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The rubber met the road in Week 15, and the New Orleans Saints offense didn’t have enough hands on deck to trade punches with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Their defense sacked Mahomes four times and forced six punts, and the special teams did its part by gaining 60 return yards of their own and forcing 15 yards for loss on Kansas City’s returns.
And the offense was too short-handed to take advantage of it. Too many plays were wasted on passes to last-minute practice squad call-ups like Juwan Johnson (0 catches on 4 targets), and the Chiefs sniffed out gimmicky designed touches to Tommylee Lewis and Taysom Hill (0 catches on 3 combined targets).
New Orleans was already understaffed with wide receivers Michael Thomas and Marquez Callaway on injured reserve, but the in-game loss of Tre’Quan Smith (1 catch on 2 targets, gaining 25 yards) was a critical hit to the receiving corps. Drew Brees was rusty and missed Emmanuel Sanders downfield on several big-play opportunities, though Sanders did heat up as the game wore on, totaling 4 receptions for 76 yards.
But the Saints didn’t lean on their stars hard enough. Alvin Kamara only touched the ball 14 times (going 3-of-6 as a receiver for 40 yards, and running 11 times for 54 yards). Latavius Murray had just 4 carries for 3 yards. Brees struggled to hit athletic tight end Jared Cook in stride, connecting on just 2 of 5 targets for 29 yards. The offense only converted 1 of 11 third down attempts.
And they took the Chiefs down to the wire in spite of it all. If New Orleans were just a little healthier — if Thomas were active and healthy, getting the targets that Brees had to send to fringe-NFL talents instead — they very well could have won this game.
Sure, the defense had their share of mistakes. They missed far too many tackles and committed too many penalties, and couldn’t get off the field, allowing Kansas City to run 92 plays on the afternoon. But this loss doesn’t sit squarely on their shoulders. For as long as Saints coach Sean Payton has sustained his success as an offensive play-caller, his old mentor Andy Reid got the best of him on Sunday. He still has plenty to learn.
So the Saints are still chasing one more NFC South-clinching victory. They only need to win one more game to secure the division title. But they’re in real danger of letting the upstart Tampa Bay Buccaneers fight their way back into the contest. It’ll be difficult to beat the always-tough Mike Zimmer-coached Minnesota Vikings off a short week on Christmas Day, but the Saints have dug this hole for themselves. Now they have to crawl out of it.
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