Saints Let Another Winnable Game Slip Through Hands

The Saints did enough to produce a win on Sunday, but they end up getting shut out instead against the 49ers and sink to 4-8.

SANTA CLARA -- The Saints were shut out for the first time in 332 games on Sunday. That game coincidentally came against the 49ers in 2001. New Orleans did enough defensively and had opportunities on offense, but were able to produce anything to help get a win. They got shut out 13-0 and fell to 4-8 on the year. 

Game Recap

The Saints started with the football after losing the coin toss and the 49ers deferred to the second half kickoff. Things started promising for New Orleans on offense, as they were able to muster a first down after a few downs, but then Alvin Kamara fumbled for the third time this year and gave San Francisco good field position. 

The 49ers offense turned in an 11-play, 38-yard drive that took 4:54 off the clock that resulted in a 24-yard Robbie Gould field goal to see them take an early 3-0 lead with 8:01 left in the opening quarter. San Francisco ended up going for it on a 4th-and-1 and converting with Christian McCaffrey, and also got big plays from Deebo Samuel and Ray-Ray McCloud III on the drive.

New Orleans had a nice start to their next series, as Andy Dalton connected with a wide open Adam Trautman for a 17-yard hookup. However, the Saints would go backwards due to a Taysom Hill false start on the next play, and it looked like Andy Dalton picked up a first down running on 3rd-and-11, but the officials got together to mark him just short and New Orleans punted.

As San Francisco took over with 5:43 to play in the opening quarter, they managed to get one first down on their series, but had to punt it away after failing to convert on a 3rd-and-8. Zack Baun, Demario Davis, and Kaden Elliss all made some strong plays on the drive. New Orleans pieced together a 5-play, 46-yard drive that was highlighted by a big hookup from Dalton to Rashid Shaheed for 35 yards, but New Orleans elected not to go for it on 4th-and-3 and punt back to the 49ers.

The decision paid off for the Saints, as the defense was stellar on their next series after a good Blake Gillikin punt got downed by Kevin White inside the 5-yard-line. San Francisco managed to get one first down on their drive, and New Orleans looked to capitalize on their next series. It started well for the Saints, as Taysom Hill hit Chris Olave for a deep shot. However, the play was challenged by Kyle Shanahan and was overturned. It was quite a tough look, to say the least. The Saints offense got pushed back some, and could not pick up the first down, ending up punting back to San Francisco with 9:18 until the half.

The 49ers were marching down the field after touchback from Gillikin, and it appeared they were well on their way to points. New Orleans made a huge red zone stop to turn San Francisco away after Shy Tuttle and Marcus Davenport combined to stop Jimmy Garoppolo after he attempted to run the ball. Unfortunately, the Saints would have to punt the ball back after failing to get out of the shadow of their own goal post. It appeared they might have had a chance after an apparent pass interference call, but Trevor Penning was also called for a face mask that offset it and forced them to replay the down.

New Orleans punted the ball back at the two-minute warning, and San Francisco ended up taking advantage on their drive, putting together a 57-yard drive that got them into the end zone. Garoppolo hooked up with Jauan Jennings for a 5-yard touchdown after Tyrann Mathieu tipped the pass initially with the play before giving them extra yardage due to a Chris Harris Jr. unnecessary roughness penalty. Jennings also had two other big plays on the drive, and the 49ers had a touchdown run by Elijah Mitchell wiped out due to a George Kittle holding penalty. Regardless, they took a 10-0 lead into the half.

Second Half

It looked like the Saints were going to catch the huge break they needed after Alontae Taylor got an interception and returned it deep inside 49ers territory, but the play was negated due to an illegal contact penalty on Chris Harris Jr. New Orleans also got another bad penalty after a roughing the passer was called on Malcolm Roach. The Saints defense was able to force a field goal attempt, which was converted by Robbie Gould from 46 yards out to make it 13-0 with 10:25 left in the third quarter.

New Orleans put together their best offensive drive of the game on their next series, but were turned away after Wil Lutz missed a 48-yard field goal attempt. There were some good hookups to Jarvis Landry and Alvin Kamara, and the Saints were facing a 3rd-and-5 from the 49ers' 25-yard-line, but Dalton couldn't connect with Shaheed. The offense was staying out on the field for 4th-and-5, but Ryan Ramczyk got called for a false start and then Lutz missed.

As the 49ers took over with 4:07 left in the third quarter, the Saints defense came up big stop to force a punt to get the ball back. The team was driving down the field and looked to get some type of points out of it, but Alvin Kamara fumbled at the 1-yard-line after getting a pass from Andy Dalton. New Orleans got good plays on their drive to Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, and also got a big roughing the passer call on Nick Bosa on a 4th-and-1 attempt with Taysom Hill.

New Orleans was able to force a quick three-and-out on San Francisco's next possession to get the ball back with 9:35 to play in the game. The Saints offense once again was able to move down the field, but were able to get nothing out of the drive again. The drive started with a nice punt return by Rashid Shaheed for good field position, and the drive big hookup went to Chris Olave. New Orleans also benefitted from a penalty in the end zone to get a fresh set of downs, but was unable to punch it into the end zone from the 4-yard-line.

San Francisco took over with 6:18 to play in the game, and through some runs and passes were able to bleed the clock down to the two-minute warning. They'd just bleed out the clock and win 13-0.

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