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What more is there to take away from the New Orleans Saints’ dramatic loss to the San Francisco 49ers? Drew Brees clearly still has the ability to drop 40-plus points on an opponent at any given time, which is reassuring after the Saints struggled to do that for much of the 2019 season. The performance he put on last Sunday was vintage, recalling the kind of tape he put up often earlier in his Saints career.
Distressingly, the Saints defense regressed hard, and they too chose to play like it was 2014 or 2015 again. They weren’t competitive when the 49ers called deep shots downfield and were too often fooled by misdirection before the snap, causing defenders to move too-late into their run fits. The only silver lining to that problem is it validates a statement many fans probably believed going into the game: that 49ers play-designer Kyle Shanahan is better at his job than Saints defensive shot-caller Dennis Allen. Some success is to be expected.
So observers around the league weren’t exactly shocked when the Saints defense got carved up and served on a silver platter. According to the latest NFL power rankings from Doug Farrar over at Touchdown Wire, the throws and execution Brees showed throughout the afternoon are worth more than the defense’s breakdowns, though obviously it’s something they must improve. Farrar hasn’t budged from his stance as calling the Saints one of the best teams in the NFL, ranked third behind the 49ers and Baltimore Ravens:
Sunday’s game between the 49ers and Saints marked just the third time since 1950 that both quarterbacks in a game had the same number of passing yards. It just so happened that Jimmy Garoppolo’s yardage on San Francisco’s final drive meant a bit more than Drew Brees’ did. With less than a minute left, Brees hit receiver Tre’Quan Smith on an 18-yard touchdown pass — his fifth touchdown pass of the game — and the Saints looked to have a 46-45 win, as long as New Orleans’ defense could hold Garoppolo to his own side of the field.
That didn’t happen, as Garoppolo hit tight end George Kittle on a 39-yard play on fourth-and-2 from the San Francisco 33-yard line. Add in safety Marcus Williams’ 15-yard facemask penalty, and that’s all it took to position Robbie Gould for the winning 30-yard field goal.
The Saints went from the first seed in the NFC to the third with the loss, and they have tough games against the Colts, Titans and Panthers to end the season. Job No. 1 for New Orleans’ coaching staff will be to tinker with a pass defense that fell apart multiple times in this game.
It’s tough to argue with that assessment. More than a few emotional Saints fans want players like Williams cut immediately, but that’s a ridiculous pipe dream. He’s the only player on New Orleans’ roster with multiple interceptions this year (he’s bagged four, and lost a few others to unrelated penalties) and is still coming into his own after celebrating his 23rd birthday in September. Williams’ trajectory as a pro is trending up despite ugly instances like his facemask penalty on Kittle (which likely prevented a touchdown) or his past mistakes as a rookie (which we don’t need to dwell on). Odds are a good that he’ll continue to improve with more NFL experience; now it’s up to fans to support him in the low moments just like they praise him in high times.
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