The New Orleans Saints loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15 highlights issues that the team will have to overcome going forward. Drew Brees had his first game back and looked pedestrian most of the game. Sean Payton‘s offense looked anemic without Michael Thomas and the in-game injury to Tre’Quan Smith. Defensive penalties once again gave away field position and kept drives alive. The time of possession numbers was heavily against the Saints as well. If the Saints are going to make any progress in the NFC Playoffs, these issues must be addressed.
Loss to Chiefs Highlights New Orleans Saints Issues
New Orleans dropped its second straight game to the Kansas City Chiefs. A poor offensive showing was mostly to blame for the second week in a row. Payton’s offense only ran 52 offensive plays all game. The Chiefs ran 92 in comparison. The time of possession between the two teams was heavily skewed. The Saints only had the ball on offense for 18 minutes and 46 seconds. Giving Patrick Mahomes the ball for over 41 minutes is a recipe for losing.
Payton and the offensive game plan in the first half of the game caused many issues. In Drew Brees’ first game back from injury after a month away, he threw the ball 34 times. This is in comparison to running the ball a menial 17 times. The Saints relying on Alvin Kamara with Thomas missing this game was thought to be upcoming. However, Kamara only rushed the ball 11 times, adding another three receptions. Even with the offensive woes, the Saints were still close to the Chiefs most of the game.
Bright Spots in Loss
Not everything from this loss was dim. The Saints should be happy with the play of the defense. The defense managed to sack Mahomes four times during the game. One of these sacks led to a fumble which the Saints recovered and quickly turned into a touchdown. Putting a damper on the defensive performance was Cameron Jordan getting ejected from this game for throwing a punch. Trey Hendrickson had another solid game for the Saints. Hendrickson had two sacks and five quarterback hits. Carl Granderson also stepped up, getting one sack and four quarterback hits.
Brees did look more comfortable passing as the game went on also. After finishing the first quarter without a completion, Brees managed to have three second-half touchdown passes. One touchdown went to Kamara, one to Latavius Murray, and the other to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. The Saints went three-and-out on five drives in the first three quarters against the Chiefs. Brees and the offense only had one in the fourth quarter.
Issues Going Forward
The New Orleans Saints loss to the Chiefs saw penalty issues once again for the Saints. The Saints had 10 penalties for 93 yards. Penalties contributed to their time of possession issues as well. The time of possession was heavily skewed to the Chiefs and can be helped with a better game plan. Drew Brees being back under center should stabilize this team in the final two regular-season games as well. Coming up on a short week is an old foe, the Minnesota Vikings. Week 17 brings a familiar opponent as well, as the Saints play the Carolina Panthers. New Orleans still controls the number two seed in the NFC playoffs. If the Saints can learn from the various mistakes from week 15’s loss, their chances in the playoffs could still be high.
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