Here’s the bottom line: The New Orleans Saints needed to play a near perfect game like they did against Seattle a couple of weeks ago to topple the Denver Broncos.
It didn’t happen Sunday. Far from it. The Saints offense gave the ball away four times, including two fumbles by star rookie wide receiver Michael Thomas. The Saints defense kept New Orleans in the game repeatedly with stellar play.
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As for the special teams, well you almost had to see it to believe it. Broncos safety Justin Simmons leaped over long snapper Justin Drescher to block Wil Lutz’s potential game‑winning extra‑point attempt, allowing Will Parks to scoop and score from 84 yards out.
Rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins expressed the sentiment everyone on either side of the field felt when Parks darted down the Saints sideline for the winning defensive two‑point conversion.
“Disbelief,” Rankins described as his emotion during the two‑point play with 1:22 remaining in the game.
“It just sucks,” guard Jahri Evans added.
The Saints (4‑5) had won four of their last five games entering Sunday’s contest in the Mercedes‑Benz Superdome. They’ve been on a hot streak. But this is a team that put all of this together to climb to 4‑4. They haven’t been good enough overall to win games while committing zero turnovers, much less four.
Maybe the New England Patriots are the only team in the NFL good enough to overcome so many blunders. The Patriots rarely, if ever, put themselves in that kind of hole, though. That’s why they’re so superb.
I think we’d all agree the Saints aren’t in that category.
“If we win this game, we sit there and go, ‘We’re lucky. The four turnovers didn’t cost us the game,'” Drew Brees said. “It made it a lot closer than it should have been obviously had we not (turned it over so much). But listen, our defense did a great job and got two from them. They got 13 points off turnovers. They got 10. So it was almost a wash.
“But obviously you want to eliminate those because it really reduces your chance to win.”
The Saints only committed one turnover in the win over Seattle. That game still came down to a last-second incompletion to Jermaine Kearse to seal the dramatic win for New Orleans.
A few players in the Saints locker room stated how the result came down to the Broncos making one more play than they did. I lean more toward Brees’ reaction.
“You hate to see a game like that come down to just a simple play,” Brees said.
Brees was asked if he looked at the special teams debacle and had any thoughts on the legality of the play. Brees said the game should have never come down to that.
“Let’s not even get to that point,” Brees said.
Exactly. Don’t put yourself in the position for the unthinkable to happen.
“That’s why you preach defense, offense, special teams all together,” safety Kenny Vaccaro said. “You need the perfect snap, the perfect placement, the perfect kick. Same way on defense. That’s why Coach Payton works so hard to make sure when we take a special teams rep, we take it very serious.”
The Saints put themselves in a position to have a win snatched away from them. And it’s not like there wasn’t enough time for Denver to put together a drive after the Saints touchdown for a game-winning field goal with 1:22 remaining.
“It sucks to lose this way, but we have to get ready for Carolina,” Rankins said.
That’s the key element to this entire loss.
Playing Denver and Carolina five days within each other is a tall order for any team. A reasonable person would say winning one of those two games would be acceptable, keeping the Saints at 5-5 and in the playoff hunt.
If you’re looking to go 1-1 in the two-game stretch, it’s far more valuable to beat Carolina than to beat Denver. You’d pick up a win against a division opponent by topping the Panthers to help any playoff jockeying.
“The sky isn’t falling today,” Sean Payton said. “I think the key is we have a quick turnaround, a quick week, so it’s important that it doesn’t affect the next game.”
The loser of the Thursday night game in Carolina will have the sky drop on their heads. The Panthers will enter Bank of America Stadium with a battered psyche as well.
The Chiefs scored 17 points on the Panthers in the fourth quarter for a 20-17 victory. Kansas City’s Marcus Peters ripped the ball away from Kelvin Benjamin with 29 seconds left in the game with the score tied at 17. Kansas City got the ball at the Carolina 29. Cairo Santos hit a field goal as time expired.
Which team pulls itself off the mat first will win Thursday.
The Saints could carry at least some mental edge into the Carolina game after beating the Panthers in Week 6. Just don’t forget how well the Saints had to play to beat Carolina the first time.
They won the turnover battle. They also held a 31-17 lead late in the third quarter. And still, Wil Lutz hit a 52-yard field goal with 11 seconds left to give the Saints the 41-38 lead.
The Saints have to play as close to perfect as they can to win games. That didn’t change despite having won four of their previous five games before the loss to Denver. That became evident once again Sunday.
I still can’t believe that’s how the Saints lost, though. Unreal.
