The stage was set.
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome was packed with typically rowdy fans.
The New Orleans Saints had a nationalMonday Night Footballtelevision audience, and the NFC South division lead there for the taking.
They didn't take it.
The Saints' defensive line was bullied by the Baltimore Ravens' run-blockers; often-overlooked Ravens tailback Justin Forsett had his coming-out party at the Saints' expense. New Orleans' secondary couldn't keep a lid on either of the Ravens' speedy Smiths.
The Saints' offensive line could neither open holes for any of its tailbacks nor protect quarterback Drew Brees.That constant pressure eventually forced Brees off his game, inducing him to throw an awful pick-six that proved to be the margin of victory.
Now 4-7, only the Saints' placement in the historically bad NFC South is keeping their playoff hopes aliveand their clunker under the prime-time lights proved they don't have what it takes to win in the postseason, anyway.
Out of Character
There was no more fitting venue for Week 12s Monday Night Football than the city of New Orleans.
As the teams took the field, the Kansas City Chiefs were reeling from news that star safety Eric Berry would miss the rest of the season with a "possible" cancer diagnosis, via Marissa Payne of The Washington Post, andthe Buffalo Bills were honoring hundreds of displaced western New York families by dominating a make-up game in Detroit.
No city better knows how to contextualize football amidst real-life concerns, or how healingand unitingfootball can be in such times.Unfortunately for Saints fans, the team that took the field bore little resemblance to the championship-caliber, team-first squads that have inhabited the Superdome ever since its rebuilding.
Head coach Sean Payton is rightly praised as one of the brightest offensive minds in the game, and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan single-handedly recast the Saints defense from pushover to predator in 2013.Yet, neither Payton's offense nor Ryan's defense played as a cohesive whole against the Ravens.
With the season nearly three-quarters over, the Saints still have no consistent, logical approach to the running game; tailbacks Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas shared just 16 carries and gained only 46 yards.Outside of a 67-yard end-around by receiver Joe Morgan, and three Brees scrambles, the Saints were entirely one-dimensional.
Brees, as always, was statistically fantastic in that dimension, despite being sacked four times. He completed 77.8 percent of his 45 pass attempts for a whopping 9.3 average yards per attempt and three touchdowns. He completed passes to 10 different Saints, per NFL.com.
The only real blemish on his evening? The fateful pick-six to Will Hill:
"As a competitor," Brees said in his postgame press conference, broadcast on ESPN, "You have to have the mental wherewithal to move past those bad plays."
Instead, Brees' brain freeze handed the Ravens a third-quarter lead they'd never relinquish.
On the following possession, Brees was sacked on back-to-back plays, forcing a quick punt and setting up a Ravens field goal. The Saints then drove down to the Ravens' 15-yard line, but they couldn't get it done in the red zone. Rather than go for it on 4th-and-5, Payton elected to kick the field goal and trust his defense to get a stop.
Instead of answering the bell, his defense threw in the towel.The Ravens drove 80 yards for a score in just six plays. Yet, they somehow drained 3:40 off the clock, giving Brees and the offense 2:53 in which to score 14 points.
It didn't happen.
Out of Their League
Physically, the Saints were dominated.
For four quarters, Brees ran for his life, and his tailbacks ran into a purple wall. On the other side of the ball, the powerful Ravens' offensive line had its way with the Saints' front seven.
With running lanes blown wide-open, Forsett exploded for 182 yards and two touchdowns on just 22 carries. For those not near a calculator, that's a mind-blowing 8.3 average yards per carryand before you suspect an inflated average, his longest run was just 38 yards.
Saints pass-rusher Junior Galette got one sack, but beyond that Joe Flacco was unbothered; he was a clinical 18-of-24 for 243 yards and pivotal in this incredible Steve Smith touchdown:
The Saints secondary has some talented pieces, but no secondary can cover for a toothless pass rush and tissue-paper run-stuffers. Brees is as good as it gets, but he can only score so many points by himselfand he can only play flawlessly for so long.
Payton and Ryan have to find a way to get their units playing Saints football.
Out of Answers?
In Payton's turn at the postgame mic, he refused to identify the fundamental problems with his team, let alone how they'd be addressed.
"That's for this locker room," he told amassed reporters. "We're not going to talk about what changes are going to be made. You guys will be the last to know."
Fair enough, but they have to right the ship quickly. With three of their last five games coming against the entire rest of the NFC South, the Saints have an opportunity to claw their way back into first placeand the postseason.
Yet, the other two remaining games are road matchups against the talented, volatile Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears. The Saints have no margin for error, now; they may have to sweep the division in December to make the playoffs.
In order to do thatand not get demolished by a Seattle or Detroit once they get therePayton and Ryan have to flip the switch now.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2279337-new-orleans-saints-prove-on-mnf-they-lack-mental-physical-toughness-to-contend
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