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New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game recap: Everything we know
Well that was rough. The New Orleans Saints couldn’t rise to the occasion when the chips were down against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, falling short on Sunday and starting their fifth consecutive season with a 1-1 record. Let’s get into it.
Former Saints linebacker Manti Te’o is at peace with himself and his NFL career. On Saturday, he returned to Notre Dame and received a hero’s welcome:
Welcome home Manti pic.twitter.com/0VypVtGoUh
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 17, 2022
This is cool to see. Manti Te’o played his last down of football in the Superdome, finding a successful second life with the New Orleans Saints, but on Saturday he returned where he rose to prominence as a college star at Notre Dame. And he was welcomed back to campus by a throng of cheering fans.
Good for him. Te’o’s career experienced highs and lows, with the linebacker earning consensus All-American honors and becoming the face of Notre Dame football before his team suffered a crushing defeat to Alabama in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game. He was the victim of an online catfishing scheme that did a lot to tarnish his reputation, and which became the subject of a recent Netflix documentary to accurately tell the story.
After being selected in the second round of the 2013 draft by the then-San Diego Chargers, Te’o struggled to stay on the field with injuries and ended up leaving in free agency, following his old coach Mike Nolan to New Orleans. Te’o played a full 16-game season for the first time in his career in 2017, logging 10 starts, but was supplanted in the starting lineup by Demario Davis the following offseason.
He hung around with the Saints as an experienced backup for a few years and signed with the Chicago Bears in 2020 as a reserve, though he didn’t get into a game until, ironically, they visited New Orleans in the playoffs. Te’o was instrumental for the Saints in some big moments — the first that comes to mind is him and Vonn Bell stopping Washington running back Samaje Perine together on a crucial 3rd-and-1 late in their thrilling 2017 comeback win, setting up the game-tying score by New Orleans on a subsequent possession to help send the game to overtime.
Now he’s at peace and retired from pro ball, enjoying life as one of Notre Dame’s all-time fan favorites. Te’o was on hand Saturday to see the Fighting Irish go into halftime down 10-7 against California, only to rally in the second half and win the day 24-17. It was the first win of Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman’s tenure, and it’s fitting that Te’o had a front-row seat to witness it.
MANTI’S BACK pic.twitter.com/EJFnp5Qwhr
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) September 17, 2022
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Alabama remains undefeated heading into Week 4!
Alabama football entered Week 3 with a lot of question marks following an ugly one-point win over the Texas Longhorns a week prior. The Crimson Tide returned to Bryant-Denny Stadium to take on the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks, where the game got out of hand early.
Before the first quarter was close to ending, Alabama had scored a touchdown in all three facets of the game: offense, defense and special teams.
In an attempt to return to the College Football Playoff, Alabama will likely have to run the table and Louisiana Monroe was just another team in the way of achieving that.
Keep it Rollin! 👏#RollTide pic.twitter.com/7gFsq9CR0X
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) September 17, 2022
Roll Tide Wire will continue to cover the Crimson Tide as the 2022 season continues and the team prepares for Vanderbilt in Week 4.
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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on Twitter @SpurrFM.
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Dennis Allen had the perfect take on a thrilling Saints-Falcons fourth quarter, but he knows the toughest work is still ahead:
"I hope they are all not like that"
"Enjoy the win but have tough skin tomorrow,"
Dennis Allen on today's dramatic win pic.twitter.com/yWLUYTjS6K
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 11, 2022
It’s not every day that you see a team rally from a 16-point deficit with about 12 minutes left in regulation, but that does seem to happen to the New Orleans Saints more often than most teams. And it’s what Dennis Allen experienced in his first game as the team’s full-time head coach, which he acknowledged after the 27-26 thriller concluded.
“I hope they are all not like that,” Allen deadpanned to reporters during his postgame media availability, reflecting on the intense late-game dramatics. He watched his offense struggle to move the ball for three quarters only to explode in the game’s final phase, with his defense coming up big in a few spots after being run over by the Falcons rushing attack. He was understandably exhausted.
