Tag: Halftime

Halftime report: Saints down 24-3 in most embarrassing first half of Dennis Allen’s tenure

Halftime report: Saints down 24-3 in most embarrassing first half of Dennis Allen’s tenure

Yikes. The New Orleans Saints went into halftime down 24-3 against the Minnesota Vikings in the most embarrassing first half of Dennis Allen’s tenure. They’re 2-8 in games when trailing by 10 or more points with Allen as head coach, and if things don’t turn around rapidly in the second half they’ll be even worse.

Allen can’t point to health as a problem. 21 of the 22 players from the Week 1 two-deep roster were available. Michael Thomas exited the game early with a knee injury but young stars Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed combined for 3 targets, 2 receptions, and 3 yards in the first half. Derek Carr did a bad job responding to pressure and looking for his weapons.

But the defense bears the brunt of responsibility here. The Vikings offense is missing its best quarterback (Kirk Cousins) and wide receiver (Justin Jefferson) with multiple starters playing through injuries like tight end T.J. Hockenson and left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Joshua Dobbs was acquired in a trade last week and carved the Saints up to the tune of 220 passing yards and 40 rushing yards in the first half alone.

And penalties have been a major problem. After drawing just one foul for a loss of 5 yards a week ago, the Saints went into halftime with four penalties for 25 yards with two other infractions declined. And almost every penalty wiped out a big play — a Paulson Adebo interception, an Alvin Kamara first-down run, and a Cameron Jordan sack. The Saints couldn’t get out of their own way.

This first half encompasses the criticisms that have dogged Allen’s team for two years. They’re sloppy and penalty-prone and can’t function consistently enough on offense to keep up with even a league-average outfit. Everything is difficult. There is such a heavy responsibility on the defense to carry every game that the margin for error is so thin and every mistake matters. The Saints must get out of their own way before they can even worry about competing.

The good news is that the Saints will receive the opening kickoff in the second half. Let’s see if Derek Carr and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael can do something with that opportunity.

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Dennis Allen says Ronald Curry addressed offense at halftime vs. Jaguars

Dennis Allen says Saints passing game coordinator Ronald Curry addressed the struggling offense at halftime vs. Jaguars

It’s no secret that the New Orleans Saints offense didn’t do enough with the opportunities they were given on Thursday night — especially in the first half, when they managed to score just six points against a couple of Jacksonville Jaguars touchdowns.

They went into halftime facing a steep deficit in a high-stakes situation. The team needed leaders to step up. And Saints head coach Dennis Allen shared a message from passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry after the break.

“It’s all about execution,” Allen told Amazon Prime Video sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung. “It’s like R.C. said in the locker room to the offense, ‘Let’s go out there and make plays that we’re capable of making.’ That’s what it’s about.”

Now, that doesn’t exactly sound like a big rah-rah speech or fire-and-brimstone sermon, but it’s notable that Curry was so vocally involved. Saints fans have been calling for Curry to have a shot calling plays instead of offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael early and often this season. Curry has been repeatedly spoken of highly by other members of the coaching staff and he’s called plays in each of the last two preseason series, so he has some experience.

The offense might not be better with Curry at the controls, it’s theorized, but it can’t be worse. Maybe Curry is more involved already than we’d be led to believe. Or maybe Allen’s comments shouldn’t warrant such a deep dive.

What’s important is that the team do what they can to win this Jaguars game, and Allen has a list of areas they can improve in the second half: “We’ve got to win situational football. Third down, red zone, we’ve got to be able to score points. We’ve got to be able to convert on third down, we’ve got to be able to kick a field goal. I mean, it’s the little things like that we’ve got to be able to do to give ourselves an opportunity to win a game.”

Facing a two-score deficit and the threat of a losing record for the first time this season, it’s obvious that pressure is building for Allen and his staff. This isn’t the outcome the Saints expected when they hired him last year or pursued his choice of quarterback this offseason. He’s running out of time to return the results they anticipated.

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First half highlights: Seahawks trail Panthers 13-12

See the big plays from the first half

The Seattle Seahawks are in another close fight with the Carolina Panthers, as they trail 13-12 at intermission. It’s been a mostly defensive struggle, as both teams have combined for one lone touchdown, and unfortunately it belongs to the team wearing black and blue.

The Seahawks have been unable to find the end zone so far, but they haven’t struggled to move the ball. Their offense keeps stalling in Panthers territory, but they’ve managed to find themselves there, thanks in part to big plays like this from running back Kenneth Walker III:

The bad news is when you keep settling for field goals, you allow the opponent to remain in the game. The Panthers finally took advantage of Seattle’s inability to finish drives with touchdowns and scored one of their own.

