In the first half the Saints executed exactly 2 things well: trying to get Drew Brees killed, and leaving the bucs wr’s wide open so their mediocre quarterback could allow Ronde Barber to crow his greatness. That might have been the SECOND worst thing about this game’s first half, Barber talking. If you were unfortunate enough to hear him do the game’s broadcast then you are aware that everyone on the Bucs is a first ballot hall of fame nominee and Rob Ryan is a genius. Needless to say Ronde knows nothing.
The Saints offense was supposed to be the one saving grace for the team, however to be honest the only unit on the team that looked even ok through the first 2 quarters was the defense. Special teams was abysmal with poor punts, terrible kick coverage, and no blocking (and Murphy’s fumble). In all the roster overhaul this year in the front office the fact that McMahan remains employed remains one of the most perplexing and exasperating things about the team.
That was the worst of it right? Nope. Brandon Browner was put in a position to fail (off coverage 8 yards out on Louis Murphy) and did as instructed: he commited a horrible pass interference penalty in the end zone giving the Bucs the ball at the one to open the second half. This was followed the Saints defense letting Winston walk into the end zone for 17-7 lead. Want to know how to make it worse? On the following series Drew massively underthrew a deep pass to Cooks who had roasted his man and should have had a TD…instead it was an interception to Chris Conte.
The Saints defense has actually had chances all day to make plays, the problem has been that Cam Jordan has been doubled and average (can’t beat them) and the only defensive player whose been a real positive is Stephone Anthony. His opposite has been David Hawthorne who misses tackles on an unprecedented pace. And while Delvin Breaux may become a star in this league, he is still an NFL rookie and he totally lost his man on a deep pass by Winston…because of course he did.
The Saints would answer back with a long TD drive that was pretty much entirely the running game being dominant, and in particular Khiry Robinson. The Saints would go for the 2pt conversion and fail, but it was literally a couple centimeters away and a good effort from Snead (trying to find positives her folks). The Saints then forced a HUGE turnover when rookie Hau’oli Kikaha forced a fumble for the second consecuative week. And for the second consecuative week the Saints got nothing out of it. Drew’s arm is obviously hurt from the hits he took earlier in the game (thanks Zack) and Hocker finished the job by missing a 42 yard field goal.
It’s doom time right? Maybe not, the Bucs proceeded to fumble on the first carry after the missed FG and the Saints recovered. The Saints scored on a perfectly exectued pass to Willie Snead . The following defensive series was almost dominant, except for the part where they nearly gave up a 3rd and 20…because of course they did. The play was called back because one of the Bucs lineman tripped Phillips and the Saints got the ball back
You have to remember though that this is the 2015 Saints and they don’t do anything easy…Mark Ingram made a horrible play and fumbled the ball which the Bucs recovered. The term Snake bitten doesn’t apply to this team because that implies poor luck…and they are just playing awful. The Saints defense is the only reason the game was even close at times, but it is clear that the hits Brees took early hurt him and his arm isn’t the same. The screen pass to Ingram is the clearest proof of that.
The Saints would get the ball back one final time, would almost get into the red zone, but they came up short. The bottom line with this Saints team is that the older players are DONE and this team is just not what they once were. I’ll be rooting for the team as hard as anyone every single week, but get used to having your hearts ripped our for now folks. There were moments where we saw young guys showing flashes, but this is a top ten pick team right now.
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