There were five turnovers in total for the Saints and head coach Dennis Allen to diagnose and critique following a frustrating and painful divisional loss to the Bucs.
But there was one that clearly stood out above the others, and it came from an unlikely source for the second week in a row in veteran Mark Ingram. With the Saints driving for, at minimum, a go-ahead field goal, he coughed up a fumble deep in the red zone. It was a clear shift in momentum that the Saints never recovered from.
"It was a game changer. ... We're in a good position, you know, with how we're playing defense, that if we're able to put some points on the board, I think it was about a minute left to go in the third quarter when that happened," he said. "And so yeah, I thought that was a thought that was a momentum changer in the game."
It was the Saints' first turnover of the game, but it was quickly followed by three Jameis Winston interceptions -- one returned for a touchdown -- and a Chris Olave catch and fumble that effectively ended things. The game went into the 4th quarter tied 3-3 and with the turnover battle tied 1 apiece. In the end it was the Bucs at +4 in the turnover margin at +10 on the scoreboard.
"The team that wins the turnover battle is usually the team that wins, and we were on the other end of that," Allen said. "So we got to do a better job of protecting the ball and giving ourselves a chance to win the game. So there's some good things that happened in the game, but yet everything, you know gets overshadowed by not taking care of the football."
Related
MORE FROM DENNIS ALLEN
ON THE DEFENSE
While the offense was stuck in the mud the entire game, it was another stifling effort from a defensive group that managed to keep Tom Brady off the scoreboard the entire first half. The Bucs' lone touchdown drive was extended by a special teams penalty with 12 men on the field. The defense only logged one sack of Tom Brady, but that was largely due to the Bucs QB's quick passing game that in turn limited his offense's production.
"I think I think the defense battled. I thought we did a pretty good job of stopping the run and then I think early on, we weren't as good as we needed to be on third down. But yeah, I felt like that got a little bit better as the game went on. So yeah, look, I think, I think the defense battled, but certainly, you know, we didn't do enough to win the game."
Related
CAN YOU ELABORATE ON JAMEIS WINSTON'S INJURY?
"He's got a back issue that he's dealing with. I'm not gonna go into any of that," Allen said.
Reports prior to the game indicated that Winston was playing through multiple fractures in his back and would be wearing extra padding to protect the area. There were no visible signs of the issue throughout the game, though Winston did struggle with his accuracy at points. Allen said there was really no debate over whether he'd go in the game.
"We'll see where he's at tomorrow when we come in and go through the rehab and meet with the trainers and kind of take it as it goes," Allen said. "But look, ... he and I both felt like he was in a good position to go win the game."
WHAT WAS YOUR TAKE ON THE EVANS-LATTIMORE SITUATION?
Bucs WR Mike Evans and Saints CB Marshon Lattimore were both ejected after an on-field altercation between the CB and Bucs running back Leonard Fournette turned into a benches-clearing brawl.
"You see those things happen all the time. And, you know, what I'd like to see is Marshon not retaliate. ... I believe [Leonard Fournette] was the first one to, you know, kind of push and shove Lattimore. But, you know, I've been around this league long enough that usually they don't get the instigator. They usually get the responder. So I think what happened after that was a little bit excessive."
Related
ON NOT ATTEMPTING A 57-YARD KICK LATE IN THE FIRST HALF
"We knew this was going to be a field position game, which it was. Unfortunately we kind of played played the game on our end of the field a little bit too much in the first half. But, you know, it's a 3-0 game at that point in time. I didn't feel like taking an opportunity on a long field goal at that point in the game -- I didn't think that that was the right thing to do."