Tag: result

Saints go into the bye week at 3-2 after rallying vs. Chargers

The New Orleans Saints overcame a slow first-half start to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers in overtime, winning 30-27 off a Wil Lutz kick.

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The New Orleans Saints overcame a weak showing in the first half with their best effort in the second half, defeating the Los Angeles Chargers 30-27. A promising opening drive in overtime ended with a Saints field goal, but rookie Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert wasn’t able to match it after his receivers dropped several passes near midfield.

It sends the Saints into their Week 6 bye with an ugly 3-2 record. That’s disappointing on face value, but it could be so much worse. After letting a few winnable games slip away, they’re sitting on top of the NFC South — by a hair.

The game wasn’t without its bright moments. The Saints were led in receiving by Emmanuel Sanders, who recorded his first 100-yard game in black and gold (totaling 122 yards and 12 catches on 14 targets). On defense, the Saints hit Herbert a dozen times, with three sacks. But like other big-bodied quarterbacks Cam Newton and Josh Allen, the 6-foot-6, 236-pound Herbert was too often too difficult to bring down.

New Orleans has a lot to work on and polish during their bye week; Herbert completed just 20 passes in this game, but he averaged 13.2 yards per completion and scored 4 touchdown catches. But there’s enough positives to take away from this to keep expectations high.

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Saints handle their business against the Lions, improve to 2-2

The New Orleans Saints defeated the Detroit Lions thanks to an efficient offense that created plenty of big plays through the air.

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Things looked rough early on, but it didn’t take the New Orleans Saints very long to rally back against the Detroit Lions. After an opening play pass from Drew Brees was deflected and intercepted, setting up a Lions touchdown to go up 14-0, the Saints kept their cool and went to work.

They scored 35 unanswered points, and cut the Lions rally off short of a comeback. The final score was 35-29, but it wasn’t nearly that close for most of the afternoon.

First, the good: the Saints offense finally got into gear with several big gains through the air, including pickups of 29 yards (to Alvin Kamara), 25 yards (to Emmanuel Sanders), and 20 yards (to Tre’Quan Smith, who scored two touchdown receptions). New Orleans also ran the ball well all day, with Kamara averaging 4.4 yards per carry while backup running back Latavius Murray averaged 4.6 yards per attempt.

The Saints defense also logged three sacks and had a pair of interceptions in the end zone, but one was wiped out by a weak illegal contact penalty on the other side of the field. They played better than anyone could have expected without starting cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Janoris Jenkins.

But there was some bad: the Saints were terrible on critical downs, going 7-for-14 on third down and allowed the Lions to convert all three of their fourth down attempts (plus a two-point conversion). New Orleans also drew four flags for 67 yards, maintaining their lead on the NFL’s most penalty yards this season. Some of those fouls were botched calls by the NFL’s officials, but the Saints do clearly have some areas to clean up.

But now they’re 2-2, and positioned for a big game against the Los Angeles Chargers on “Monday Night Football” next week. The Saints are a game behind the 3-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who won a shootout with those same Chargers), and could really use another win before their Week 6 bye.

Michael Thomas says he caught 7 passes last week with a broken hand

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas took some happiness in seeing the Minnesota Vikings fall, and shed some light on his injury.

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The Minnesota Vikings were steamrolled by the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs, losing 27-10 on the road just a week after they beat the New Orleans Saints in a big upset.

Few people were as happy to see Minnesota fall on its face as Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas, the two-time first-team All-Pro who led his team with seven catches for 70 yards in the wild-card round. Thomas had himself a ball going back-and-forth with Vikings fans on social media, but added an interesting detail — he says he played with a broken hand last week.

It’s possible he’s telling the truth. Thomas was limited in practice for two weeks with an unspecified hand injury, and his production in his final two games noticeably trailed off from his season averages. In those last two matchups with the Vikings and Carolina Panthers, Thomas caught just 11 passes for 107 yards; he averaged 9.3 receptions per game and 107.8 receiving yards per game in the 2019 season. So a broken hand would explain the drop-off.

However, the other part of Thomas’s statement isn’t exactly correct. He called out the Vikings receiving corps for failing to show up against the 49ers, joking, “I don’t think anyone got more than (one) catch,” but the truth is that Stefon Diggs (two receptions) and Adam Thielen (five catches) combined for as many completions as Thomas posted a week ago. That isn’t exactly ideal, and their struggles against a 49ers secondary that Thomas and his teammates dropped 46 points on does a lot to explain why this one was so lopsided.

Now, here’s hoping Thomas spends his offseason healing up and getting his body right. He took a lot of hits while breaking the NFL single-season record for catches (149), and appears to have even broken his hand. The Saints should be right back in Super Bowl contention next season, and they’ll need Thomas to lead them again if they’re going to reach that goal.

