A week after dominating the Las Vegas Raiders the New Orleans Saints were on the other end of the stick. The Baltimore Ravens flew to a 27-13 victory over the Saints that did not feel as close as the score would indicate.
“You didn't get beat last night; you got beat up,” Mike Detillier, WWL NFL analyst and co-host of Sports Talk, said. “The Ravens manhandled the Saints. Offensive line and defensive line. They manhandled them last night.”
Baltimore rushed for 188 yards, the most New Orleans has allowed on the ground since giving up 201 yards to Tampa Bay in Week 1. The Saints, meanwhile, managed just 48 rushing yards at 3.2 yards per carry, easily the lowest output of the season. The Ravens harried quarterback Andy Dalton all night as well, notching 4 sacks and 7 QB hits.
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“After playing so well against Las Vegas defensively, you went right back to what we've sort of seen the first few weeks of the season. And offensively, you got absolutely nothing going. Zilch. You couldn't run the football, and your passing game was off. There wasn't much you could say was a positive yesterday.
“At time this year, this has been a very unfocused football team, very undisciplined,” Detillier continued. “The physicality part really jumps out. Where was the defense of a year ago that was so good?”
The drive chart for the Saints offense is tough to look at. The first four possessions resulted in four punts, with two of the drives resulting in three and outs. Their final possession of the first half and first possession of the second half combined for 24 plays for 116 yards but ended with just two field goals. The Saints lone touchdown came with under five minutes to play when the Ravens were already up by 21 points.
New Orleans now has a short week to fix things, too, with a trip up to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers at noon on Sunday.
“The season is quickly setting itself upon you, and you've got to snap out of it some kind of way. But last night was certainly telling.”