Tag: Final Score

Saints’ second-half heroics can’t make up for mistakes in loss to Lions

Saints’ second-half heroics can’t make up for too many early mistakes in a devastating loss to the Lions

You can’t say the New Orleans Saints don’t have any fight in them. They rallied from a 21-0 deficit to keep it close with the Detroit Lions in the second half, but it wasn’t enough: that late-game effort couldn’t make up for their mistakes early on. The Lions left as victors with a 33-28 final score.

What went wrong? Derek Carr missed an open receiver to force the ball to his tight end on the first play from scrimmage, which was dropped and intercepted by the Detroit defense, setting up a short field on their next touchdown-scoring drive. Things got worse before they got better.

The Lions ran for 142 yards as a team and Jared Goff didn’t turn the ball over after giving it away six times in his last two games. Rookie tight end Sam LaPorta was unstoppable, finishing with 9 receptions (on 9 targets) and 140 receiving yards plus a touchdown catch.

It wasn’t all bad. Carr was surprisingly efficient after the end of the first quarter, though he threw too many off-target passes that asked a lot of his receivers. Fortunately Chris Olave (5 catches for 119 yards) was up to the task. Alvin Kamara ended the afternoon with 58 receiving yards and 51 rushing yards with two scoring runs. Taysom Hill impacted both phases, leading the team with 59 rushing yards and catching two passes for 15 receiving yards. Pete Carmichael made some clever play calls, picking up chunks of yardage on play action passes to Olave and Foster Moreau. They went 4-for-4 in the red zone.

But, again, it wasn’t enough. The offense showed too little too late to make a difference. Dennis Allen’s handmade defense was shredded. A 5-7 record is the best showing Allen has ever had after Week 13. This is his ceiling, and the Saints shouldn’t mistake it for anything else.

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Final score predictions for New Orleans Saints vs. Detroit Lions in Week 13

Final score predictions for New Orleans Saints vs. Detroit Lions in Week 13

We’re in for the New Orleans Saints’ (5-6) toughest game of the year with the Detroit Lions (8-3) coming to town, featuring a slew of former Saints coaches and players on their sideline. Does Dennis Allen’s team have enough firepower to keep up with them? Can his defense create enough stops to make a difference?

Our thoughts on all that and more in our Week 13 final score predictions:

What went right, what went wrong in Saints’ Week 12 loss to Falcons

Instant analysis: What went right and what went wrong in Saints’ Week 12 loss to Falcons? And what’s the bottom line?

It was tough to sit and watch the New Orleans Saints collapse on Sunday. That’s been the case for many Sundays this season — but especially for an emotional rivalry game against a division rival. That the Atlanta Falcons came out of this game sitting on top of the NFC South standings is only more disappointing.

How did we get here? Let’s break it down by asking and answering three questions:

What went right?

What went wrong?

And what’s the bottom line?

Saints left in shambles after disastrous Week 12 loss to Falcons

The Saints were left in shambles after a disastrous Week 12 loss to the Falcons. Dennis Allen and Derek Carr have a lot to answer for:

The mask is off, and we know who the New Orleans Saints are: a bad football team whose deficiencies were covered up by their too-good-to-be-true spot on top of the NFC South standings. They lost to the Atlanta Falcons 24-15 and fell to second place in the division.

Dennis Allen can’t point to the NFC South standings anymore as a reason for optimism. That became a favorite tactic of his and the diehards still supporting him as issues piled up for the Saints. Between Pete Carmichael’s predictable play calling and Derek Carr’s consistently poor execution, there were plenty of dirty hands on offense — and flaws were exposed defensively and in the special teams units. But time and again Allen and his camp could say, hey, this is still a first-place football team.

And now that excuse is gone. And it was always fake. The Saints haven’t beaten a team worth bragging about all season. So where will Allen turn now? He got his quarterback, he was given the easiest schedule in the NFL, and for the first ten weeks he had the healthiest roster in pro football. And he has nothing to show for it. The Saints gambled big and they’re losing badly.

They’re left in shambles after this loss to the Falcons. Multiple starters left with injuries like wide receivers Chris Olave (concussion) and Rashid Shaheed (thigh) while offensive linemen Erik McCoy and Ryan Ramczyk were also banged up. Now they have a losing record, a devastating loss to their biggest rival, and a lame duck coach and quarterback. There’s six games left to turn it around, but this group has their work cut out for them in winning back fans’ trust.

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What went right, what went wrong in Saints’ Week 10 loss to the Vikings

Analyzing what went right, what went wrong in the New Orleans Saints’ Week 10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings

Let’s give credit where it’s due: the New Orleans Saints fought to the last minute and never conceded defeat to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. They rallied back from a huge deficit to keep this game competitive to the final play.

