Tag: result

Eagles overwhelm Taysom Hill, stun Saints 24-21

The New Orleans Saints rallied back in the second half, but they couldn’t work quickly enough to avoid an upset to the Philadelphia Eagles.

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The New Orleans Saints rallied back in the second half, but they couldn’t work quickly enough to avoid an upset to the Philadelphia Eagles. Too many mistakes and a poor week of preparation set them up for failure. New Orleans has fallen to 10-3 on the year so far, and they’ll have to rebound in a big way just to clinch the NFC South.

Eagles rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts led the way with 273 total yards, going 17-of-30 for 167 passing yards while running 18 times for 106 rushing yards. He was never sacked behind a patchwork offensive line that recently lost All-Pro tackle Jason Peters to season-ending toe surgery.

Hurts didn’t do it alone, though. Running back Miles Sanders snapped a 55-game streak for the Saints run defense by gaining 115 rushing yards, twice finding the end zone. The Saints typically hang their hats on their run defense, but it fell to pieces on Sunday.

A big part of the problem was the game plan. This same Eagles defense gave up 156 rushing yards to subpar New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones in two meetings earlier this year, allowing him to average 12 yards per attempt. You’d think that the Saints would learn from that and let Hill, marketed as one of the game’s premier mobile quarterback prospects, run wild; instead Saints coach Sean Payton stubbornly tried to win his own way by asking Hill to throw 38 times, with just 5 carries (on which he gained 33 yards, averaging 6.6 yards per rush).

But Hill deserves blame too. His inability to detect pressure and slow processing ability in the pocket allowed the Eagles to get after him without blitzing, sacking him five times on the day. He also wasn’t able to shift gears and run a higher tempo late in the fourth quarter with the Saints down multiple scores and the clock ticking away. Maybe he can learn to play with a deficit. But this performance wasn’t inspiring.

It ultimately came down to the Saints getting outcoached on both sides of the ball. Their highly-decorated offensive line folded in the face of pressure. Their highly-drafted defensive line wasn’t able to get a bead on Hurts. That suggests they weren’t prepared for this much fight from the Eagles, who joined other NFC East teams in a parade of upsets in recent weeks.

Last week, the Washington Football Team upset the then-undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-17. That followed the Giants’ surprising 17-12 win over the Seattle Seahawks a day earlier. Playoff contenders like the Saints, Steelers, and Seahawks have been taking their matchups with lowly NFC East teams for granted, and it’s bitten each of them.

So where do the Saints go next? The NFC South championship isn’t out of the question, but it’s not going to be easy after dropping this game. But the No. 1 seed in the NFC is a long shot especially if the Green Bay Packers keep stacking wins. The Saints had an opportunity to clinch the division and focus on their playoff positioning. But they couldn’t take care of their business, and they’ve got no one to blame but themselves.

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Saints get no help from Vikings-Bucs, must make their own luck to clinch NFC South

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Kirk Cousins looked like a deer in the headlights with a division title on the line.

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Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Kirk Cousins looked like a deer in the headlights with a division title on the line.

It just wasn’t a division win for his team this time. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback took six sacks and looked nearly as bad as his kicker (who missed three field-goal tries and an extra-point attempt) in Week 14’s 26-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Minnesota’s ugly afternoon eliminated a possible NFC South clinching scenario for the New Orleans Saints before their game with the Philadelphia Eagles.

If Minnesota had won, the Buccaneers would have fallen to 7-6 on the year so far — promising a best-case final record of 10-6, which would match a worst-possible final record for the Saints. But New Orleans won both of their games with Tampa Bay this year, giving them a crucial head-to-head tiebreaker. If both teams finished the year at 10-6, the Saints would win the division.

Instead, an 11-5 finish is in play for the Buccaneers, while the Saints could theoretically tumble to 10-6 (before their kickoff against the Eagles), keeping Tampa Bay’s division aspirations alive.