Still, he recognized that the toughest work is still ahead. When asked about his comments to the team after their all-too-close win, Allen said that it’s important to “Enjoy the win but have tough skin tomorrow.” The team’s travel schedule typically sees them fly back from Atlanta to New Orleans late Sunday evening, regrouping Monday for a brief walkthrough practice and film study in positional meetings.
It’s impressive that the Saints rallied back from such a big deficit, but it would have been better to avoid that situation to begin with. They’ll get to work quickly on cleaning up their mistakes and addressing the vulnerabilities Atlanta exploited. Reviewing everyone’s work is the first step in that process.
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New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Chargers game recap: Everything we know
It took three weeks, but the New Orleans Saints found a way to win in the preseason. They took care of business against the visiting Los Angeles Chargers in the Caesars Superdome and ended their preseason with a victory in front of a large crowd of fans. Here’s everything you need to know with the preseason in rearview:
Much like Matthew Stafford throwing his game-winning TD pass, Saints fans on Twitter took aim at Eli Apple during his fourth-quarter Super Bowl collapse:
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Much like Matthew Stafford throwing his game-winning touchdown pass, New Orleans Saints fans on Twitter took aim at Eli Apple during his fourth-quarter collapse in Super Bowl LVI. The Cincinnati Bengals starting cornerback put a target on his back weeks ago, going on a bizarre rant ripping everything from Saints fans to New Orleans cuisine just minutes after his team knocked advanced to the next round of the playoffs.
So his name began trending on Twitter immediately after Apple yielded the final score to Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp, which meant his team lost by a final tally of 23-20. Sure, other factors played a part in Cincinnati’s loss. Their offensive line got Joe Burrow killed, with the young franchise quarterback taking sacks on almost every series during the second half. Bengals coach Zac Taylor put too much pressure on that offensive line by going into shotgun on almost every single short yardage situation. And a couple of favorable officiating calls also helped bail Los Angeles out of some jams.
But when the chips were down and the Bengals just needed one stop to get home with a Lombardi Trophy, it was Apple in coverage against Cooper Kupp that proved to be the game-deciding mismatch. And fans — and even some players around the league, including his ex-teammates Michael Thomas and C.J. Gardner-Johnson — were quick to remind him of that on social media:
Saints defense saves a must-win game vs. Panthers; everything we know
The New Orleans Saints defense made plays all over the field to seal a must-win game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 17, with a talent-depleted offense doing just enough to retake the lead and hold onto it. Here’s everything we know:
Shorthanded Saints fall to Dolphins 20-3; everything we know
Thank goodness that’s over. The Ian Book-led New Orleans Saints offense was far from competent — they weren’t even entertaining in their 20-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Between the injuries that have wracked the unit and the many COVID-19 absences they’re dealing with, they just didn’t have any answers for the firepower boasted by a mid-tier Dolphins offense that’s been a weakness of the team all season.
It was ugly. It was disappointing. Here’s everything we know:
The Saints have 4 games left to play in 2021. Here’s a look at each of those matchups:
We’re entering the home stretch. The New Orleans Saints are in the middle of a five-way tie for the seventh — and final — NFC playoff seed, but they can separate from the pack by going on a run these last four games. Shaking back with a dominant win over the New York Jets last week, ending the longest losing streak in Sean Payton’s career as a head coach, was a great way to start.
But it’s easier said than done. Here is a quick look at each matchup left on the 2021 Saints schedule:
6 takeaways from Saints’ Week 14 walloping of the Jets
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The New Orleans Saints cut their losing streak off at five games with a win on the road over the New York Jets, but what did we learn from this performance? It’s tough to read into such a lopsided win over a really bad team, but the Saints did some things well enough to make you think it could translate into their next four games to close out the regular season. Here are six quick takeaways in review of Week 14’s big win:
