensure everyone in the NFC that this team is legit. Losing rivalry games happens all the time, but you could have thought a sweep of the Saints was in order for the Falcons. It just goes to show that you cannot get off the bus and expect to win any football game.

So let's blame some Falcons for this loss, starting with their fringe MVP candidate who is no more.

3. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins

Even though Kirk Cousins did not play terribly, he was not as good as the team needed him to be to counterbalance an impressive showing from Derek Carr. Cousins completed 23-of-38 passes for 306 yards and an interception. He also put the ball on the ground twice, but did not lose either fumble. The interception to Tyrann Mathieu late was his worst play of the game. Cousins played out of sorts today.

In the embarrassing 20-17 loss to the Saints, I felt that Cousins was not quite the overpowering force to fully command the offense, especially in the passing game. Running back Bijan Robinson had a fantastic game, with Tyler Allgeier playing well backing him up. Not all of Cousins' passes were crisp, as many were tipped at the line of scrimmage. The Saints just seemed to be locked in on defense.

The good news for Cousins is there are plenty of great things he did on tape to build on. The bad news is Cousins' NFL MVP campaign is probably over with and done. It could return at some point, but this is a loss to an opponent not of quality that could prove to be the ultimate trump card. Cousins had a chance to go 5-0 in NFC South play, but he did not step up in crucial moments when required.

Again, he did not play poorly, but an NFL MVP would have found a way to just win that game anyway.

2. Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake

I don't know if this is fair, but I am just going to go for it. When the Falcons hired Jimmy Lake as their defensive coordinator on Raheem Morris' first staff, this is exactly what I was worried about. No, I have not been sitting on this all season long; I just have a great memory. My concern was that player development was always going to be self-taught under his coaching style. Where is the pass rush?

I kept waiting for Derek Carr to make a mistake like he was prone to do. Instead, we have him thinking he can complete a 3-and-forever with his legs and nearly get there. As I watch this defense, there are a bunch of smart football players at all three levels, but ones that I feel at times freelance a bit too much. For as toothless as the pass rush is, I hate seeing this secondary start to give up the big play.

Originally, I was going to have cornerback Clark Phillips III on here all on his own, but there were enough breakdowns defensively across the board to merit him not being singled out as such. Okay, I may have just done that, but Lake's bend but don't break defense never allows the Falcons to win games comfortably. The offense can hang with anyone, but the defense is just bad enough to not.

While I sincerely doubt that Morris will move on from Lake after one season, I have some concerns.

1. Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo

This is as merited as it is cruel. Atlanta does not beat New Orleans in Atlanta back in Week 4 without the leg of Younghoe Koo. However, his three missed field goals contributed to Atlanta losing by three. I understand that one was blocked, another hit the upright and one was from over 50 yards out, but miss, miss, miss... It may be loud at the Superdome, but it is a freaking dome, bro. Make your kicks!

The absolute work part in all this is doubt has crept into Koo's head, as well as the rest of the team and fanbase. Koo may be a legendary placekicker for Atlanta, but when he misses, he misses in bunches. This is why he was cut as a rookie when he was a member of the Los Angeles Chargers. The former Georgia Southern star has found a home in Atlanta, but he was kicking in ideal conditions.

Had he gone 1-for-4 on field goal tries in the pouring rain, a blizzard or a freaking tornado, I would be a little more understanding. Regardless, losing games because of special teams always sting worse. Atrocious special teams is why the Saints allowed the Falcons back in Week 4. To be fair, this rivalry series should have been a split. The weird part is each team won a game it really had no business in.

For now, we need to see if Kirk Cousins and the offense can put Koo in easier kicking situations.