Sure, the Saints can still clinch their fourth consecutive NFC South championship on Sunday with a win at Philly, and they’re favored to do just that against rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts in his first start. New Orleans’ mathematically-worst record would be 11-5 after beating the Eagles, and again, they own the tiebreaker with the Bucs.

But it’s just another bit of added pressure to the shoulders of their own backup QB Taysom Hill. Let’s see how he and his teammates respond.

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Saints improve to 9-2 by crushing undermanned Broncos

The New Orleans Saints defeated the Denver Broncos 31-3 during Week 12 of the NFL season, with Latavius Murray and the defense stepping up.

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If not for a career-long 58-yard field goal from Brandon McManus, the Denver Broncos would not have scored any points against the New Orleans Saints in Week 12’s rare matchup between NFC and AFC stalwarts. A sudden quarterback crisis due to COVID-19 took all four Broncos quarterbacks out of the game, and the Saints defense refused to give Denver’s patchwork offense any help in a 31-3 road win.

Practice squad wide receiver and former part-time collegiate quarterback Kendall Hinton gave it his best effort, but he was put in an impossible situation. Getting thrust into the starting gig for a position he hasn’t played in years on 24 hours’ notice shouldn’t be held against him.

Still, it’s good to see the Saints defense did their jobs on a day when the offense was a little sleepy. Defensive backs Janoris Jenkins and C.J. Gardner-Johnson each intercepted passes, and defensive end Cameron Jordan bagged a sack while his teammates notched half a dozen tackles for loss. They allowed just 113 yards of offense from the Broncos, most of which came from running back Royce Freeman’s 50 yards on the ground.

For comparison, No. 2 Saints running back Latavius Murray racked up 123 rushing yards and a pair of touchdown runs. He averaged an impressive 6.5 yards per carry and shouldered the load for the Saints offense in the second half after pass-happy play calling from Sean Payton went nowhere in the first half. Credit Payton for changing his approach at halftime to put his players in the best position to make a difference.

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Saints defense steals the show in Taysom Hill’s solid first start

Taysom Hill looked the part in his first start, but the New Orleans Saints defense stole the show in their victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

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There wasn’t much to complain about from the New Orleans Saints’ Week 11 win over the Atlanta Falcons, with the Saints defense dominating the afternoon and Taysom Hill looking the part of a starting quarterback in the 24-9 victory.

Hill held his own, and showed some of the qualities that have made the Saints believe in him — he threw with plenty of zip, climbed the pocket with clean footwork, and didn’t shrink under pressure. He finished the day after completing 18 of 23 pass attempts for 233 yards, taking 3 sacks while running 10 times for 51 rushing yards and a pair of touchdown runs. He did have an ugly late-game fumble after a nice 20-yard run, which shouldn’t happen again.

But the more impressive performance came from his teammates on the other side of the ball. Led by a season-high 3 sacks from defensive end Cameron Jordan, the Saints defense harassed and harangued Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan throughout the day, taking him down 8 times and rushing him into a pair of costly interceptions. Ryan completed just a few passes of 20-plus yards, his longest gain coming on a 46-yard bomb to Calvin Ridley on the opening drive after Janoris Jenkins tripped up in coverage; Jenkins got some payback later on with a fourth-quarter interception.

Sure, there are areas the Saints can improve. Thomas Morstead was inconsistent, averaging just 39.8 yards per punt, and Wil Lutz banged a field goal try off the uprights. Hill showed some problems with ball security in addition to the fumble, lobbing a would-be red zone interception early on that was luckily dropped. And the defense had a few coverage busts to review. Also, it would be nice to see Alvin Kamara involved more successfully.

On the whole, however, this was as strong a debut as you could hope for in Hill’s first career start. The Saints have plenty to room to improve despite their 7-game winning streak. And with more winnable matchups head (like a rematch with this same Falcons team in two weeks), they just might continue rolling until Drew Brees is healed up and ready to return.

