Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs breaking down what went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints! This week, we look at the Saints loss to the Detroit Lions.
1st Down: Detroit Shuts Down Offense With Methodical Drives
The Saints offense looked lethargic on Sunday afternoon with poor play, especially early on with their first three drives resulting in punts. This led to the Lions going on lengthy drives that resulted in points. Those first two drives alone added up to over twelve minutes taken off the clock. Every other drive for the Lions was around four to five minutes in length. Basically, the Lions shut the Saints high-powered offense by keeping them off the field.
2nd Down: Defense Shines In Redzone
While the Saints defense didn’t have the best day overall allowing 422 yards of total offense, they performed very well in prevented scoring in the redzone. The Lions went one of five from within twenty yards of the endzone. The defense had another game where they tried to give the offense every chance to get back into this game.
3rd Down: Brees Shut Down
It’s not often that you see a player like Drew Brees get cold, but when he does he gets ice cold. Brees ended his Sunday with no touchdowns and three interceptions and a 30.6 QBR. The Lions knew how to shut down Brees and have done it now for the last three meetings and the way he performed after a huge game against Los Angeles, it’s troubling.
4th Down: Penalties Marred Saints All Game
The penalties on Sunday afternoon were plentiful, especially when it came to the Saints. It seems to be expected that the Saints are on the bad side of these, but most of these seemed to be a case of poor mechanics rather than poor officiating as some fans might have you believe. If the Saints want to make the playoffs now, they will need to be able to take care of business in the NFC South with three of their last four involving division foes.
-Clint Domingue