Saints Red Zone Issues Allow Bengals to 'Bite Back' in 4th Quarter

New Orleans' red zone issues and more allow the Burrows and the Bengals to 'bite back' and defeat Saints.

Burrow and Chase returned to the Big Easy to recapture their Superdome magic with two touchdowns to lead the Bengals 30-26 over the Saints. New Orleans has a quick turnaround as they have an Amazon Prime-time date with the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football.

No one in the NFC South is running away with the division. Tampa Bay lost, Atlanta won, and the division foes sit at 3-3 apiece on the season. Dennis Allen's crew is 2-4 and 1-2, with Jameis Winston and Andy Dalton as his starting quarterbacks.

Decision time. Should Allen turn to Winston for a critical NFC game, or does he stay with Dalton?

Dalton has played conservative and manageable football for the Saints. New Orleans was in a position to win in each of the two losses. Still, his mobility and inability to connect on deep balls have been a factor.

KEY POINTS

1. Another more glaring problem against the Bengals was the red zone conversions. The Saints were 1 of 5 times, missed touchdowns, and settled for 4 Wil Lutz field goals.
2. Pete Carmichael may have lost Andrus Peat once again. The guard left the game with possibly a pectoral or shoulder injury. A makeshift offensive line could spell trouble for the New Orleans passing game.
3. New Orleans overpowered the Bengals front seven for most of the contest with 228 rushing yards from Kamara, Ingram, Hill, and Shaheed, but the passing attack fell short within the red zone.
4. Saints defenders missed Marshon Lattimore as Ja'Marr Chase was able to make the big plays toward the game's end.
5. The Demario Davis penalty extended an early score.
6. Blake Gillikin's late shank was definitely at the wrong time.
7. The three Saints sacks on Burrow came from Davis (2) and Elliss (1).
8. Cam Jordan and Marcus Davenport were neutralized as edge rushers.
9. Veterans Mathieu and Roby missing tackles was a repetitious theme in the secondary.
10. I'd like to know how Carmichael will use more of Alvin Kamara in Arizona.

The New Orleans journeys to meet the Arizona Cardinals for a 7:15 PM CT kickoff at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ, on Oct. 20.

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