Derek Carr fooled us all again before turning back to a pumpkin

It was a crazy game that went down to the wire, one where the New Orleans Saints had to be kicking themselves over afterward. New Orleans is riding a two-game losing streak after a 2-0 start to the season. Falling on the road to the arch-rival Atlanta Falcons when their backs were up against it certainly stings, but it was the manner in which the Saints let the Falcons back in this one that stinks.

Atlanta did not score an offensive touchdown but still managed to win this critical Week 4 game over the Saints, 26-24. The Falcons' two touchdowns came from the special teams and the defense. Rashid Shaheed muffing a punt he should not have even attempted to field allowed for KhaDarel Hodge to get on top of it in the end zone. Then, there was the pick-six thrown by one Derek Carr ...

Give Matthew Judon a ton of credit for getting his hands up on the pass rush. The tipped pass at the line of scrimmage, set up by Carr trying to throw sidearm to counterbalance resulted in six points the other way. Troy Andersen had tremendous awareness to take this one to the house. Atlanta's four other scores on the afternoon were off the toe of Younghoe Koo, who nailed a 58-yard game-winner.

Given that his counterpart Kirk Cousins did not play, it just magnified Carr's shortcomings even more.

Derek Carr's shortcomings are why New Orleans Saints fell back to earth

Statistically, Carr outplayed Cousins. He completed 28-of-26 passes for 239 yards, but one interception. Cousins was a tad less accurate, as he completed 21-of-35 passes for 238 yards and a pick. Still, as the game started to reach a critical point, Carr leaned on his teammates like running back Alvin Kamara, as opposed to being the aggressor like Cousins was trying to be for the Falcons.

On the afternoon, the Saints' three touchdowns all came from the run. Inspector Gadget Taysom Hill took it in twice himself before having to exit the game with an abdominal injury. The Atlanta area native Kamara scored the go-ahead touchdown inside two minutes to make it 24-23 Saints. While Carr did complete some big passes for Chris Olave and company, again, we were all expecting more.

The frustrating part about this for the Saints is this is Carrs' second year with the team. He may have a new offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak, but he knows pretty much all of his New Orleans teammates well. As for Cousins, not only is he coming off the worst injury of his career, he has to learn things about all of his new teammates, as well as the intricacies of a first-time play-caller at OC.

In short, New Orleans had a slight coaching advantage in this game, and let a Falcons staff who is still trying to figure it out hold serve at home in the first leg of the biennial rivalry series. Atlanta is 2-0 in conference play with wins over the Saints and a team New Orleans lost to two weeks ago in the reeling Philadelphia Eagles. The Saints have to pick up the pieces, while Atlanta is on a short week.

Overall, you could feel the momentum shift in the tight NFC South race as soon as Koo's career-long field goal went through the uprights with seconds to spare. Tampa Bay looks strong, and Atlanta will get their first taste of the Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football this week. Right now, the Saints need to go back to the drawing board to figure out how Carr can be the one to win them games.

The Saints have a brutal road test, as they will face the Kansas City Chiefs for Monday Night Football.