New Orleans drops their third game in a row.
The Good: Run game
The Saints of New Orleans run game was what brought them back in this one. After falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter, the Saints would bring it to within 3 thanks in part to Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill. Kamara and Hill combined for 3 touchdowns and over 100 yards as the Saints made an attempt to claw their way back into the game. Unfortunately, the Detroit Lions were able to do just enough to keep the Saints at bay at hold on to the win, but it was a good effort from the Saints on the ground this week.
The Bad: Defense
This was probably the defense’s worst game of the season, as they gave up 31+ points for just the second time this year. They were not helped by the offense much as two turnovers by Derek Carr set up two Lions touchdowns, but even still the Saints would have had opportunities in this one if the defense had been able to keep the Lions at bay.
The Ugly: Everything about the first quarter
It’s rare that an NFL game is over within the first 15 minutes, but you could say that the one we saw this week was. The Saints were down 21-0 at the time they ran their 5th play on offense, as an interception by Derek Carr and later a 3-and-out and three failures by the defense to hold Detroit out of the end zone doomed the Saints from the start. Carr missed a wide open A.T. Perry and promptly threw an interception on the first play of the game. His continued poor play is one of the reasons the Saints are losing games. It is not the only reason, but he is certainly not helping. The coaching staff is not doing him any favors, but in situations like this we need accountability from all sides. The Saints did dig themselves out of the hole a bit, outscoring the Lions in the last three quarters 28-12, but the hole dug by Carr and the coaching staff in the first quarter was too big to come out of and unfortunately, the Saints look like they have no shot at the playoffs now.
