Saints Filled With More Questions Than Answers
NEW ORLEANS -- The big shutout win over the Raiders feels like it gave us a false sense of hope for the Saints. Monday night's grueling loss to the Ravens brought us the same things we saw during the team's losing streak. All the losses New Orleans has suffered this season can be summed up with their three phases not being in sync, and what is particularly troubling with Baltimore is that all of them went out the window after such a good week.
The offense wasn't good at all. The line wasn't able to do fend off pressure or get much going in the running game after being extremely dominant in the past several games. Andy Dalton struggled. It was just bad, as the team just got physically outmatched on Monday Night Football.
"We got beat today. They deserved to win this one," Andy Dalton said following the game.
It doesn't sound like we'll see any type of quarterback change for the Saints, as most of the game was chalked up to being a 'bad day at the office'. What's concerning there is that these Saints aren't built to keep this thing going like this. In the past, they could overcome, but the margin for error with this team and the season is so minute.
Dennis Allen said after the game, "I think our offense has been pretty good and moved the ball. This was not a good day for us, but I'm looking at this as, this was a bad day at the office for us and we've got to improve."
The defense was given fits by Lamar Jackson, but it wasn't just him. Kenyan Drake had success on the ground too, and there were busted plays in the secondary. It all went to the wayside, and the sad part was that Jackson had just 133 passing yards. Their leading receiver had 24 yards, and it was from the Isaiah Likely touchdown in the first quarter. Baltimore went 9-of-15 on 3rd Down. They did enough to win a game in which a double-digit lead was all they needed.
New Orleans is going to have some question marks with their personnel too, as key players got injured during the game and did not return. Among those included Pete Werner (ankle), Marcus Davenport (calf), and Erik McCoy (calf). At one point, Alontae Taylor left, but came back, and even Alvin Kamara got hurt and was limping off to the sideline, but returned.
Dennis Allen didn't have any updates on any of the injured players following the game, but they're all significant losses if they aren't going to be able to go on the short week. Of them, the most concerning looks to be Pete Werner, who had to be carted off.
Even at 3-6, the team isn't out of it. You're going to keep hearing how they're still in the division mix, but had they put forth a better effort in prime time against Baltimore, then maybe you could buy a little more of that reality. Things feel like they can easily spin out of control if they lose again, especially if it's next week against the Steelers.
The Saints have to use a short week to once again do some major 'soul-searching' and find answers to prevent this thing from getting uglier than it already is. There's eight games left on the schedule, and at least two of them may be out of reach in the 49ers and Eagles. Will they turn a corner, or continue to leave us all wondering what could have been again.
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