The Saints dropped a very tough one against the Baltimore Ravens today, dropping to 10-4 overall and almost assuredly kissing goodbye their chances as repeating NFC South Champions. The final score of 30-24 was one I thought the Saints were very fortunate to have so close, as the Ravens continually ran the ball right down the heart of the Saints’ defense. The schedule doesn’t get any easier from here as the Saints will have to go to Atlanta next week on Monday Night. Below are my thoughts on the game, bullet style.
— This was one of the nastiest games I’ve ever seen. Constant bickering, jarring, shoving and scrapping. It was clear this was a big game with lots on the line, and tempers got flared throughout. The Saints showed a lot of fire, but the Ravens showed more with their season and their pride on the line.
— The Saints had no answer for Ray Rice. Rice was the entirety of the Ravens’ offense in this game. Whether it was running or passing, the Saints had no one who could run with him and no one who could tackle him. It was one the worst tackling performance I’ve seen from the Saints in the last two seasons. The blown tackles showcased terrible form from nearly everyone on defense. The number of missed tackles by Roman Harper, Jonathan Vilma and Danny Clark in particular were shocking. When Rice took a breather, Willis McGahee had his turn running wild on the Saints’ secondary.
— The Saints missed Chris Ivory, this much was painfully obvious. The Saints all but abandoned the run game from minute one. Despite a close game throughout, the Saints had a 46 pass to 14 rush ratio. That is just awful. Most of the passing formations were out of the shotgun in empty backfields, too, so it’s not like there was any secret what the Saints were trying to do. I realize Ivory represents the most physical ground presence the Saints have, but couldn’t they at least try to run a little bit?
— Marques Colston had a great game until the final drive, where he dropped two balls that would end up costing the team dearly.
— The touchdown grabs by both Jimmy Graham and Lance Moore were two of the most ridiculous circus touchdown scores of the NFL season. Too bad they came in a losing effort because those plays were exceptional.
— Speaking of Jimmy Graham, this kid is a superstar in the making. He scored 2 touchdowns and he’s only going to get better.
— Pass protection, considering the Saints threw on every single play and made no attempt to disguise that fact, was actually pretty solid. The few times the Ravens got sacks, they were thanks to good coverage and Brees holding on to the ball too long. Jermon Bushrod was the only man on the line that struggled.
— Reggie Bush alternated the good and the horrendous, per usual.
— That 47 yard field goal by Garrett Hartley was a big time kick in rough conditions. He’s turning things around to make for a pretty nice season after all. Still would have preferred to see him hit that 29 yarder in overtime against Atlanta, though.
— Alex Brown had a very good game, active both on pass rushing downs and against the run.
— Robert Meachem and Drew Brees are just not on the same page right now.
— I don’t know what happened to the defense today but they were uncharacteristically terrible today. Stupid penalties (ahem, Will Smith and Roman Harper), terrible coverage (mostly by linebackers but Leigh Torrence too) and a complete inability to stop the run. We’ve been great against the run all season long. What happened?
— I can tell you this now: if the Saints play the run like they did today next Monday, Michael Turner will run for 300 yards.
— It was nice to see Devery Henderson make a contribution. Overall I thought he had a nice little game.
— Playoff situation: with the Saints at 10-4, they cannot win the NFC South unless they win out and the Falcons lose out. Pretty unlikely scenario, so it’s time to start looking at the other NFC wild card possibles. Philadelphia beat New York, so the Eagles are now in 1st place in the NFC East, and we’re ahead of the Giants by 1 game. We also remain two games ahead of the Tampa Bay Bucs thanks to the Detroit Lions who beat them in overtime. Realistically, if the Saints split their last two games they should be in good shape. They could also lose out and still make the playoffs depending how things play out. We want to root against the Giants, Packers and Buccaneers moving forward. Starting this evening, we want the Patriots to win the Sunday Night game against the Packers. The bottom line is, though, that the Saints still control their own destiny and if they win they are in.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
