Tyrann Mathieu wasn’t gloating when his teammate, running back Alvin Kamara, dropped what would have been a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against Atlanta, which would have increased the New Orleans Saints’ lead by 20 to 20. 17 to 27-17 with 1:48 left.

But security hasn’t been completely destroyed either.

What Kamara unknowingly did was put the Saints defense in the position it wanted, because it needed to prove it could do what it hadn’t done.

Namely, the defense had to come up with a game-winning stop, something it failed to do twice earlier this season.

“It’s a good feeling,” Mathieu said. “Those kinds of situations kind of drag you into next week. Obviously, it’s positive that we were able to get off the field and play.”

Then Mathieu gave a small smile.

“Honestly, I’m pretty happy…I’m not ‘happy’ that Kamara dropped the ball,” he said, “but I’m pretty happy that we had a chance to go back and Ugo then makes a large piece for us.”

Safety Ugo Amadi made a 1-yard tackle for loss on fourth-and-4 from the Saints 43-yard line as time expired, and the Saints defense got the closure it was looking for.

Preaching “finish” started to ring a little hollow for the unit until they were able to put some substance behind the word against Atlanta.

New Orleans, 3-7 heading into Sunday’s game against Cleveland (2-7) at Caesars Superdome, surrendered three fourth-quarter leads — to Philadelphia in a 15-12 decision, to Atlanta in a 26 loss — 24 in the first meeting, and against Carolina in a 23-22 decision – during its seven-game spiral.

So finishing off the Falcons in the second round was as satisfying for the defense as one could imagine.

Leading 20-17 entering the fourth quarter, the Saints defense forced a punt, an unsuccessful field goal attempt, a turnover (Mathieu interception) and Amadi’s stop as the unit shut down the four Atlanta possessions in the fourth quarter.

“It felt good,” said defensive end Chase Young, who had a sack and a forced fumble (Atlanta recovered) on the Falcons’ final drive. “We talked all week about finishing games, and I think we finished this game.”

Linebacker Demario Davis, who finished with 10 tackles and a pass defensed, made sure his teammates didn’t forget the message or the mission.

“He said it during the game, he said it throughout the week,” Young said. “Our motto for the week was to finish games on our side of the ball.

“When you go into the fourth quarter, your defense absolutely has to come through, preventing them from scoring points. We’re just going to keep working and try to do that against Cleveland as well.”

Stringing together a string of similar results is the next step for the defense.

“We feel good,” Mathieu said. “We didn’t play our best, so there’s still some things to improve on. But I think anytime you’re able to finish the game like that, as a defense, it’s a good feeling. “