The New Orleans Saints drop to 2-4 after losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week Seven. The Saints were a seven point underdog heading to Arrowhead Stadium this week. Although they were not expected to win in the loudest stadium in the NFL, they put up a fierce fight. A last ditch effort at a game-winning drive proved unsuccessful and New Orleans lost 27-21.
New Orleans Saints Week Seven Takeaways
The 12th Man Advantage Proved too much for the Saints:
The Saints knew what they were heading into before they arrived in Kansas City this week. Arrowhead Stadium is known to be the loudest stadium in the NFL alongside Seattle. In 2013, Kansas City broke the Guinness World Record for their noise level, reaching the loudest decibel level in the NFL. No amount of practice for the Saints however, was able to prepare them for what they were to endure.
The 12th man prevailed in Week Seven against the Saints. New Orleans lost 75 yards over 10 penalties. Four of these were false starts and two of these were delay of game penalties. The noise level was the main factor in a considerable loss in yards for the Saints. While they managed their false starts better during the second half of the game, they were hit with a delay of game penalty with 28 seconds left on the clock and 75 yards to go for a necessary game-winning touchdown drive. This added five yards to an already impossible task, and reduced their confidence level at a critical time in the game. The loss of yardage caused by the noise was a major setback for the Saints in Week Seven.
The Saints Played a Very Balanced Offensive Game
The Saints started the game on a high note. After deferring the ball and forcing the Chiefs to punt on their first drive, the Saints opened with a touchdown drive. The touchdown catch by Brandin Cooks was the last score the Saints saw during the first half. Heading into the half time, their last three possessions consisted of an interception and two punts.
Mark Ingram scored a touchdown early in the second half to cap off an impressive 14-play, 75 yard-drive, but the duration of the game saw little scoring until the last five minutes of play. Brandon Coleman scored a touchdown to bring the score to a close 24-21 which was quickly answered by a Chiefs field goal. This forced the Saints to require a touchdown with less than half a minute left to play. While the Saints offense could not pull out a win, there were plenty of positives to take away from what they did do. Outside of the unnecessary penalties they succumbed to, the Saints managed to play one of their most balanced offensive games this year.
The Saints had 463 total offensive yards today, 104 of which came from net rushing yards over 22 plays. While the passing game was still heavily utilized (Brees had 37 completions for 367 yards, three passing touchdowns and became the NFL’s first player to reach 100 games with 300-plus passing yards), running backs Mark Ingram and Tim Hightower played key roles in today’s game. Ingram had 16 carries for 62 yards and Hightower had five carries for 39 yards. Although the Saints were forced to abandon the run the last few minutes of play in an effort to score ten points quickly to tie the score, the balance they maintained throughout the game was a definite positive takeaway for New Orleans.
Conclusion
The loss to Kansas City leaves the Saints in third place in their division behind the 4-2 Atlanta Falcons, and the 2-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The close contest in the NFC South still leaves room for the Saints to prevail. There are ten weeks of football left and the Saints defense seems to be improving little by little each week. Although the defense did not stand out this week, they did manage to keep their opponents under 30 points. This is something that they have done on only one other occasion this year. Things look positive for the Saints going forward. Several of their key defensive players should be returning to the field soon. This could allow them the boost they need to win some games and drive ahead in their division.
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