Dennis Allen and the New Orleans Saints fell to 5-7 this year with a 33-28 loss to the Detroit Lions, and it wasn’t pretty. The good news is the Saints showed a lot of fight after a calamitous first quarter. The bad news is that their efforts weren’t enough to outweigh those early-game mistakes.
So what went right?
What went wrong?
And what’s the bottom line?
We’re going to answer each of those questions and break down the game:
What went right?
Let’s start off by highlighting Alvin Kamara’s achievement. He gained 58 yards as a receiver and 51 as a rusher, with his two touchdown runs tying and then breaking the record Mark Ingram II set for the most rushing touchdowns in a Saints uniform; Kamara now holds the franchise record with 53 of them. He fought hard when running against the Lions defense and flashed some moves in the open field that we haven’t seen in a while. The Saints had their first well-executed screen for him in what felt like years.
Kamara wasn’t the only player to leave it all on the field offensively. Chris Olave made several huge plays, totaling 5 receptions for 119 receiving yards, including a nice adjustment to an underthrown pass from Derek Carr to get the offense into scoring position. He later put himself in position to secure a tipped pass from Jameis Winston that would have been intercepted, keeping another scoring drive alive.
Pete Carmichael finally made some of the adjustments everyone has been shouting about. He used play action more heavily in this game for nice pickups of 28 yards (to Olave) and 19 yards (to tight end Foster Moreau), and his offense went 4-for-4 in the red zone. But it was too little, too late after the Lions took a commanding lead.
What went wrong?
Lions fans took over the Caesars Superdome — and after the game Tyrann Mathieu said that the Saints have no one to blame for it but themselves. They haven’t given fans a product worth cheering for. Nobody understands that better than someone with so many local connections like he does.
Both Saints quarterbacks made perilous decisions with the football. Derek Carr was intercepted on a pass Juwan Johnson should have caught on the first play from scrimmage, but it was a ball Carr never should have thrown to begin with. He missed A.T. Perry running wide-open downfield and checked down instead. Jameis Winston was luckier. His first pass attempt (in relief of the injured Carr) should have been intercepted by two different Lions defenders, but the ball was tipped and fell where Olave snagged it.
But so much blame falls on the Saints defense. They had few answers for Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson in the first half and his 10 points in the fourth quarter were enough to put the game away, setting up a patient 8-play, 3-minute drive to close it out. Lions quarterback Jared Goff turned the ball over six times in his last two games but didn’t throw an interception or lose a fumble in this matchup. Dennis Allen’s defense was playing on its heels all afternoon.
And the Saitns missed Rashid Shaheed on special teams. Lynn Bowden Jr. returned a single kickoff for just 18 yards, well short of expectations. He wasn’t much better on punt returns with 5 tries for 30 yards. Blake Grupe did make all four of his extra point kicks, but Lou Hedley had a rough day punting. He didn’t stick a single punt inside the opposing 20-yard line.
And what's the bottom line?
This is who the Saints are: a poorly-coached squad kept afloat by a handful of stars who are desperately fighting to keep the team competitive. Ball security is a problem. Penalties are a problem. Poor play at the line of scrimmage is limiting what both the offense and defense can accomplish.
And Dennis Allen’s resume tells the story. He’s got the Saints at 5-7 coming out of Week 13, which is the best record he’s ever had this late in the season. This is their ceiling. They’ve invested $150 million in a quarterback who can’t elevate the offense and they’re headed for another third-place finish in the NFL’s worst division. The easiest strength of schedule and healthiest roster haven’t been enough for Allen to even maintain a .500 record. This is who they are.
So what comes next?
The Saints have two games left to play in this three-week homestand, starting with the Carolina Panthers. Carolina is ranked dead-last in the NFC South with even less reason for optimism than the Saints after jettisoning head coach Frank Reich and his top assistants are less than a year on the job. It’s a game the Saints should win handily.
But will they? Derek Carr entered concussion protocol after a big hit on Sunday, which also left him with shoulder and back injuries. The Saints were only able to put 20 points on the Panthers when they met earlier this year in a 3-point win. This is the definition of a trap game where New Orleans might take some things for granted and get upset by a vastly inferior opponent. We’ll have to see if the sparks of productivity we saw from the offense continues, and whether the defense can rebound after several disappointing games.
