On October 20, 1996, then New Orleans Saints head coach uttered a line that has become part of the team’s lore: “We couldn’t do diddly poo . . . ”
That same quip describes the modern-day Saints’ effort in a 33-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in the Superdome on Thursday night. A sea of orange emerged in the stadium midway through the fourth quarter as Saints fans left the game in droves, leaving the Broncos faithful to cheer on their team in the waning minutes of the contest.
The short-handed offense never found a rhythm against Denver’s stingy defense, which capped off the night with fumble return for a touchdown when Cody Barton scored after Ja’Quan McMillan stripped the ball away from Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton dialed up a game plan similar to the ones he created in his 16 years as the Saints’ head coach. Denver dominated the time of possession, going on extended drives and wearing down the opposing defense. The Broncos held the ball for 32 minutes of the game, picking up 391 total yards of offense in that span. Denver’s rushing attack did the bulk of the work for the Broncos’ offense. Javonte Williams ran for 88 yards and both of Denver’s offensive touchdowns, while quarterback Bo Nix scrambled for 75 yards. In all, Denver rushed for 227 yards, thanks in part to a rash of missed tackles by a Saints defense decimated by injuries.
Meanwhile, Rattler took a beating as he routinely tried to scramble away from the Denver blitz. Rattler passed for 181 yards and ran for 34 more yards before being benched late in the fourth quarter. Denver’s defense limited running back Alvin Kamara to only 10 yards rushing on seven carries. In all, the Saints offense posted only 271 yards of total offense.
Rattler’s replacement, Jake Haener, found Cedric Wilson, Jr., in the end zone with 1:22 left in the game. That touchdown was the Saints’ first touchdown since the second quarter of last week’s game against Tampa Bay.
The injury bug but the Saints hard during Thursday night’s game. Cornerback Paulson Adebo was carted off the field in the second quarter with what has been described as a knee injury. Trainers put an air cast in his injured leg before taking into the locker room. Offensive tackle Nick Saldiveri left the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. Later in the second half, cornerback Marshon Lattimore exited the game with a hamstring injury.
New Orleans has now lost five straight games, falling to 2-5 on the season. The Saints will travel to play the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, October 27.
