The Saints lose for the second consecutive week to the Titans after a physical game in Tennessee. After struggling the first half the Saints managed to keep the game interesting, but ultimately fell short 21-23. A game that was a team loss, but time management, refs, Brian Johnson, and Adam Trautman played the biggest role in this loss to the Titans.
Initial thoughts
- Offensive line needs to play better. Obviously some guys were out but Ruiz specifically needs to be better. Second half adjustments were made and it was decent
- This defense will bend but won’t break
- Deonte Harris is the best weapon the Saints have aside from Alvin Kamara
- Wide receivers managed to play a lot better than last week, but still need to work on a lot
- Trevor Siemian had terrible situational awareness in the second half along with Sean Payton who wasted a timeout to yell at the ref which is unacceptable
- Penalties killed the Saints, they need to be fixed if they want to win football games
- Marcus Davenport looked like the best player on the Saints today
- This team always finds a way to stay competitive
- The Saints offense tends to comes alive in the second half
The good
- Aside from the fumble, Deonte Harris had a decent game
- Marcus Davenport is a stud
- The offense got some momentum in the second half with some Mark Ingram big plays
- The red zone defense. The two touchdowns they allowed were due to a terrible penalty and a fumble.
The bad
- Offense once again couldn’t get anything going in the first half. They need to finish their drives. They had good field positions a few times and punted
- Brain Johnson can’t miss two extra points
- The Saints pass rush got pressure but couldn’t always get the sack. They need to finish and get to the quarterback
- Penalties were costly
- Run game was very inefficient
Where improvement is needed
- Kicking game, Johnson probably gets cut this week. Expect another kicker (5th of the year)
- Situational awareness
- Usage of Taysom Hill
- Finishing the play. Things like getting to the quarterback faster or holding your block
Areas that improved
- The wide receivers definitely looked somewhat decent in Tre’Quan and Deonte with Callaway at the end
- Pass rush got pressure, just needs to finish the play and get the sack
Player stocks going up
- Tre’Quan Smith, Smith had a really good game. Had some nice catches in traffic in the end zone but was out, definitely gotta get him the ball more
- Marcus Davenport, was putting pressure on Tannehill all game and was bullying the tackle, ended up with two sacks
- Mark Ingram, he carried the offense for majority of the game after putting up a touchdown along with a 39 yard catch and run
- Deonte Harris, aside from Kamara, Harris, is the best offensive weapon the team has. Made some really nice catches but did have the fumble.
Player stocks going down
- Adam Trautman, had a bad drop on third down and a costly penalty at the end on the two point conversion which set up a 7 yard two point attempt
- Cesar Ruiz, had really bad penalties and missed some crucial blocks in the run and pass game.
- Marshon Lattimore, played terribly against some random receiver named Marcus Johnson
- Brian Johnson, missed two game changing extra points which resulted in a two point attempt
Analysis
The Saints continue to get in their own way and cause their own downfall in these close games. It’s always the Saints creating mistakes that cause them to lose when they should win, and this one hurts badly.
The Saints were the better team today. They had more passing yards, rushing yards, had more first downs and more plays, they were better on third down and in the red zone, had a better average yards per play and still lost. The fumble, the penalties, and the two missed kicks lost the Saints this game.
Just like every loss the Saints have suffered this year, aside from the Panthers game, this game slipped through their hands. This game was beyond winnable but the Saints shot themselves in the foot, taking one step forward to take two steps back. Good teams don’t go back, good teams clean up mistakes, feels like something will change this week in terms of roster.
Sean Payton mentioned that there will probably be some personnel changes with players who are making self inflicting penalties and mistakes.
In terms of quarterback, I thought Siemian did enough to win the game. He did his job and didn’t turn the ball over, him and the offense at some point though have to get off to a faster start. Siemian does need to have better situational awareness though. Taking two sacks prior to the half instead of throwing it away is just unacceptable. Other than that he had a good performance and should have another similar performance next week in Philadelphia.
While this game isn’t on Sean Payton, there are a few mistakes he caused. Calling a timeout before half to talk to the ref is inexcusable, that timeout was needed later on during the offensive drive. The other thing is the lack of Taysom Hill. Hill was averaging 7.7 yards a carry and to not use him on a quarterback power in the red zone on the second to last drive was certainly confusing. To be at the one yard line and not call that play once was certainly not ideal and a field goal was the result of that drive. Other than that I don’t have much criticism for Payton, I thought he called a good game and set his team up to win despite not having Alvin Kamara.
The good news though is that the Saints along with the Falcons and Bucs lost (Panthers currently playing). The bad news is that the Saints lost after having two opportunities to go into first place in the NFC South.
Written By Kadin Janisch
If you need to contact me email me at whodattnation@gmail.com and I’ll try to get back to you.
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