It’s just that type of season for the New Orleans Saints right now. They lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, 27-17 in a game that could have been won. Let’s look at it this way, this roster is ridiculously banged up and not a playoff caliber team in the slightest. If they continue to lose games, get themselves a top ten draft choice and then return next season with a fully healthy roster, this is a dangerous looking squad. For now, though, we will have to take the punches of this season.
Getting into this game now, it was clear that Taysom Hill wasn’t fully healthy. Not only was he entering the game with an injury, but he was diagnosed with “mallet finger” after the game. He was forced to wear a split on his middle finger on his throwing hand for the majority of the contest. He was doing alright too, until he threw four interceptions in the final 20 minutes of regulation. He ended the night with 264 yards passing, two touchdowns and those four picks. He also had 11 rush attempts for 101 yards. Deonte Harris had a nice 70-yard weaving touchdown late in the game but also had a few horrible drops. Mark Ingram once again looked terrific in this offense but they didn’t utilize him as much as they should have. Lastly, I have to say that Tre’Quan Smith looks really lazy out there. He had two catches for 15 yards and could have had another if he didn’t randomly start jogging after his cut.
Speaking of jogging, Marcus Williams did just that during a 58-yard Tony Pollard touchdown run. He didn’t want to overcommit to the tackle, but then he just allowed him to keep running into the end zone without any resistance. It didn’t look good from our point of view. Other than that, I was super impressed again by this defense. They had huge plays throughout the game and Marshon Lattimore’s interception on Dak Prescott came at a critical time. Unfortunately, they were left out to rust on the field for too long and the Cowboys receivers were making multiple insane toe dragging catches that perfect defense couldn’t even stop. Seven of those 27 points scored came from a Hill pick-six also, so this group played well considering their competition here.
As we look at the rest of the division, it is clear that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will run away with it. The injury riddled Saints aren’t a championship contender at the moment. The Carolina Panthers have absolutely crumbled after a 3-0 start, benching Cam Newton after just one game and placing Christian McCaffrey onto injured reserve and still awaiting Sam Darnold to come back from injury. Then we have the Atlanta Falcons, a team that is somehow at 5-6 on the season. Their offense has had atrocious games and are still missing their top wideout Calvin Ridley while he deals with personal issues. Their defense has impressed though, just not enough to say they are division competitors by the end of the season.