1 week Ago
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen looks on during the game against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans on Sunday, September 22, 2024. The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New Orleans Saints 15-12. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune) Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save The Saints didn’t run into a buzzsaw Sunday.
They ran into each other. While stopping the Dallas Cowboys a week ago looked easy, slowing down Dallas Goedert on Sunday didn’t. Goedert, the Philadelphia Eagles tight end, reeled in a 61-yard reception with 1:05 left that summed up the day as the New Orleans Saints came crashing back down to Earth much like Marshon Lattimore, Will Harris and Jordan Howden all crashed into one another on the play.
The play set up the game-winning touchdown for the Eagles, who handed the Saints a 15-12 loss. It was an ugly play on a day filled with them for a Saints team that could have made a huge statement in what would have been their first 3-0 start since 2013 Two members of that 2013 team, Drew Brees and Mark Ingram, helped set the atmosphere by leading the Who Dat chant before kickoff. The raucous Caesars Superdome crowd, one of the loudest in recent years, did its part, too.
The Saints didn’t do theirs. Klint Kubiak’s offense, which could do no wrong in the first two weeks of the season, all of a sudden could do no right. A high-powered offense that averaged a league best 45.
5 points got outgained 460-219 in this one. “There are always going to be speed bumps,” said Saints tight end Juwan Johnson. “It’s not realistic to always put up 40 points.
It’s just one of those hurdles that we have to go over. It’s nothing to panic about.” Johnson is right.
This felt more like a speed bump than a pothole. Neither the Saints nor their fans should panic. This one loss won’t define their season.
But it was a reality check for a team that generated so much buzz over the first two weeks of the season with the back-to-back beatdowns over the Carolina Panthers and Cowboys. This was a chance for the Saints to keep that hype train rolling. And they should have.
If someone had told you before the game that the Saints would hold the Eagles to 15 points, sack Jalen Hurts four times, block a punt and force two turnovers, you probably would have penciled this in as another victory. Especially if you had watched Kubiak’s explosive offense the first two games. But Philly held the Saints’ offense in check and made this an easy day of work for the Caesars Superdome scoreboard operator.
The Saints scored on a Blake Grupe field goal on their opening possession but didn’t score again until the fourth quarter on another Grupe field goal that cut the deficit to 7-6. When the offense finally found some life and took a 12-7 lead with 2:03 left, the defense let them down on the big play from Hurts to Goedert to set the Eagles up at the Saints’ 4-yard line. Barkley, who rushed for 147 yards, scored one play later.
“It’s frustrating,” said safety Tyrann Mathieu. “Hats off to those guys. They made the plays when they mattered the most.
You can play great defense for 55 minutes, and in 5 minutes, it can get away from you. We’ll learn from it.” There were plenty lessons to learn.
Here are a few of them. • Kubiak is human after all, and the Saints aren’t as invincible as they looked to start the season. • The Saints offense isn’t nearly as effective if it can’t get the running game going.
A team that was able to avoid third-and-long situations in the first two weeks of the season couldn’t continue that trend Sunday. The Saints converted 6 of 13 on third downs and finished with 89 rushing yards. It didn’t help matters that the team was already without Taysom Hill (chest injury) and then lost center Erik McCoy to a groin injury on the opening drive.
All of a sudden, the offensive line that was a question mark before the season but had proved itself the first two games becomes a question mark again. “You knew adversity was going to happen at some point,” Carr said. • The Saints' defense, which gave New Orleans a chance to steal a game it probably didn’t deserve to win, will have to avoid giving up the explosive plays.
• The Saints’ fans are more than ready to get the Dome back to what it was. “It was electric,” Carr said. “That was a playoff atmosphere.
” The good news for the Saints is this wasn’t the playoffs. This wasn't win or go home, and the season is still young. The road doesn't get any easier, though, with road trips to Atlanta and Kansas City on the horizon.
The Saints will have to play much better than they did Sunday to have a chance..
