The New Orleans Saints found a way to win ugly in Week 9 against an overmatched Bears squad, but some troubling trends continued on the defensive side of the ball.
For the 4th consecutive week the Saints defense allowed multiple long touchdown drives in the first half, with a Cairo Santos miss the only thing preventing another 17 spot on the board at halftime. The Saints bounced back, per the usual, in the second half en route to a 24-17 win, but as Deuce McAllister explained in the postgame, that can't be the status quo going forward.
Listen to Deuce's fill breakdown in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"At the end of the day, look, you’ve got to figure out, if we’re an elite unit," McAllister said, "let’s be elite all the time."
It's been a running theme, and running quarterbacks have been a major issue. Undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent used his legs to great effect in the first half, extending drives and hitting big plays in the passing game when needed. He sent two TD balls to Cole Kmet. He finished with 70 yards rushing, but it was the three interceptions and a lost fumble from the rookie that secured the result.
The Saints won't complain about winning ugly. Wins are hard to come by in the NFL, just look around the NFC South. The Falcons and Bucs both blew leads late in their games to fall to the Vikings and Texans respectively. Josh Dobbs showed up mid-week and willed Minnesota to a win. C.J. Stroud set records with his 470-yard passing performance.
"I didn’t want it to be that ugly, though," McAllister continues. "You talk about it, you’ll definitely take it just because of how hard it is to win in the NFL. But I mean, man, that was not very good overall play by this team, and what’s interesting is we had five turnovers. How was this game only a 7-point victory for this team?"
At the end of the day the Saints walk out with back-to-back wins, a 5-4 record and own first place by themselves in the NFC South for the first time since the 2020 season. The Saints are also tied for the NFL lead with 18 takeaways after logging just 14 total in the entire 2022 season.
The Saints offense had its troubles as well, but has now scored 20-plus points in three consecutive games, even as the run of 300-yard passing days came to an end. A missed field goal and failed 4th and inches play were major factors in what kept points off the board in the second half, but it's also the second consecutive week the Saints began the game with three touchdowns on their first three red zone trips.
"You’re starting to turn it around offensively," McAllister said. "Guess what? There’s more meat on the bone, and so I’d love to see this team go out there and play a complete one because so far they haven’t done it yet.”
