Saints lose third straight home game 34-27 to Ravens

Hard to believe the Saints clawed their way back to 4-4 and got themselves in a position to enjoy a three game homestand only to lose all three games. The Saints remain tied with the Atlanta Falcons for the NFC South division lead at 4-7. How comical is that? In this game, the Saints had their chances, but it was very clear who the better team was. Make no mistake, a few fluke things happened that almost gave the Saints a crazy chance, but the Ravens were very clearly a better overall football team. You can blame Corey White’s coverage or Drew Brees’s interception if you want, but that wouldn’t paint the right picture. The bottom line is this: the Saints were completely dominated on both lines. The Saints o-line was completely overmatched in the run game. Take away the Joe Morgan reverse and it was 20 carries for 59 yards. They allowed Drew Brees to get hit 8 times and he was put under constant pressure. On the other side, they gave up 215 yards rushing at 6.7 yards per carry. Remember that game against the Cowboys last year where the Saints gashed their defense at will? Well, tonight we were that same defense. The Saints were completely outplayed on both sides in the trenches. Pure and simple, the Saints are just not tough enough to hang with a team as physical as Baltimore and it showed. If you can’t run and you can’t stop the run, you lose. In fact, those two areas were so grossly skewed I can’t believe the Saints only lost by 7. Here’s my notes on the game:

• Lost in all this is that Brees probably played his best game of the season. Of course there was the token back breaking interception, a pick six with the score tied at 17. Other than that, though, he went 35-45 for 420 yards and 3 touchdowns. Not sure what more you can ask for out of your QB when he’s hit 8 times, sacked 3 times, and pressured pretty much every time he drops back. But unfortunately he has no margin for error and anything short of perfect leads to a loss.
• Joe Morgan had a reception for 62 yards and a run for 67 yards. Then he never saw the football again. Both plays happened in the 1st quarter.
• The Saints went for it on their opening possession on 4th and 1 from the 1. I thought they should have kicked there and settled for three. Instead, Ingram was hit for a loss and the Ravens immediately went 97 yards with ease for a 7-0 lead. Because of course.
• Pierre Warren was a disaster at free safety. He did force and recover a fumble at the Saints’ 1 to save a sure touchdown, so give him credit there. Otherwise, it was bad angles and missed tackles galore.
• Curtis Lofton and Junior Galette showed up on defense. That’s truly about it. Everyone else was a complete no show.
• Brodrick Bunkley hurt his leg and it didn’t look good.
• Steve Smith had 4 catches for 89 yards and 1 touchdown and did his usual job making each one of them as infuriating as possible. I really cannot stand that man.
• Give Kenny Stills and Marques Colston credit, both played outstanding football.
• Will Hill drew the Jimmy Graham assignment and the stats will say he gave up 2 touchdowns, but overall I’d say Hill won that battle. I was very impressed with how he competed. He made life very difficult for Graham.
• Mark Ingram was a complete non factor.
• It was nice to have Pierre Thomas back, he played with his usual hustle and toughness. The Saints could have used a lot more of him in this game.
• Elvis Dumervil finished with 2 sacks but it felt like 50.
• The Ravens were 2 for 2 on field goals, including a 55 yarder. Because of course. Kickers are now 21 for 21 on the year against the Saints, and that’s 25 makes in a row dating back to last year.
• David Hawthorne dropped the easiest pick six he’ll ever get deep in Ravens’ territory, and Sam Koch followed that up with a 73 yard punt. So goes the Saints season.
• Patrick Robinson took back over for Corey White as a starter and clearly demonstrated once again he’s not fit to do that. Neither guy is. I’m not really sure what to do at corner anymore. Not that Keenan Lewis was any good either.
• Justin Forsett had 182 yards rushing at 8.3 per carry. You give up that kind of rushing total and I’ll tell you what the result will be every single time. A loss.
• This team feels dead to rights and yet I have no idea how the NFC South plays out. Someone has to win it.

The Saints go to Pittsburgh next and I think we can all safely assume how that’s going to go. 4-8 right around the corner…