This was a cruel ending to a rollercoaster of emotions in a seesaw battle. Despite going down 14-0 early and looking completely out of it on their way to a 21-10 halftime deficit, the Saints put together an improbable comeback to take a 24-21 lead with under two minutes left. The defense seemed to have the kill shot in place with a 4th and 10 deep in 49er territory, but a 51 yard pass to a wide open Michael Crabtree kept the 49ers alive. The loss sends the Saints down to 4-5 and it’s the first time they’ve lost at home under Sean Payton in a long time. Below are my bullets on the game:
- The turnovers continue to kill this team and Brees is responsible for all three. The last one won the game for the 49ers. I don’t care how good of a quarterback you have, if he can’t take care of the football it doesn’t matter.
- Mark Ingram almost willed the team to victory all by himself. His third straight 100 yard game rushing and a monster overall performance.
- Keenan Lewis left the game with a quad injury and insisted on playing with a clear limp. He came up with some nice breakups even on one leg. What a warrior.
- Marques Colston dropped a deep ball that he probably catches 99 times out of 100. He did make up for it later with a crucial 4th down conversion.
- The Saints can live with some regrets not going for it on 4th and 2 in overtime around the 49er 40.
- Anquan Boldin had a very up and down performance. At times he dominated all by himself. He had countless drops, though.
- Corey White was also very up and down, but got beat entirely too much.
- Brandin Cooks beat the 49ers twice over the top, including once for a touchdown. Nice to see the Saints finally stretching the field with him.
- Brees missed Kenny Stills on a deep ball where he was wide open that is another big regret.
- The Saints got a huge turnover before halftime but instead of settling for 3 (which would have been the difference) Brees threw into triple coverage in the end zone for an interception.
- The Saints actually thought they won on a hail mary at the end of the game to Graham, but the refs rightfully called offensive pass interference. There was a flop, yes, but it was OPI for sure.
- The Saints did get 4 sacks, but two were from blitzes and two were from coverage. The d-line just didn’t play that well.
- The Saints offensive line was up and down in this game. But as the game wore on they seemed to perform better. Until the final drive in overtime.
- Kenny Vaccaro, in my opinion, is more to blame than White for the deep ball to Crabtree. He’s the high safety and he came up to Vernon Davis when he came open, allowing Crabtree to slip behind him. Vaccaro, by the way, continues to have a miserable season.
We’ll just have to root for Carolina to lose again and win this division by the merit of it’s weakness. A tough one to stomach for sure.
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