Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the New Orleans Saints — at least in the fourth quarter. They did too much to give the Cincinnati Bengals a way to win the game, and Joe Burrow’s squad was all too happy to take what was given to them. The Saints are 2-4, and things won’t get much easier from here. Let’s explore what went right (and wrong) in their 30-26 loss in Week 6.
What went right?
Let’s start with the positives. Undrafted rookie wide receiver Rashid Shaheed was a sparkplug in the first quarter, easily beating Eli Apple off the line for what should have been a big gain (he cut inside, but Andy Dalton throw an incomplete pass outside). Shaheed returned later on to take a jet sweep 44 yards to the house for New Orleans’ second touchdown scored on the afternoon. He should have touched the ball much more often, and he likely will moving forward. What’s concerning is that Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. didn’t have more plays ready for Shaheed after they moved out of the opening script.
And New Orleans did a great job of controlling the clock — they maintained possession for nearly 12 minutes in the third quarter. They finally moved with rhythm and converted first downs when they needed them most, achieving a 47.1% conversion rate on third downs (just three teams have done better on the season so far). That obviously wasn’t enough to win the game, but it did set the Saints offense up in position to close things out. At least until they choked in a big spot.
What went wrong?
A lot of things went wrong this week, which has been the story of the season almost every week so far. The Saints hurt themselves on special teams (with Blake Gillikin’s fourth-quarter shanked punt) and frequently on defense (with big gains allowed to Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd almost at will). Their too-conservative approach in the game’s final quarter blew up in their faces and let Cincinnati march down the field and win the day. They played scared football. Dennis Allen was hired as head coach for his ability to build and maintain an elite defense, but they couldn’t find a stop when they needed it most.
Their pricey investments in the secondary aren’t panning out in critical moments. Tyrann Mathieu has been a liability in coverage and can’t tackle in the open field. Marcus Maye has missed as many games as he’s played due to injury. They’ve spent so many prime draft picks and top-of-market contracts to load up the defensive line, only to need to blitz linebackers like Demario Davis and Kaden Elliss in the biggest plays of the game because Cameron Jordan, Marcus Davenport, and David Onyemata can’t get home. The offense has been really, really bad — but the defense has failed to meet expectations. The too-common errors on special teams only shrink the margin for error further.
And what's the bottom line?
The Saints are a flawed football team. And they seem to create new problems after addressing their established issues. They didn’t turn the ball over in this game, and they were only penalized four times (one of those being a very questionable roughing the passer foul on Demario Davis). But they’ve stacked up so many injuries at wide receiver and high-profile spots like quarterback and cornerback, that backups are put in unenviable positions and fail to rise to the occasion. They’re always a missed Mathieu fumble away from losing everything, and that’s seemed to be the case more often than not.
It’s so frustrating. The Saints pushed in all of their poker chips on this being their year to make some noise, prove that they’re bigger than Sean Payton, and compete in one of the sorrier divisions in a weak conference. Instead, they’re tripping over themselves to give opponents ways to win games. They would be 1-5 right now if the Atlanta Falcons hadn’t looked at that opportunity and said “No thanks.”
There are still 11 games to play. A quick turnaround against the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night gives them a mini-bye to fly back to New Orleans, breathe, heal up, and go into November loaded for bear. Hopefully it works out that way. At 2-4 in mid-October, it’s easy to see why confidence is running out among the fanbase.