The Seahawks did manage to connect on a fourth Jason Myers field goal right before halftime to cut the deficit to one point. Carolina will get the ball to start the third quarter.

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Halftime analysis of Chiefs’ preseason matchup vs. Saints

Check out our halftime analysis for the #Chiefs’ preseason matchup against the #Saints.

The Kansas City Chiefs came out looking flatter than a week-old soda against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. They ended the first half down by a double-digit deficit and failed to show a single sign of life in the first quarter, even against New Orleans’ second-team units.

Patrick Mahomes got minimal playing time early, and even if he had gotten more chances to make something happen the abysmal play of Steve Spagnuolo’s defense would’ve doomed his efforts.

A better effort in the second quarter helped make the score at halftime more respectable, but there remains plenty of work to do if the Chiefs intend to win this game.

The first half of this game did not go Kansas City’s way, to say the least. Check out our observations of the Chiefs’ first two-quarters of the preseason below:

Key takeaways from first half of Chiefs vs. Bengals

Here are a few things we learned about the #Chiefs in the first half of their AFC Championship Game against the #Bengals.

The injury situation has been less than ideal for the Kansas City Chiefs with both L’Jarius Sneed and Kadarius Toney exiting the first half. Despite the adversity of losing two key pieces, Kansas City carries a seven-point lead over Cincinnati heading into the second half. They’ll get the ball to start the third quarter and they need to keep their foot on the gas.

Here are a few quick takeaways from the first half of play:

Key takeaways from first half of Chiefs vs. Raiders

Here are a few things we learned about the #Chiefs in the first half of their Week 18 tilt with the #Raiders:

Everything has come up Kansas City Chiefs in the first half of this game. They’ve notched a pair of turnovers and turnover on downs on the defensive side of the ball. Jerick McKinnon, Ronald Jones and Kadarius Toney have each scored touchdowns and they lead 24-3 at the half.

Here are a few quick takeaways from the first half of play:

Halftime analysis of the Texans’ Week 14 matchup vs. Cowboys

The #Texans have kept up with the bourgeoning #Cowboys in the first half of the intrastate matchup

The Houston Texans have used every trick in the book against the Dallas Cowboys in the first half of their Week 14 matchup. After hinting at the return of quarterback Davis Mills all week, they turned to veteran backup Jeff Driskel in key situations to breathe life into the offense against their intrastate rival.

Though Driskel hasn’t played like an MVP candidate, he has done enough to keep Houston in the game, and Mills has played competent if-not-spectacular football as well. Rookie running back Dameon Pierce has been heavily involved in the offense this week and scored the Texans’ only touchdown of the first half.

Here are our thoughts on the Texans’ first-half performance against Dallas:

Halftime analysis of Texans’ Week 13 matchup vs. Browns

Our thoughts on the #Texans’ first-half performance against the #Browns in Week 13

The Houston Texans put together an impressive first half against the Cleveland Browns, who are starting their former quarterback for the first time in the 2022 season. The 1-9-1 Texans came into this game as heavy underdogs, and have managed to keep the momentum in their favor through two quarters.

It will take a solid effort in the second half to close out this game and come away with their second win of the season, and Houston has adjustments to make at halftime.

Here are our thoughts on the Texans’ Week 13 performance through the first two quarters:

Halftime analysis of Texans’ Week 12 matchup vs. Dolphins

The #Texans are bottoming out against the #Dolphins at halftime in Week 12

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The Houston Texans were underdogs heading into this matchup against the burgeoning Miami Dolphins, and have looked completely outmatched in every phase of the game. Their defense has been a sieve, they’ve struggled to get anything going on offense, and the team as a whole is full-on floundering down 30 at halftime.

It’ll take a miracle for the Texans to make a comeback in the second half, and fans should start preparing themselves for Houston to mark their ninth loss of the season in Week 12.

Here are our thoughts on the Texans’ performance through two quarters:

Fans did not like the Thanksgiving halftime show at Ford Field

Fans did not like the Thanksgiving halftime show at Ford Field

The first half of action between the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving was fun and crowd-pleasing. Then came the halftime show…

The performance by Bebe Rexha inside Ford Field was not well-received. Not by the fans in the stadium, who got to watch the backside of a stage concealed in a corner of the end zone with the performance strictly for television.

The television audience wasn’t exactly thrilled with the performance production either. Social media reaction to the halftime show was not positive. A small but representative sampling from Twitter:

 

https://twitter.com/KoryEWoods/status/1595857077242630144?s=20&t=oUTObTRV14idYBBvTgalxw