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Tyrann Mathieu congratulates Saints on stomping Bucs: ‘Y’all deserve a second line’

Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, a hometown New Orleans Saints fan, congratulated Alvin Kamara on beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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The New Orleans Saints took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and took control of the NFC South — for now — with their 38-3 blowout victory on Sunday night, and they earned praise from one noted New Orleanian: Tyrann Mathieu. The New Orleans native and former LSU Tigers standout might be playing for the Kansas City Chiefs these days, but the “Honey Badger” is still keeping tabs on his home team.

Saints running back Alvin Kamara took a lackadaisical approach when reflecting on the game on Twitter; he simply shared an emoji of someone yawning, which makes sense after his quiet day in the office. Kamara played the part of a decoy for much of the night, only handling 9 carries for 40 yards and a touchdown run with 5 catches for 9 yards sprinkled in here and there. After carrying the offense for two months, he appreciated the rest.

But Mathieu responded to him with enthusiasm, saying “Y’all boys showed off. Y’all deserve a second line haha,” which is all kinds of great. It’s clear respect runs deep between the two competitors.

And we don’t have to wait much longer to see them face off. Mathieu’s Chiefs are the only team remaining on New Orleans’ schedule with a winning record right now, and they’ll visit the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for a big-time battle on Dec. 20. Kamara and Mathieu should end up seeing a lot of each other in that one, but for now, they’re all just happy to celebrate the Saints’ success.

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Saints sink Bucs, sweep Tom Brady for the first time in his NFL career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was never swept by his AFC East division rivals, but the New Orleans Saints managed just fine.

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Tom Brady may be having second thoughts about leaving the AFC East. He’s been swept in two meetings with a real division rival for the very first time in his 19 years as a starter, having fallen short to the New Orleans Saints in their 38-3 victory over his Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It was a masterful game by the Saints, who outcoached Tampa Bay in every phase of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. Brady was sacked three times, intercepted three times, and limited to a passer rating of just 40.4

For context, all three of the Saints quarterbacks to throw a pass rated better: Drew Brees (135.2), Taysom Hill (118.8), and even Jameis Winston (116.7), the former Buccaneers first-overall draft pick that they gave up on after his first year in head coach Bruce Arians’ turnover-prone system. Nearly every quarterback he’s ever coached set a career-high in interceptions in their first year, and Brady is well on his way with seven picks in his first nine games.

So Winston had to feel good to get to close out the game with the Saints’ reserves in mop-up duty, kneeling out the clock at the stadium he helped put on the map. It just might end up becoming a nice start to his own Saints career.

The Saints are 6-2 now, with a pair of tiebreaking wins over these upstart Buccaneers. Maybe it sets them up for a third confrontation in the playoffs.

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Sean Payton: About 20 team members near Emmanuel Sanders tested negative

The New Orleans Saints appear lucky to have avoided an outbreak of COVID-19 after wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders tested positive.

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The New Orleans Saints placed starting wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on the COVID-19 reserve list Friday after he recorded a positive test result, which Saints coach Sean Payton confirmed was a true positive after retesting.

At this point only one of Sanders’ teammates will be joining him on the reserve list: cornerback Ken Crawley, who was within close proximity to Sanders during Thursday’s practice. Payton clarified that Crawley has tested negative, but he has a health condition putting him within a high-risk category. So he’ll be away from the team out of an abundance of caution, in compliance with NFL protocols.

Additionally, the Saints used contact tracing to identify about 20 other players, coaches, and staff members who near Sanders over the last day, and Payton said that all of their test results were negative. So for now, there aren’t any concerns about an outbreak. This was something Sanders picked up at home.

It’s a big challenge to overcome. The Saints were already shorthanded at receiver — starter Michael Thomas and backup Bennie Fowler each missed practice time with injuries, and could also be unavailable against the Carolina Panthers this week — but this is going to happen with playing a high-contact, team sport like football during a public health crisis.

“It’s just 2020,” Payton finished at his Friday media conference call before taking the next question.

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