Saints Report # 14 - December 15, 2013

The New Orleans Saints travelled to St. Louis Sunday and took a firm stance against prosperity.  The laid an egg, they scrambled it, they cooked it, and then they seasoned it too much to eat it.  In a performance that can only be labelled an “epic fail” they ceded the control of the division right back to the Carolina Panthers by coughing up a 27 – 16 ball game that only got that close late.

Truth is, the Saints handed this one over very quickly - in their first two possessions.  Any other team in America, down 7 – 0 and with their first possession starting on their own 7 would have calmly tried to grind the ball out of the hole with a running play or two.  No, not the Saints, because in the Payton offense, every down is a passing down.  When the Payton offense is clicking, it’s a thing of beauty and precision.  When it’s not, it turns the ball over in bunches at the worst possible time.

That took exactly one play Sunday.  On first down, first play from scrimmage, Brees dropped back toward the end zone, got pressured up the middle (which would be a common theme) and clunked it right into the arms of a waiting Ram.  Soon it was 14 – 0.  Brees drove the Saints down the field but threw an end zone interception.  Make it a 17 – 0 hole.  And on and on.  It wasn’t until late in the 4^th quarter that the Saints battled their way within striking distance, but it probably would’ve taken two more quarters to take a lead.  We’ve seen this movie before, like every time the Saints go to St. Louis.

So the Saints spit the bit on prosperity and now have positioned themselves as an underdog for next week’s division-deciding trip into Charlotte.  It will be the game Carolina has been waiting years for.  It will be a game that didn’t have to be this important.  It will be another test of character.  It will be another road test, and at this point the Saints road confidence has to be waning.