What a miserable game. The New Orleans Saints fell to the winless New York Giants last weekend in overtime, 27-21. They were in perfect position to win the game countless times but the questionable play calling and inability to trust Jameis Winston cost them the game.
Winston completed 74 percent of his passes for 226 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, even having a 55-yard touchdown erased off the board due to a holding penalty. He looked like he was on fire throughout the entire contest, yet Sean Payton refused to open up the playbook for him. Taysom Hill came into the game a few times and had a deep shot lined up for Deonte Harris. It looked wide open but Hill underthrew the ball so badly that it was easily intercepted. Thankfully, Hill did take six rush attempts for two touchdowns including one where he broke seven tackles to break the plain. Alvin Kamara also had the first game in his career where he didn’t see a target in the passing game. Kamara had 26 rushes for 120 yards on the day. Marquez Callaway had a big 50-yard grab early on but was essentially quiet the rest of the contest. Until Payton begins to open the offense up for Winston and company, this team isn’t going to be playoff bound.
Defensively they were admittedly off their game. Everybody knows you can’t play lockdown defense each and every week and the lack of a strong Saints offense left them on the field too long. Daniel Jones looked like the second coming of Tom Brady in this game though. He threw for 402 yards and two touchdowns but did have an interception throwing a hail mary with no time left in the first half. Kenny Golladay had over 100 receiving yards and Saquon Barkley ran for 52 yards and a touchdown along with 74 receiving yards with another score added on.
The Saints ended up disappointing a lot of fans in their home opener, but they are going to have to just brush his game off and move onto the next one. Hopefully, Payton allows Winston to be more of himself and push the ball down the field. Yes, his interception problems are worrisome but playing this conservative style of ball hasn’t been very helpful.
Wrapping up what happened the division, the Buccaneers were the only team to pick up a victory. They won Tom Brady’s comeback game to Gillette Stadium against the New England Patriots even though it was a pretty sloppy game overall. They moved to the top of the division now with the Carolina Panthers getting blown out in the second half against the Dallas Cowboys. Then finally, we have the Atlanta Falcons. Who choked yet another lead in the fourth quarter and were scored on with just 30 seconds left to fall to 1-3 on the year.