The New Orleans Saints had to come battle plenty of adversity to get a 35-29 win over the Detroit Lions.
That's what really impressed Bobby Hebert, how the Saints responded under difficult conditions. They were down six starters going into the game and lost another – Ryan Ramczyk – during the game.
“They handled adversity,” Hebert said. “They had six starters out, six significant starters, Pro Bowl-type players. A lot of times, when you lose your starting cornerbacks, that ends up being a big difference. But the Saints handled it.
“I thought P.J. Williams and Patrick Robinson were outstanding in what they ended up doing and the responsibilities they had,” Hebert continued. “It was crucial for them to have a great game, especially against a quarterback like Matthew Stafford.”
Stafford completed just 54.8% of his passes and had under 200 yards passing after sacks were taken into account. He also threw an interception – to Patrick Robinson – in the redzone.
Hebert wasn't just impressed with how individual players rose to the challenge; the team as a whole had to as well.
A Saints player had a positive COVID-19 test that turned out to be a false positive; but, for a time, there was concern over whether the game would be played on Sunday. The Saints also had a horrendous start, quickly finding themselves trailing 14-0
“They had to overcome adversity on account of the whole COVID test,” Hebert said. “You don't know if you're playing or not less than 24 hours before the game. They handled that well. And that just shows you the maturity of the team and the leadership. That showed up, too, when they went down 14-0. They followed that up with five straight drives where they scored a touchdown.”
While Hebert was clearly impressed, he also cautioned that it was what you would expect from a team with Super Bowl goals.
“If the Saints want to get where they want to get, they have to beat a team like the Lions,” Hebert said. “And they did.”
The win brought New Orleans back up to .500 on the year and put them in second place in the NFC South with three-fourths of the season left and five of their six NFC South match-ups to go. The Saints next face the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night.
