ATLANTA -- There the Atlanta Falcons were muddling along like it was 1999, and you were worried.

Early on, the running game was more a jogging game, and Matt Ryan was quite mortal, and Atlanta trailed New Orleans.

Ohhhh, you thought, please no. Don’t let this happen.

You worried more when Matt Ryan couldn't corral a bad snap -- remember, he was having a mortal spell -- and the Saints converted it quickly to a touchdown and 10-0 lead.

Worried? Well, where there’s a Ryan, there’s a way.

But as anybody who pays attention knows, the same goes for Drew Brees, and that’s why New Orleans slipped past New Orleans 17-14 Monday night.

Brees has not yet passed down the scepter as perhaps the NFC’s top quarterback -- not even to eventual successor Ryan -- and no reasonable person was expecting him to.

The Falcons barely missed him all night.

“He’s not just going to go down,” Atlanta defensive end John Abraham said. “You get close like that, and he’s still looking at receivers. Third and short, third and long, we got him right where we want him, and he completes a pass for a first down and keeps us on the field.

“That millisecond is what lost the game.”

And the Falcons had too many missed tackles when they should have dropped Brees. Thus, the Saints moved when they had to, and did a nice job controlling the ball, usually Atlanta’s modus operandi. New Orleans had a 13-minute advantage in time of possession.

It was all Abraham could do to talk about it.

“There are so many plays we could have had and left out there,” he said. “This is a rivalry. This is a big game for everybody. I was trying to downplay it all week, but this is a big game.

“Now they got bragging rights. It’s gonna hurt me all year till next year.

And as for the game itself?

“I don’t even want to watch film,” he said. “I know it’s going to be so terrible.”

Indeed, this game was won by the team that didn’t play as mediocre as the other one.

Brees followed one fancy flip to avoid a sack with a brutal short heave – nobody has the arm to make such a pass – that was picked off by Chauncey Davis and returned for a touchdown.

Ryan fumbled a snap that New Orleans converted, and Michael Turner lost it inside the 2.

“It was everybody,” fullback Ovie Mughelli said, noting mostly Turner’s fumble. “The offensive line got stood up. Even me. I tried to get the push, I got stood up and Mike ran into the back of me.”

The offense took no advantage of Abraham’s interception, and built up no momentum after Chauncey Davis took an ill-advised toss back for a score.

Atlanta’s offense scored once.

Offensive lineman Tyson Clabo struggled to comprehend how pedestrian his group was.

“Offensively, I’m extremely disappointed in our effort,” he said. “It was, I mean, I guess you have to give them the credit. It’s 11 on 11. We couldn’t’, we couldn’t do anything. It was bad.

“I think we’re a talented group. But if production is as bad as it was (Monday) … That’s not getting the most out of what we have.”

To be sure, 215 yards on 52 plays brings back nightmarish memories for long-time Atlanta watchers. Ryan was only 15-of-29 for 148 yards, less than half of Brees’ 302.

Receiver Michael Jenkins had a nice game, which bodes well down the line to free up Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, who teamed to catch five passes for 55 yards. White wasn’t mincing words.

“This is probably one of our worst showings,” he said. “We didn’t do anything right. I don’t know what else to say.”

It was quite a humbling night, especially for those who for some reason thought the Falcons were absolutely unbeatable at home, even against the defending Super Bowl champs and a surgical quarterback.

One needn’t ask the analytical mind of Bill Parcells - or even Lou Holtz - to observe that the Falcons were living on somewhat borrowed time.

Remember how they won in New Orleans: missed field goal from point-after-touchdown range. Sure, that was a great drive to win it, but they only got the chance because of an easy kick that detoured away from the goalpost.

Recall the extraction of victory over lowly San Francisco at home out of the blue with a rare play: hustle and a strip and a fumble recovery. Had the 49ers played remotely fundamentally on that interception and just fallen down, they win.

The Falcons almost blew the Cincinnati game after leading 24-3 in the Dome. And held on against Tampa Bay at home by six and held on against Baltimore at home by five and survived Green Bay at home by three.

Of Atlanta’s six home wins, five came by seven points or less. Great teams don’t spend Sundays with a defense operating under a “bend but don’t break” theme or with an offense that really doesn’t have that massive knockout punch.

All season, Atlanta sweated out more games than 12-2 teams should, winning only three times by 17 points or more, and against teams with a combined 14-31 record. The Falcons averaged only 16 more yards a game despite having run 147 more plays than the opposition entering Monday.

If you’ve controlled stats, and really have willed the opponent into submission in the fourth quarter, you’ve dominated.

Atlanta isn’t near that stage. Yet.

The Falcons were un-Falcons-like, which is fine. This is a young organization that’s ahead of schedule.

And frankly, being Carolina’s defense Sunday is not an enviable position to be in, because the Falcons may come out – even with some backups – and absolutely roll.

This one stings, no doubt. To come at home leaves a bruise. And to the Saints? With a large contingent of fans on hand? The Who Dats went into the cold night warmed up and ready to continue hydration.

A loss, a well-time loss against the right time, can do wonders, as White admitted.

What happened Monday night will be discussed all week, and beyond. But things have a way of turning out different down the line.

And down the line includes a date in Dallas everybody wants but only few have a legitimate chance to make.

The Falcons are among the few, and they’re might angry. This loss, too, shall pass.