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December 23, 2014Bollinger ownership changes hands
December 23, 2014
Somehow, some way, the New Orleans Saints entered Week 16 with control of its own destiny, despite mostly inept play through the first 14 games of the year.
As often the story in the 2014 season, they blew it.
As a result, they now approach Week 17 with no shot to make the playoffs.
The Saints were beaten in all phases of Sunday’s game with the Atlanta Falcons, falling to their division rivals 30-14 before a jam-packed crowd in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The last meaningful play of the Saints’ season was a microcosm of the entire season – a Drew Brees fumble deep in Atlanta territory that was returned 86 yards for a touchdown by Falcons’ defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora, who waved and mocked New Orleans’ fans as he glided across the field and eventually into the end zone unscathed.
The play was one of four turnovers for New Orleans, who were unable to force any such plays from Atlanta, who will now play a winner-take all game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 17.
“It’s really disappointing,” Brees said with a dejected tone after the loss. “It’s disappointing to know that with two games left, we controlled our own destiny. If we win, we’re in. And we were not able to do that. That’s disappointing, and that’s not something we’re used to around here.”
“You play this game for a lot of folks,” New Orleans offensive tackle Zach Strief added. “You play for your family. You play for the people that brought you here and believed in you. You play for your teammates. You play for the fans that support you, so you feel like you let everybody down. … That’s tough, but we deserve it. We got what we deserved. It’s disappointing.”
For New Orleans, things started out OK. The Falcons won the coin toss and opted to defer possession to the second half.
With the ball first, the Saints got an early spark when receiver Jalen Saunders took the opening kickoff 99 yards – all the way down to the Falcons’ 1-yard-line.
From there, the Saints needed just one play – a one-yard dive from halfback Mark Ingram to strike pay dirt first and take a 7-0 lead.
Early heroics aside – pretty much the rest of the game was all-Atlanta.
After the opening special teams gaffe, the Falcons dominated the trenches, hassling Brees on defense with constant pressure and giving their own quarterback Matt Ryan ample time to make plays.
The Falcons got a pair of long Matt Bryant field goals in the early first and second quarters to cut the Saints’ lead to 7-6.
They jammed in a dagger on their final offensive play of the first half, hitting Eric Weems on a three-yard touchdown shovel pass to cap a 15-play, 89-yard drive to take a 13-7 halftime lead.
In the second half, the story remained the same, with Atlanta either sacking or hurrying Brees to keep New Orleans out of rhythm. With the extra possessions, the Falcons finally capitalized midway through the third quarter on a 31-yard touchdown run from Devonta Freeman to take a 20-7 lead.
Atlanta sacked Brees five times on the afternoon, while limiting New Orleans to just 57 yards rushing. On the opposite side, Ryan wasn’t sacked and was rarely pressured the entire game, and Atlanta had 81 yards rushing, while getting 3.7 yards per carry.
New Orleans was without starting left tackle Terron Armstead in the game.
“They gashed us one time on that big running play,” Saints’ outside linebacker Junior Galette said. “Going into the game, we wanted to outplay their defense, and we didn’t outplay their defense.”
“The ranking our defense has in the NFL doesn’t fit our defense,” Falcons’ receiver Devin Hester said when asked if he was surprised at how well Atlanta played. “If they put their mind to it and are confident, you’ll see the results you saw out there today.”
Late in the fourth quarter, New Orleans was on the wrong side of a controversial call, as tight end Jimmy Graham caught a pass and moved toward the Atlanta goal line with the Saints trailing 20-7.
As Graham lugged toward the end zone, the Falcons pried the ball from his grasp right as he got right near the goal line stripe. The call on the field was a fumble, which was recovered by the Falcons. Replay didn’t confirm the call, but there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the play, either, as Graham’s forearms obscured a clear view of the ball as the strip occurred.
The Saints’ players stopped short of saying the call cost them the game, but they added that it went a long way toward hurting their chances.
“It really felt like where his arms were, and obviously, the ball was in his arms, were across the white line,” Brees said. “It sure looked like it was going to be a touchdown. You guys probably saw it better than I did. Did it look like a touchdown? You go back and say it’s huge. It’s seven points or it’s not seven points.”
The Saints did eventually move the score to 20-14 with just more than five minutes to play when Brees and Graham finally did connect on a touchdown strike.
But Atlanta dominated the final minutes, using an interception on Brees to kick a field goal and run the score to 23-14 before forcing the fumble and taking it in for a touchdown on the game’s final play – the last snap of New Orleans’ season with playoff implications.
“We went into the season with high hopes, and we worked hard,” New Orleans tight end Benjamin Watson said. “We did all those things, but it still didn’t manifest itself to wins. You never know when the work that you invest in is going to ring true.”
For New Orleans, it didn’t, and the last week of the season is meaningless because of it – a rarity in the Sean Payton era.
The team closes its season on Sunday in a road game with the Tampa Bay Bucs.
On the surface, the game seems meaningless, but it will be an opportunity for New Orleans’ younger players to take some momentum into the offseason.
The winner will also move down a handful of slots in the pecking order for the 2015 NFL Draft.
By that math, the teams may rest starters in an effort to scale back the chances at success.
Managing Editor Casey Gisclair says the Saints will face too many top-notch offenses (like the Falcons) in 2016-17, which will again put the Black and Gold behind the eight ball when it comes to playoff contention.
