The Good: Rushing Offense
The New Orleans Saints outrushed the NFL’s leading rushing team in the Buffalo Bills on Sunday by gaining 189 yards on the ground. Alvin Kamara ran 15 times for 70 yards and Spencer Rattler even had 6 rushes for 49 yards. But the story of the day on the ground was Kendre Miller, who had arguably the best game of his career in Week 4. Miller ran tough for 65 yards on 11 carries and scored his first touchdown of the year on an 18-yard run in which he broke multiple tackles. Despite their mistakes which led to the loss, the Saints may have shown the league the formula to beat the Bills, who many have as the best team in the league. The Bills currently have the top pass defense in the league, but the 31st ranked run defense, giving up 163.3 yards per game. If a team that has looked as bad as the Saints can give the Bills a scare by consistently running the ball, some of the stronger teams around the NFL may use this formula to beat them in the future. After a tough start to the schedule in which they faced teams currently with a combined record of 10-4, the Saints now have three straight games against three teams who are .500 or worse, two of which are at home. Hopefully the first win of the year and the first win of Spencer Rattler’s career will come sometime in the next three weeks. I also want to give a shout out to Spencer Rattler who continues to look better, and rookie Jonas Sanker who played a great game and was the first player to intercept Josh Allen this year.
The Bad: Tackling
The Saints defense had issues making key tackles this week against Buffalo, particularly on a screen pass to Khalil Shakir which he took 48 yards for the Bills opening touchdown. The Saints had two shots to bring him down on this play but were unable to wrap up or gang tackle to bring him down and Shakir was able to break away for a touchdown. They were also unable to stop James Cook and Josh Allen from scoring from 1 and 5 yards out and also failed to sack Josh Allen on a key third down in which he escaped the pocket, juked out a defender and gained 27 yards, which was immediately followed by the clinching touchdown. This was far from the biggest reason the Saints lost but it was certainly a contributing factor, and something they should work on improving going forward.
The Ugly: Squandered Opportunities
The Saints left a lot on the field on Sunday, in a game against an opponent in which they were going to have to capitalize on every opportunity in order to win. They stupidly tried the Philly Special on 3rd and goal at the end of the half with a chance to take the lead or cut the deficit to 1, and promptly threw an interception. The play call was questionable, and Chris Olave also has to know in that situation to either throw the ball away or just tuck it and run, as the Bills defense were completely ready for the trick play. On their second drive of the game, the Saints were again moving the ball, and had a 2nd and 5 on the Bills 40, but then gave up a sack and a pressure leading to an intentional grounding which turned the 2nd and 5 into 4th and 21 and a punt. After getting the first interception against Josh Allen this year, the Saints were set up at midfield in a 14-7 game, but were only able to gain 2 yards and went 3-and-out. Also in the first half, the Saints again started a drive at midfield down 14-7 thanks to a hold on Buffalo on a punt. However, they were again unable to take advantage of the good starting position and tie the game, but at least were able to gain 13 yards and get into field goal range.
In the second half, Rattler had Brandin Cooks open in the end zone on 3rd and long for a go-ahead touchdown, but just missed him low and Cooks was unable to make the catch despite a good effort. After this, the Saints forced the Bills into a 3rd and 5 down just two points, but then gave up a 27-yard scramble and a 28-yard touchdown on the next two plays which stretch the Buffalo lead to two scores. After this, the Saints were unable to convert a 4th and 3, and then committed a very bad roughing the kicker on a punt that would have given them the ball back with over 5 minutes left, but instead pretty much sealed the game for Buffalo. The Saints played a good game on the road against one of the best teams in football, but at the end of the day you simply cannot miss this many opportunities to score or keep drives alive and expect to win games in the NFL, especially against a team like the Bills. This game should give the Saints some confidence thought, especially after the disaster in Seattle, so hopefully they can build upon this game and pick up some wins in the next few weeks now that the schedule eases up a bit.
