The Saints won the game, and an ugly win is always better than a pretty loss.
But as Bobby Hebert explains, the 22-17 result won't even come close to covering up outrageous penalty numbers.
"It was totally unacceptable and it’s going to cost you games," he said. "You can’t have anywhere near double-digit penalties.”
Listen to Bobby Hebert's full rant in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
The number on Sunday was 14 accepted penalties for 141 yards. In all there were 16 penalties thrown with two declined, accounted for by 13 players. The most impactful came on the opening drive of the second half with offensive pass interference flagged twice in the span of four plays against WR Bryan Edwards, in both instances wiping a touchdown off the board. The team ultimately settled for a field goal.
It was a point that head coach Dennis Allen made sure to address in his postgame comments.
“Pre-snap penalties can’t happen, that was a total lack of focus," Allen said.
"That has to get cleaned up. You have to look at the tape and determine from a technical standpoint what you could have done better technique wise and put yourself in a better position, specifically on some of the holding calls."
That'll certainly be a focus this week, considering the team had 9 penalties for nearly 100 yards in the preseason opener as well.
Still, there were some clear silver linings, as Hebert made sure to point out: It was another week of winning the turnover battle. Payton Turner forced a fumble in the first half that was recovered by Bryan Bresee and led to a touchdown a few plays later. Isaac Yiadom stepped in front of an Easton Stick pass in the second quarter to set up a Blake Grupe field goal, and Lonnie Johnson Jr. intercepted Stick's final pass of the game to seal the result. The Saints also had multiple 4th down stops to create extra possessions.
After a year where turnovers felt nearly impossible to get, the Saints are plus-4 through two weeks.
"You know I like that. … We’re trending in the right direction," Hebert said. "So hopefully that’s the case that we keep trending that way when we go against the Texans.”
