You talk about the Saints missing cats on defense, but the defense has played tremendously through four games. Sure, the Saints are missing two running backs, but they still got Drew Brees, Colston, Henderson, Moore and Co. The Colts lose two starting WRs and roll against Denver.
The Browns start some cat named Payton Hillis and he rushes for over 100 yards against the Ravens. The Patriots don't even throw the ball to Randy Moss, no running game and beat the snot out of the Dolphins.
Every team has injuries and setbacks throughout the season, but as good as the Saints are, they should still shouldn't be impacted too much without so and so not in the lineup against the Falcons, Niners and Panthers (with a rookie quarterback).
Sure turnovers are not good, but... wait...turnovers? I thought you classified those as takeaways? (Which actually played a huge role in the Saints beating the Niners on Monday Night Football, but that is neither here nor there).
Actually kicking the field goal on first down was the smart thing to do. You don't want to risk a turnover in the Red Zone. Plus, if something happens with the snap, you can always kick it on second down.
I don't have a long pattern against the Saints. I ranked them as the best team in the NFC last year and ranked them No. 1 in the Power Rankings to start the season when a lot of people had the Jets and Green Bay being better than them.