Ravens Squish Saints on Monday Night Football

The Saints went from playing a complete game last week to not being able to play well at any phase against the Ravens.

NEW ORLEANS -- After seeing a game in which all three phases got the job done last week, we saw the exact opposite on Monday night for the Saints. The team is now 3-6 after falling to the Ravens, and now there's just a ton of questions to be asked after their loss. To top it off, New Orleans also had several injuries pop up that will lead to some questions throughout the short week.

Game Recap

The Saints opened with the football after the Ravens won the opening coin toss. New Orleans came out firing on their first play, with Andy Dalton connecting with Chris Olave for a 15-yard hookup. However, that was about it for the drive, as Alvin Kamara was stopped for no gain on the second play by Marcus Peters, then got a 4-yard gain, and then Dalton was pressured by Tyus Bowser on 3rd-and-6 and had to throw it away.

New Orleans put a strong effort together on their first series on defense, even after getting an illegal hands to the face call on Marcus Davenport. Tyrann Mathieu had two strong plays to begin the game, and pressure was affecting Lamar Jackson, as Baltimore ran just 4 plays on the drive for 6 yards. Demario Davis, Malcolm Roach, and P.J. Williams all made good plays on the series.

The Saints offense looked to have better success on their next possession, and it looked like things were going to be a disaster on the first play after Dalton's pass to Juwan Johnson was tipped and intercepted by Marlon Humphrey, but a pass interference on Chuck Clark wiped it out. New Orleans couldn't get a third down pickup after being in a 3rd-and-1 situation with Kamara running it, punting back to Baltimore with 8:25 left in the opening drive.

Baltimore broke the early stalemate by putting together an 11-play, 76-yard drive that concluded with Jackson finding Isaiah Likely for a 24-yard touchdown pass on a rollout play. The Ravens got a few conversions on the drive through the air, as Jackson targeted Alontae Taylor on several of the throws. He got completions to DeSean Jackson and Demarcus Robinson on the series, as Baltimore took the 7-0 lead with 1:23 to play in the opening quarter.

New Orleans couldn't break the rust off on offense, as they got a Cesar Ruiz holding penalty on the first play with Taysom Hill in running the ball. Alvin Kamara made an incredible catch and run for 12 yards on 2nd-and-20 after the previous play was batted down by Calais Campbell. However, Dalton would get sacked by Justin Houston on 3rd-and-8 to punt back to the Ravens to open the second quarter.

The Saints were down to their final strikes, and were able to piece together a 9-play, 83-yard drive that finished with Juwan Johnson getting into the end zone from 41 yards out after doing some nice tightrope action down the sideline. They cut the Ravens lead to 27-13 with 4:13 left in the game. Tre'Quan Smith, Alvin Kamara, and Chris Olave had some of the big plays on the drive.

The Ravens got stopped on their next possession after converting one first down. New Orleans had a prime opportunity to sack Jackson via Cam Jordan on 3rd-and-9 before the punt, but Jackson escaped and fumbled the ball and still managed to scramble and heave down the field to DeSean Jackson, but Alontae Taylor had the coverage and pass breakup.

The woes continued for the Saints offense, as they ended up running a three-and-out after exchanging some penalties and getting 8 yards on the first play to Adam Trautman from Dalton. The play call on 3rd-and-3 was quite questionable, which only yielded a 1-yard gain to Juwan Johnson in the flats.

As the Ravens took over, they made their series count, getting into the end zone again to take a 14-0 lead at the 2-minute warning. They went on a 12-play, 81-yard drive that took 7:05 off the clock that finished with a 1-yard Kenyan Drake touchdown run. Lamar Jackson was nearly impossible to tackle for the Ravens, and he made some big plays to help set them up in the red zone. It was an absolute recipe for success.

New Orleans went to work in their 2-minute offense, and was able to only muster a field goal going into halftime. They moved down the field fairly well after some early blunders on offense, and they lost Erik McCoy on their 3rd-and-1 conversion via Andy Dalton on the quarterback keeper. Chris Olave help get the Saints in the red zone after getting a pass at the 15-yard-line, but Dalton couldn't get them into the end zone. He missed a wide open Marquez Callaway on one of the throws, while the others were off the mark.

Second Half

Baltimore started with the football to open the third quarter. New Orleans did a good job settling and forcing a field goal after giving up some big plays on their 60-yard drive that took 12 plays. Justin Tucker converted a 32-yard field goal to help the Ravens take a 17-3 lead with 8:25 left. The Saints lost Pete Werner due to injury on the drive, who was later carted to the locker room. They also lost Marcus Davenport, who went into the blue tent and then walked to the locker room.

New Orleans responded on their next series, but not the way they wanted to. They managed to get a 37-yard Wil Lutz field goal to cut the deficit to 17-6 with 1:25 left in the third. Big plays to Chris Olave from Taysom Hill, another catch by Olave from Dalton, and a conversion by Kevin White from Dalton were the big plays. However, things broke down on 3rd-and-4 and led to a Marlon Humphrey sack.

The Saints defense got the three-and-out they needed from the Ravens offense on the next possession, as they played Lamar Jackson well on back-to-back plays. Unfortunately, the offense wasn't able to go anywhere with the opportunity, running a three-and-out of their own to give the Ravens back the ball with 13:10 left in the game.

Baltimore proceeded to get points on their next drive, cashing in on a Tucker field goal, this time from 41 yards out to extend their lead to 20-6 with 8:31 left in the game. Lamar Jackson continued to haunt the Saints defense and make some big plays, and when New Orleans figured to try to get back into it, they turned the ball over on the very first play after Dalton's pass was tipped and picked off Justin Houston. It took three plays for them to get into the end zone and make it 27-6 with 6:55 left in the game after a 3-yard Kenyan Drake touchdown run. 

With the clock working against them, New Orleans put together a touchdown drive late in the game, going 83 yards in 9 plays to get into the end zone via a 41-yard touchdown catch and run by Juwan Johnson from Andy Dalton. It was a tremendous individual effort by Johnson to tightrope down the sideline to get in. Big plays to Alvin Kamara, Tre'Quan Smith, and Chris Olave were the other highlights on the drive, as New Orleans trailed 27-13 with 4:13 to play.

New Orleans elected not to go for an onside kick attempt, and then proceeded to give up a couple first downs to the Ravens. They burned all of their timeouts well ahead of the 2-minute warning, as Baltimore just kept picking it up on the ground and bleeding the clock down to under a minute before the Saints got the ball back.

That was all, however, as New Orleans didn't do anything with under a minute to play and fell to 3-6. They have a date with the Steelers next Sunday, and after this game, there's just so many questions we have, as their season took a major step back after this one.

---

Ravens-Saints Coverage From the Week

• Saints Inactives List: Week 9
• Saints Fantasy Football: Start'em or Sit'em in Week 9
• Discipline of Saints Defense Will Be Tested by Ravens Offense
• Saints Transactions for Ravens Game
• Saints Player Props Bets vs. Ravens
• Saints Passing Attack vs. Ravens Pass Defense
• Ravens vs. Saints Pregame Report - Week 9
• Saints X-Factors vs. Ravens
• Saints Final Injury Report for Week 9
• Demario Davis is Saints' Salute to Service Award Nominee for 2022
• Saints Designate S P.J. Williams for Return
• Saints to Place Michael Thomas on Injured Reserve
• Fantasy Football's Top Waiver-Wire Targets | Week 9
• First Look: Ravens vs. Saints
• Old-School Showdown: Saints Running Game vs. Ravens Run Defense