Saints dominated at home 27-10 by Bengals

The Saints marched down the field and settled for a field goal to take a quick 3-0 lead to start the game. Hard to believe they wouldn’t score again until the 4th quarter on their way to getting completed dominated by the Cincinnati Bengals. The final score was a deserving 27-10. The Saints are now 4-6 and no longer in 1st place in the NFC South. That luxury belongs to the 4-6 Atlanta Falcons. Below are my bullets on the game.

• The Saints were awful in every phase of the game. The team all around deserves blame for this one.
• Most telling was the play of both lines. The Saints were completely owned in the trenches.
• Unbelievably the Saints’ offense didn’t turn the football over all game until the final drive with under 2 minutes left. Obviously Travaris Cadet couldn’t help himself from ruining a no turnover performance.
• Speaking of no turnovers, it was clear Brees was overly concerned with that because he always settled for the short safe throw. Very few shots taken downfield.
• I have to say I’m floored the Saints ran for just 75 yards at 2.9 yards per carry. The Bengals yielded ~143 yards per game at 4.5 per carry coming in. Given the streak Mark Ingram was on, that is shocking.
• Zach Strief left the game with a concussion and did not return. Bryce Harris did ok but wasn’t great. Rafael Bush was also carted off with a lower leg/ankle injury.
• The Bengals ran for 186 yards. But nothing was worse than Jeremy Hill’s 62 yarder as the Bengals were trying to run the clock out on the first half. Instead, they got a field goal because of that.
• The Saints could not cover A. J. Green. They tried Corey White, Keenan Lewis and Brian Dixon. All failed.
• The Bengals were 9 for 13 on 3rd down conversions, including one 3rd and 8 on a running play, and one 3rd and 18.
• The Saints threw four passes to Erik Lorig. All were complete for a grand total of 5 yards. One was on a 4th and goal attempt from the 1 and he did not get in.
• The Bengals were able to keep the Saints scoring so low by completely bleeding the clock. In the first half they started their 3rd possession with under 2 minutes to go in the half. That, and dominant defense. It’s embarrassing to say the 30th ranked Bengals defense completely shut down the Saints in New Orleans – but that’s exactly what happened.
• This game was basically over when the Bengals scored their first touchdown on a fumble that the Saints should have recovered. The Saints forced the ball loose around the one, had about four players touch it including Brian Dixon who had a clear shot at easily pickup it up. Instead, the ball found it’s way into the end zone where a Bengal fell on top of it.

That’s all I have to say about this one. The Saints were awful and deserved to lose. That said, it hurts less than so many other games this year. At least this time they didn’t rip our hearts out. This kind of losing is a lot easier to deal with. Can’t say I expect much from the Ravens matchup coming up next Monday…