NEW ORLEANS -- Maybe Drew Brees and Coby Fleener just needed to speed things up.

The New Orleans Saints quarterback finally got into a good rhythm with his new tight end in Week 3 -- and it happened while they were frantically playing catch-up in a 45-32 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.

Fleener caught a 2-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. But things really started to pick up when he caught a 32-yard pass in a two-minute drill before halftime.

In the fourth quarter, Fleener caught three more passes for 9, 36 and 24 yards. He finished the game with seven catches for 109 yards and a TD.

One of the positives the Saints can take away from Monday’s loss was the chemistry developing between Drew Brees and Coby Fleener. Chris Graythen/Getty Images

“I said to him in the locker room after the game, a lot of the things that we’ve been working on, talking about, studying, happened tonight,” Brees said after the game. “They happened the way that we’ve been talking about ‘em. And I think that’s when the light bulb begins to come on.

“Because we have had limited time together ... so we’re still growing, big time. But I think there were some things that happened out here [Monday night] where it’s the way that I envisioned. The way that we’ve been talking about, the way I’ve been communicating to him and we’ve been working on it during practice. So when those things begin to happen, the trust factor and the confidence level just continues to go up.”

Fleener was glad those things came together, but he wasn't in the mood to celebrate it after another loss for the 0-3 Saints.

“I guess it feels good to get some individual statistics, but it would feel a whole heckuva lot better to come out with a win. ... I’d take a win over statistics any day,” Fleener said. “Different defenses will call for different game plans. Thankfully I was able to get open a few times and Drew made some great throws and the O-line did an outstanding job of protecting him.”

Fleener, who signed a five-year, $36 million deal in free agency, is still a work in progress in New Orleans’ offense.

He had just three catches for 35 yards and no touchdowns in the first two games. He has dropped a pass in each of the past two weeks and there have been at least a couple instances where it seemed like he and Brees weren’t on the same page on a route.

But Monday’s game was a reminder of how valuable the tight end position is to the Saints’ passing offense – and what a great opportunity Fleener has to thrive in this system.

He tied for the team lead with 11 targets Monday and he leads the team with 19 targets over the past two weeks combined.

As I wrote in this week’s NFL Nation buy-or-sell fantasy column, don’t get carried away with your expectations for Fleener going forward. But believe that he will have ample opportunities for games like this. Because of the Saints’ potent offense and struggling defense, there will be many more high-scoring affairs like this one.