METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints were dreadful for the first 50 minutes Sunday in the Caesars Superdome.

So it might seem funny for the Saints to come away from their 27-25 loss to the Atlanta Falcons (4-4) thinking that both quarterback Trevor Siemian and barely used backup Taysom Hill left a favorable impression.

But in truth, the quarterback position was the least of the Saints’ problems in their first game since Jameis Winston suffered a season-ending ACL tear.

Both Winston and Drew Brees himself would have struggled to overcome the sheer volume of self-sabotage in this one -- including way too many dropped passes and drive-killing penalties.

Siemian probably earned an extended look in the starting role after completing 25 of 41 passes for 249 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns while nearly rallying the Saints (5-3) back from a 24-6 deficit in the final 10 minutes.

Hill, meanwhile, definitely deserves to be more heavily involved going forward after he completed his only two pass attempts for 33 yards, ran the ball just one time all day for 4 yards and drew an encroachment penalty on fourth-and-1 -- all in the final 17 minutes.

Saints coach Sean Payton has not given any indication yet on how long he plans to stick with Siemian in the starting role. However, he did stress after Sunday’s game that he was not considering a QB change when he inserted Hill for three straight plays early in the fourth quarter.

“Look, we’ve got a package [of plays for Hill]. I thought he gave us some energy when he came in,” said Payton, who suggested that Hill would have been on the field more if the Saints’ offense hadn’t stalled so many times early in the game. “He’s part of the plan.”

No matter who plays quarterback for the Saints going forward, however, they’re going to need more help from their supporting cast than they got Sunday -- which is why wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. looms as such an intriguing possibility, if he becomes a free agent Tuesday.

“[Siemian] played with poise, brought us back. I thought overall it was good,” said Payton, who was particularly impressed with a few passing plays in which Siemian went beyond his primary read. “I thought we dropped a few balls -- more than our fair share. And we’re third-and-long I don’t know how many times with the penalties in the first half. Frustrating.

“We didn’t do the things that winning teams do consistently in our league. We’ve gotta do a better job coaching -- that starts with me.”

Siemian wasn’t perfect. But the seventh-year veteran showed the same level of poise and comfort that he showed during last week’s upset victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he replaced Winston in the second quarter.

And he was undone early by his pass-catchers -- which has been a problem all year for the Saints and their 31st-ranked passing offense. Tight end Adam Trautman and receivers Kenny Stills, Deonte Harris and Marquez Callaway combined for four to six dropped passes, depending on your grading scale, before Trautman and Stills made amends with some terrific catches down the stretch.

The Saints also doomed their own drives with eight offensive penalties -- and a rare missed pass protection by standout left tackle Terron Armstead that led to a sack-fumble early in the fourth quarter. (Siemian tried to take some blame for not stepping up in the pocket, but Armstead said it was “100% on me, just a terrible rep.”)

Armstead said the margin for error is too small in the NFL for those types of “self-inflicted wounds.” But he disagreed with the notion that the margin grew smaller with Winston’s injury and the news earlier this week that All-Pro receiver Michael Thomas will miss the entire season with an ankle injury.

“We don’t want to make those mistakes, regardless if we had Mike T. and had Jameis, especially the self-inflicted ones,” Armstead said.

Thomas’ injury setback, however, could increase the Saints’ desire for a player like Beckham, who is expected to be waived by the Cleveland Browns on Monday. And if no team wants to claim the remaining $7.25 million on Beckham’s contract, he could become a free agent Tuesday and sign with any team he likes.

The Saints showed interest in Beckham before the trade deadline, according to ESPN’s Kimberley Martin and other reports. And Beckham could potentially be interested, since he is from New Orleans, with the Saints having such an obvious need.

However, the Saints can’t offer much money with their severe salary-cap constraints. And it’s possible that Beckham might be turned off by an offense that ranks 31st in the NFL in passing yards per game, 31st in completion percentage and 32nd in receptions per game by wide receivers.

Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Beckham wants to join a playoff contender and a winning environment. The Saints may indeed provide both after they have shown a tremendous amount of resilience this year. But Sunday’s performance wasn’t their best sales pitch.