Saints Nation: Saints Routed by Seahawks 34-7

Pretty simple way to sum this one up really: the Saints got whipped up and down the field. There was really no phase of the game that was up for the challenge of playing the Seahawks in Seattle, as the Saints were completely dominated offensively, defensively and on special teams. There's not much positive to take from this game, other than the fact that it ended. It just wasn't our day, and you have to applaud the dominating effort by the Seahawks who were by far the better team. Below are my bullets on the game:

• Before getting too doomsday here let's quickly survey where this leaves the Saints. They are 9-3 with 4 games remaining, including two against the Carolina Panthers, with whom they are tied for first place in the NFC South. They still have everything to play for, including controlling their destiny for the 2 seed which would give them a first round bye. As bad as this loss was it still only counts as one loss. The game against Carolina is much bigger in importance.
• The Saints had no run game in this one whatsoever. 44 yards rushing at 2.6 per clip.
• The Saints did an excellent job on Marshawn Lynch. He had 45 yards on 16 carries (2.8 per). Unfortunately that opened up the Seahawks' passing game and Russell Wilson torched the Saints' backfield. The Saints' defense simply couldn't get 3rd down stops in the first half.
• Very impressive performance by Wilson who looked like an elite level QB. It sure felt like Brees was passing the torch to him in this game, playing right into the narrative.
• The Seattle defense is scary good. They stop the run, they rush the passer and they cover well. It makes it very difficult to get things going especially when you add crowd noise and poor game conditions. The Saints offense just never had a chance.
• The Saints' offensive line was terrible. Brees had no chance as he was hit, harrassed and never had anywhere to go with the ball.
• The Saints' receiver play was atrocious. Meachem, Lance Moore, Kenny Stills, Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston all got worked. We knew the corp isn't as strong as it's been in years past, but man it was disheartening to see them play this badly against an elite team.
• Despite this game being so ugly, I did feel there were some chances. Consider the drops by Jimmy Graham, Josh Hill, Corey White on an INT, and the fumble by Brees where the Saints get an unlucky bounce. You change the fortune of those four plays and things could have been different. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Ed Hochuli at one point picked up a holding call because "the quarterback was already past the play". The Seahawks had a ball bounce of a receiver's hands and into another's for a touchdown. It was just the perfect storm.
• Zach Strief seemed to hurt his ankle and was replaced by Bryce Harris in the second half. Rafael Bush also hurt his ankle but returned. Those were the only injuries that I noticed.
• The Saints' pass defense gave up passes of 60, 52, 33, 21, 19 and 17. That feels like the Steve Spagnuolo squad doesn't it? Just can't happen.
• Russell Wilson also scrambled a good bit and the Saints had no answer for that either.
• Charles Brown, to me, is just not a starting left tackle for a playoff team. At least not on the road. Once again I felt he was the weakest link.

So that's that. When a game like this happens you just have to burn the game tape and move on. Sometimes you go into a buzzsaw and you get embarrassed. The Saints just flat out weren't up for the challenge. The good news is they get to come home and redeem themselves with a game that's even higher stakes Sunday night. This time they'll have the Superdome crowd behind them. The focus must turn to the Panthers immediately. Win that game and we are back in the driver's seat. Even if the Saints had beaten Seattle, if they can't take care of Carolina they are still headed for the wild card. So the Saints just need to shoot for a 2nd seed and who knows, maybe down the road we'll get another shot at the Seahawks in CentryLink Field.