Following a loss on the road to the Atlanta Falcons, the New Orleans Saints returned home to the Caesars Superdome for a matchup with the Detroit Lions. The Black and Gold found themselves in a huge 21-point hole early. New Orleans battled back and made it a one-score game late but dropped to 5-7 in the 33-28 loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Lions received the ball to begin the first and kept the ball on the ground with David Montgomery getting the ball on the first four plays. Rookie Jahmyr Gibbs got passed on Alontae Taylor for a rush of 36 yards following a roughing the passer call on Carl Granderson. Montgomery finished the opening drive with a stretch to the right for a two-yard touchdown.
Derek Carr and the Saints offense’s first possession of the game didn’t last long. Derek Carr rolled out right to dump it off tight end Juwan Johnson. The football bounced out of Johnson’s hands and got intercepted by Brian Branch.
Detroit started at the New Orleans 17-yard line and made it a 14-point game quickly. Quarterback Jared Goff connected with rookie Sam LaPorta over the middle for the 13-yard score.
Following a New Orleans three-and-out, the Lions had a second three-play drive that resulted in a touchdown. On 2nd & 10, LaPorta made a 29-yard catch, and Amon-Ra St. Brown ran past the entire Saints defense and found paydirt from 25 yards out. Detroit was up 21-0 with 8:15 left in the first quarter.
Zack Baun sacked Goff on 3rd & 11 to force Detroit’s first punt of the game. Taysom Hill sparked the Superdome crowd for a second with a 21-yard run up the middle and the team’s first first down. Carr’s pass on third down sailed over A.T. Perry’s head and the Saints lined up to punt for the third straight drive.
New Orleans found the end zone midway through the second quarter and cut their deficit to within 14. In 13 plays, the Saints ran 6:39 off the clock as Carr stepped up in the pocket and delivered a 30-yard high-point pass to Perry on 3rd & 16. Chris Olave got the ball for the first time for a pickup of 24 yards, which set up a six-yard touchdown by Jimmy Graham, who crossed over his defender and helped put up the first points of the game for New Orleans.
The Lions were able to score one more time before heading into the locker room. LaPorta and St. Brown made big catches on third down. Goff couldn’t connect with Donovan Peoples-Jones in the end zone and Riley Patterson kicked a 26-yard field goal with eight seconds to go.
Detroit headed into halftime up 24-7.
New Orleans got the football to start the second half and went 75 yards in 10 plays. Carr went to Hill for a gain of 18 yards and underthrew Olave down the sideline but completed the 33-yard pass to set up the two-yard rushing touchdown by Alvin Kamara.
The defense of the Saints forced a three-and-out and helped generate momentum. Olave made a 28-yard catch to open the drive, then Carr dumped the ball off to an open Foster Moreau for another 19 yards. Kamara’s rush was initially signaled a touchdown but was called down inside the one-yard line after the replay. Hill finished the job to make it a 24-21 game.
LaPorta ran free down the right sideline for a pickup of 48 yards to the New Orleans 14-yard line. New Orleans would force Patterson to kick a 32-yard field goal to move their lead back to six to end the third quarter.
On the first play of the next drive, left guard James Hurst went to pull and knocked the ball out of Carr’s hands at the snap and former Ragin’ Cajun Tracy Walker III recovered the fumble. On 2nd & 3, Jameson Williams was the recipient of the double reverse handoff and turned on the jets to Superman dive into the endzone for the 19-yard touchdown. Goff’s pass to St. Brown on the two-point conversion fell incomplete as the Lions went up 33-21 less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
Carr got injured with 10:23 left and Jameis Winston filled in. Winston’s pass was batted into the air but found the hands of Olave as he ran out of bounds at the two-yard line after a 30-yard gain. Kamara scored from a yard out to make it a five-point deficit.
Montgomery couldn’t coral the pass on 3rd & 10 and the Lions would punt back to the Saints. Winston’s passes on third and fourth down to Kamara and Olave were off target and New Orleans gave it back to Detroit with 3:01 to go.
Goff and the Lions picked up a couple of key first downs to drain the remainder of the clock and escaped with a 33-28 win with the Saints now 5-7 on the season.
BIG NUMBER: 21
Even though the Saints made it a game late, the 21-point advantage the Lions had within the first seven minutes put New Orleans in too much of a hole and Detroit would come out on top 33-28.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sam LaPorta
The rookie sensation out of Iowa has continued to impress us. In Sunday’s game, LaPorta racked up 140 yards and a touchdown on nine catches as the Lions left New Orleans with a 33-21 win.
UP NEXT: The New Orleans Saints will stay home next week to host an in-division foe. The kickoff time for the Black and Gold and Carolina Panthers will be at noon on Sunday, December 10th.