Now before you charge me with over reacting, I defend myself by telling you I took a nice little motorcycle ride, chatted with friends to get their take and then sat down to write.
And, inexcusable is pretty much the best way I feel I can summarize the Saints 20-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Superdome on Sunday.
It’s simply inexcusable. I don’t care what the players or coaches say after the game. I don’t care how many fans say you’re still 13-2, or whatever excuse you want to give the Black and Gold, it’s simply inexcusable to play the way they did.
It’s inexcusable to blow a 17-point lead to a two-win team in your stadium with home field through the playoffs on the line.
It’s inexcusable to not score a touchdown after the first quarter.
Inexcusable to give up 439 yards of total offense after weeks of seeing teams expose weaknesses and tell fans, “we’re working to correct it.”
Inexcusable to give up 176 yards, 129 of those to Carnell “Cadillac” Williams who rushed over the century mark for the first time in a couple of seasons.
Inexcusable to give up the game tying touchdown with just over two-minutes to play on a punt return, when coming into the game the coaching staff spoke routinely about how the Bucs led the league in the area.
Inexcusable to watch Tampa Bay run the football down the field for the game winning field goal. 10 carries by Cadillac Williams, and one scramble by Tampa quarterback Josh Freeman on a 10-yard scamper on third and ten for a first down. 11 straight times the ball never traveled through the air, and still the Saints couldn’t stop it.
It’s inexcusable to play so poorly when you openly speak of reaching the Super Bowl, of securing home field, of doing something special, and when you have a chance at home to make history, no Saints team has ever been the top seed in the NFC Playoffs.
Inexcusable to make history for the opposing team when you had a chance to make history in your record books. Tampa Bay became the team with the fewest wins (2), to beat a team with beat a team with at least 13 wins in NFL History.
Tampa Bay score 20 unanswered points, culminating in a 47-yard field goal by Bucs kicker Connor Barth in overtime to complete the upset. An upset that simply shouldn’t have happened. The Saints had a chance to win it in the closing seconds of the game, but kicker Garrett Harley missed a 37-yard field goal wide left.
What’s troubling is that for the second straight week the team that seem to want the game more was NOT wearing Black and Gold. For the second straight week, fans in the superdome also saw a defense that had trouble getting off the field during third down (Tampa was 7-of-12 in third down conversions) and an offense that seems completely out of sync as they were held to 17 points for the second week in a row.
The task now is tougher depending on what happens tomorrow night in Chicago. Minnesota loses to the Bears, the loss Sunday will sting less. The Vikings win, then the task is difficult. The Saints must then win at Carolina next week to assure themselves of the number one seed. Meaning, any thought of resting players goes out the window, and they’ll face a team in Carolina that has knocked off the Vikings 26-7, and the Giants Sunday 41-9.
What’s puzzling is why did it happen?
The Saints achieved the balance they were missing in previous weeks, passing the ball 37 times and running it 23 (for the Saints that’s balance, unlike last week 13 runs and over 40 throws). There were only two penalties called on the Saints totaling 14 yards.
The most glaring reason was the defense. The offense however needs to shoulder blame here. Drew Brees and company came out strong in the first quarter putting up 14 points and moving the ball, and then it’s as if they fell asleep. Brees finished the day 32 of 37 for 258 yards and a touchdown. Running back Pierre Thomas finished with 60 yards on six carries including a touchdown, but left the game with bruised ribs after the first quarter.
One game is left and the Saints will pray now for the Bears to beat the Vikings Monday night. The Saints do need to get healthy and being able to rest banged up or key players would be big. That said the way the Saints have played the last few weeks, it may be MORE important for this team to play some solid football heading into the playoffs or the dream of a magical season may turn into the most horrific and disappointing of all.
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Despite a loss, Gus this is one of the heck of an article. The game was inexcusable. Keep up the good work.
A friend and a fan
Brendan