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Saints’ season comes to abrupt end, Vikings win in overtime 26-20

The New Orleans Saints 2019 season ended abruptly, with a wild-card round playoffs exit after losing to the Minnesota Vikings, 26-20.

Things didn’t go as planned for the New Orleans Saints. They entered the playoffs as a heavy favorite to go the distance and win the Super Bowl, but the Minnesota Vikings hit them in the mouth, took the lead, and didn’t let go, even if the Saints rallied late to force the game to overtime. A touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Kyle Rudolph on third down from the goal-line stunned the Saints defense, and gave Minnesota the 26-20 victory.

The Saints just didn’t execute well. Their offensive line, stocked with Pro Bowl and All-Pro talent, was bullied by an admittedly strong Vikings defensive line. Left guard Andrus Peat has been the weak link in that chain for years, and on Sunday, he broke. While Drew Brees didn’t have his sharpest day at quarterback, too often he wasn’t given any time to even read the field before his vision filled with purple jerseys.

And it’s not like Vikings coach Mike Zimmer did anything exotic, groundbreaking, or seriously creative. He moved his best pass rushers inside so that they would have a speed-to-power advantage over the Saints guards. New Orleans’ big men up front never really struggled to mirror their opponents or move around; they simply failed to win one-on-one battles. It was a battle of fundamentals that the Vikings won.

It’s disappointing to see the Saints’ season end this way. After everything they’ve fought through — injuries to everyone from rookie backup linebackers to the franchise quarterback, suspensions before and during the season, tough-to-swallow losses to longtime rivals — they’ve gone out with a whimper. It’s almost anticlimactic. Even on Sunday they rallied around a defense that came through in so many clutch moments and rode a furious spark from do-it-all quarterback Taysom Hill. But it wasn’t enough when the offense couldn’t pick itself up off the floor.

The good news is that they’ll be back. Brees played so well this season that it’s impossible to think he’ll leave the game behind, not with so much unfinished business. The Saints’ core players are all either young or under contract for the foreseeable future. Next year’s schedule compares favorably to the season they just had. They’ll enter the 2020 offseason just as likely to go all the way as they were in this one.

But that disappointment can’t be overlooked. They shouldn’t be going into a long offseason looking to chase that elusive second Super Bowl trophy. They should be defending a championship and hoping to secure a third. Instead, the Saints are back in familiar territory — as underachievers.

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Saints beat Panthers 42-10, finish regular season with 13-3 record

The New Orleans Saints handled the Carolina Panthers with flair, but their spot in the NFC playoff picture is out of their hands.

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The New Orleans Saints demolished the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, closing out the regular season with a 13-3 record and their seventh consecutive win on the road. It’s just the fourth time in 52 years the Saints have won 13 games in a single season, joining the 2009, 2011, and 2018 seasons as the best regular season campaigns in Saints history.

New Orleans was unstoppable in every phase of the game, gaining 379 yards on offense while creating three turnovers on defense and limiting the Panthers to 29 yards gained on special teams. Jared Cook led the team with 60 receiving yards, catching both of his targets. Latavius Murray and Alvin Kamara combined for 100 rushing yards on 25 attempts. Drew Brees was an effective 19-of-30 for 253 passing yards and three touchdown throws, avoiding even a single sack.

The Saints handled their business in Charlotte, but the work is hardly finished. All eyes now look towards the playoffs, where the Saints must hope for the Seattle Seahawks to upset the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. The Detroit Lions nearly defeated the Green Bay Packers, which would have clinched a first-round bye for the Saints, but Detroit’s injury-ravaged roster couldn’t pull it off. While the Saints may not have home-field advantage through the playoffs, they do have one of the NFL’s best records on the road over the last three years. This team can beat anyone, anywhere.

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Saints beat Falcons 26-18, clinch third straight NFC South title

The New Orleans Saints overwhelmed a last-minute Atlanta Falcons comeback effort to improve to 10-2 and win the NFC South division title.

The New Orleans Saints shut down an Atlanta Falcons comeback bid to improve to 10-2 on the year so far and clinch their third consecutive NFC South division title, punching their ticket for the playoffs. It was an impressive win filled with big plays on offense from do-it-all fireplug Taysom Hill and a punishing defense that sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan nine times.

Sure, it wasn’t perfect. The Saints left too many points on the board with dropped passes and three failed onside kick recoveries down the stretch. Penalties plagued the team throughout the game. They obviously have plenty to clean up in the next week-and-a-half before their next kickoff.

But for now, it’s time to celebrate. The Saints won big over a divisional rival that embarrassed them once this year already, and did so on a national stage in Atlanta’s building (the other Mercedes-Benz-sponsored NFL venue). They’re locked in to host a playoff game and the Falcons are mathematically eliminated. Celebrate, New Orleans.

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