But it wasn’t enough. The Saints lost 27-19. Their record is 5-5 and they’re hanging onto the NFC lead by a thread. Dennis Allen’s team is sloppy, undisciplined, and too slow to start. Now they’re banged-up and in risk of falling behind in the worst division in pro football.

How did we get here? Let’s break it down by asking and answering three questions:

What went right?

What went wrong?

And what’s the bottom line?

Week 10 Staff Picks: Final score predictions for Saints vs. Vikings

Week 10 Staff Picks: Final score predictions for Saints vs. Vikings are split on Sunday’s victor

Our staff picks are in for Week 10’s New Orleans Saints game, but the choice was hardly unanimous. Final score predictions for this matchup with the Minnesota Vikings are all over the place, and rightfully so: both teams are in the NFC playoff picture at 5-4, and there’s an element of unpredictability in Minnesota given all their recent changes (like trading for a new starting quarterback in Johsua Dobbs) and volatile trends (being the league’s blitz-heaviest defense).

Here’s how our staff writers see this one playing out:

Saints improve to 5-4 as second-half defensive effort stifles Bears

The Saints improved to 5-4 as a strong second-half defensive effort stifled the Bears offense:

Now we can exhale. The New Orleans Saints made things more difficult than they needed to be against a bad Chicago Bears team, but a win is a win: and they’re now 5-4 while sitting alone on top of the NFC South. So how did we get here?

The Saints matched the Bears score-for-score in the first half while their defense hemorrhaged yards, especially to the underrated Chicago run game — helped by several unscripted scrambles from backup quarterback Tyson Bagent. The Bears racked up 250 yards from scrimmage going into halftime, but Dennis Allen’s defense found its composure in the second half.

New Orleans allowed just 114 total yards in the second half while holding the Chicago offense to three points on their final four possessions. Cornerback Paulson Adebo deserves recognition for playing the best game of his NFL career with two interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, three passes defensed, and seven tackles (five of them solo). He nearly willed the Saints to a win in the second half.

Offensively, Derek Carr managed only 211 passing yards with touchdown passes to Chris Olave (6 receptions for 46 yards) and Taysom Hill (4 catches for 13 yards), who had a touchdown pass of his own to Juwan Johnson (5 receptions for 29 yards). It wasn’t a great day for the Saints offense on the ground, but Hill paced the team with 11 carries for 52 rushing yards.

Things weren’t perfect — Blake Grupe missed a 47-yard field goal that would have made it a two-score game in the final minutes. But there were signs of improvement. For one thing, the Saints only drew a single penalty flag on the afternoon, ceding 5 yards on a Juwan Johnson false start. Two things can be true here: this is a game the Saints should have won more easily, but it was also a performance they can build upon. With one game left to go before the bye week, we’ll take it.

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Staff Picks: Predicting the final score for Saints vs. Bears

Staff Picks: Predicting the final score for New Orleans Saints vs. Chicago Bears

The New Orleans Saints are widely favored to take care of business with the Chicago Bears on Sunday — but are we buying the hype? Our staff writes shared their final score predictions for Week 9’s matchup at the Caesars Superdome:

Jaguars win 5th straight by smothering Steelers, 20-10

The Jaguars are 6-2 after picking up a fifth straight win.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have six wins through eight weeks for the first time since the turn of the century. With a 20-10 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jaguars have won five straight.

While the Jaguars offense turned the ball over three times and failed to score a touchdown on any of their three red zone trips, there was a pretty clear disparity in effectiveness on the day. Jacksonville’s offense moved the ball into Steelers territory at will and Pittsburgh rarely found room against the Jaguars defense.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw a rough interception early, but finished with 292 yards and a touchdown. The Steelers’ combination of Kenny Pickett (who left with a rib injury) and Mitchell Trubisky had 212 yards with two picks from the latter.

Here’s how the Jaguars’ 10-point Week 8 win went down:

Final score predictions for Week 8’s Saints-Colts matchup

Here are our staff writers’ final score predictions for Week 8’s Saints-Colts matchup. Do the Saints have it in them to get back in the win column?

The New Orleans Saints have a winnable game coming up next, which is something that’s been said a little too often this season for a team that has struggled to reach a 3-4 record. But that’s behind them now. What’s important is that they take care of business against an overachieving Indianapolis Colts team that’s competing hard each week but still giving up tons of points and yardage defensively.

Do the Saints have it in them? Here are our staff picks for Week 8’s final score: