By RYAN ARENA

It was far from perfect in every – or really, any – way.

But when the Saints beat the Falcons on Monday Night Football, Mike Tirico put it perfectly when talking about the defending Super Bowl Champions: They’re back in the tournament.

And how.

When Drew Brees was intercepted on back to back drives in the fourth quarter, it was indeed ugly. The first put the Saints behind for the first time all night. The second was supposed to allow Atlanta to land the kill shot, prove their superiority at home, and let everyone in the NFC know that to get to the Super Bowl, you must go through Atlanta.

But about that …

The Saints defense, as it did all night, stepped up again and forced an Atlanta punt. It gave Drew Brees a shot at redemption. He wouldn’t let it go to waste.

10 different receivers have caught at least 20 passes from Brees this season – an NFL record. One of those is Jimmy Graham. Brees doesn’t discriminate; he trusted the rookie to catch the go-ahead touchdown pass.

Then Atlanta’s Mike Smith made the controversial decision to punt on fourth and six with less than three minutes remaining in regulation when the Saints’ defense held yet again.

It’s easy to say this in hindsight, but I truly believed this in the moment too: It was a major error. In many, many cases Smith’s call would be a correct one: his defense was playing great football and he had two timeouts and a two-minute warning in his back pocket.

But not against the Saints. Many teams would be content to make Smith burn his timeouts with runs on first and second down, with maybe a pass on third if your hand is forced. But with Brees in his back pocket, Sean Payton has never played that game. That he’d come out throwing was almost predictable.

In that situation, most coaches go so conservative in fear of losing the game that they make a stop for the defense easier. For the Saints, you’re essentially gambling that you can hold their normal, base offense to a three-and-out. It’s not a good gamble.

The Saints aren’t where they were a year ago. Atlanta exposed the Saints’ pass protection on Monday; Brees made a couple of very poor decisions, but he was pressed all night long. The running game worked in spots behind Pierre Thomas, but still appears to need a jolt.

If the offensive line can find itself soon, this is certainly a team that could go through an NFC without a dominant team.

But clearly, they had enough to beat the top team in the NFC, record wise, in their house in primetime.

The Saints have flown “under the radar” all season long.

But something tells me that win just put a giant BLIP on the screen for everyone the rest of the way.