Tag: deficit

Saints show resolve, overcome 10-point deficit in rare comeback under Dennis Allen

The Saints showed some resolve, overcoming a 10-point deficit in a rare comeback under Dennis Allen. They were 1-8 in this situation going into Sunday’s game:

It’s easy to lose faith in the New Orleans Saints these days. Fans have seen their team collapse under adversity far too often in recent years — and Sunday’s game with the Indianapolis Colts was primed for another letdown.

Since Dennis Allen was named head coach, the Saints have fallen behind by 10 or more points in the second quarter in 10 of his 25 games, dating back to the start of the 2022 season. And they’ve lost 8 of those matchups. Sunday’s comeback win over the Colts was just the second time the Saints have rallied in these circumstances under Allen’s management of the team.

They finally showed some backbone. Look at the sequence in the second quarter after the Colts went up 17-7. The offense drove downfield on a long scoring drive capped by an electrifying Taysom Hill touchdown run (from 20 yards out!) and the defense responded by forcing a quick three-and-out. Rashid Shaheed put the offense in favorable position with a 14-yard punt return, and then he caught the long ball on a 58-yard touchdown pass to retake the lead. How’s that for some moxie?

It’s exactly what we haven’t seen enough of out of the Saints since Allen took over from Sean Payton. When going down by multiple scores like this, too often they’ve folded. But on Sunday the offense finally took what help the defense and special teams units was giving them to control the game. After taking that lead, they never gave it back.

This was arguably the best win of Allen’s tenure. Sure, he’s won blowouts over the miserable Las Vegas Raiders last year and New England Patriots earlier this season, but neither of those squads were competitive. This was a game against an opponent with a talented roster and competent coaching staff who were throwing everything they had at New Orleans.

And the Saints were finally able to weather that storm and leave the field without any doubts. Let’s hope it’s the start of a new trend for them.

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Saints outdid themselves vs. Falcons in franchise-record fourth quarter comeback

The Saints outdid themselves against the Falcons on Sunday. The 16-point deficit they overcame in the fourth quarter is a new franchise record:

Bang: the New Orleans Saints set a new franchise record in Sunday’s win over the Atlanta Falcons, the team announced. They overcame a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to leave town with a 27-26 victory. That’s bigger than the historic 15-point deficit that the Saints erased a few years back, upsetting Washington in 2017’s thrilling home game.

So of course it had to happen against the team’s biggest rivals, adding a little insult to injury. The Falcons were in prime position to win this game after going up 26-10. They even had a nice shot when they were up 26-24 with just 1:40 remaining in regulation, having forced the Saints to burn all of their timeouts and set up shop on the edge of field goal range.

Then Marcus Mariota fumbled the snap in the biggest moment of the game, mishandling the ball on 3rd and 1 to lose a critical down. Faced with the prospect of a 4th and 1 situation in New Orleans territory with the game on the line, Falcons coach Arthur Smith opted to run out more clock and punt it away, trusting his defense to handle their business with the Saints in the game’s final minute.

Bad call. Jameis Winston flipped the field with a 40-yard pass to Jarvis Landry, then eased into field goal range with a 17-yard link to Juwan Johnson. Sure, it could have been better executed. A botched spike drew a flag from the officiating crew, and Wil Lutz’s game-winning field goal sailed through the uprights with 19 seconds left on the clock.

The Falcons had another shot at winning the day, taking over at their own 25-yard line with all three of their timeouts, but they needed a bogus personal foul penalty on Marshon Lattimore to get close enough for Younghoe Koo to try a game-winning field goal of his own.

But the Saints came through on special teams to seal the deal. Defensive end Payton Turner got a hand on the ball to send it back where it came from, with linebacker Zack Baun and safety J.T. Gray splitting a tackle for emphasis. It was as electric a game we’ve seen from New Orleans. But as Saints coach Dennis Allen noted postgame, let’s hope they all aren’t quite so volatile.

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