Saints Report #14 - December 20, 2020

Let the record show that the Kansas City Chiefs came to the Superdome Sunday and beat the New Orleans Saints 32-29, dropping the Saints to 10-4 on the year.

In a few weeks all that will be remembered is the score.  But there’s a lot more to the story. 

Here it is:  The Kansas City Chiefs, sporting one of the fastest teams ever assembled, and possibly the most talented quarterback we’ve ever seen, were pushed to the limit by a depleted team. 

Consider:

• Drew Brees was not at 100%.  His rust after missing 4 games was evident.
• Two All-Pros, Michael Thomas and Deonte Harris were moved to injured reserve
• Three receivers were called up from the practice squad
• The Saints started with 4 three and outs
• Brees started a game 0-6 for the first time in his career
• The Saints only converted one first down
• Tre-quan Smith was lost to injury during the game
• Marcus Williams was lost to injury during the game
• The Saints abandoned their running game very early (as usual)
• The Saints punted 8 times
• The Saints got outgained 411 to 285
• Kansas City won the time of possession battle by having the ball 41 of 60 minutes, better than 2/3 of the time.

This game shouldn’t have been close, but it was. 

The Saints took advantage of good field position when they got it, and got a “bending” performance from their defense.  Brees even connected on a bomb to Emmanuel Sanders.  The Saints hung around and stayed in the game using the guile and experience that veteran teams have. 

I remember the year that the flag football team I coached won an intramural championship.  We lost a game in midseason, in overtime, to the team we would eventually beat in the finals in a rematch.  On the day we lost, I came off the field elated.  I couldn’t believe we’d almost won.  At that moment I was absolutely positive we were going all the way.  Why?  Because we had gone to overtime, and we couldn’t have played worse.  It was a horrible performance.  Our quarterback was off, we dropped passes, we were a step slow on defense all day – we just stunk.  But there we were, still tied after regulation.  We would go on to blow them out in the championship game, as I knew we would. 

This game had that feel.  I’m not saying the Saints are going to win the Super Bowl, but they slowed Mahomes the magician, and even took a 3^rd quarter lead 15-14, before succumbing.  There is little doubt that this is the deepest, most talented roster the Saints have ever assembled. 

Saints fans are scared that with two losses in a row, the top seed possibilities over, and the division still not clinched, the Saints are unraveling.  Four losses mean the Saints now move into the also-rans part of the playoff, where they will have to slog their way through a lot of teams living by the motto “Anything can happen.”  Too true. We know. The Saints have a Christmas engagement with their playoff nemesis the Vikings, then close the season at Carolina.  Amidst all the Crescent City doom and gloom, there are some encouraging signs.  One thing’s for sure.

Meeting KC in the Super Bowl for a rematch shouldn't scare the Saints at all.