Dominance continued: SL teams take district titles
October 29, 2013
BREAKING: Coach, girlfriend, 3 others given criminal summons after Destrehan forfeitures
October 30, 2013
After a somewhat sluggish start, the New Orleans Saints eventually kicked into high gear in the team’s 35-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills last Sunday at the Mercedes Benz Superdome.
While slow starts have been nothing new to the Saints (6-1) this year, the team has consistently found ways to recover from them, and Sunday was no different.
After the Saints fell behind 10-7 in the second quarter, quarterback Drew Brees proceeded to lead the team on two touchdown drives on their next two possessions to take a 21-10 lead into halftime.
New Orleans struck again on its second possession of the third quarter after the defense held Buffalo to a three-and-out, and Brees answered with his fourth touchdown pass of the game to extend the Saints lead to 28-10.
Another touchdown pass from Brees midway through the fourth quarter and the Saints had capped their scoring and put the game out of reach at 35-17.
Brees would finish the day with five touchdowns in all and 332 yards on 26-of-34 passing as the Saints amassed 409 total yards.
Rookie receiver Kenny Stills, meanwhile, had a coming out party of sorts. Stills caught two long touchdown passes, one for 69 yards and another for 42 yards in the fourth quarter to finish with a season-best 129 receiving yards. He was one of 10 different New Orleans receivers who caught passes on the afternoon.
The Saints also got a modest rushing effort from Pierre Thomas (14 carries, 65 yards), converted almost 50 percent on third down (7-of-15), and out-gained the Bills by nearly 100 yards in total yards (409-322). The team also out-gained another opponent in time of possession, holding onto the ball an even five minutes longer than Buffalo.
Those are all positives.
But while the team was happy with the victory and the outcome never seemed to be in doubt by the end of the third quarter, both Brees and coach Sean Payton said there are some things the Saints need to clean up – one of which is the slow starts.
“We know that not everything is going to always be perfect, but when some of the same things continue to show up (like) the slow starts, those are the things that need to be corrected,” said Brees. “We need to be better in situations offensively. We’ve (gone three-and-out) way too many times, this week and (against New England). We’ve shown that when we can get that first first-down and get drives going, we can in many cases drive down the field and get points. That’s our job.”
Payton was more succinct, saying it wasn’t the Saints’ best effort or their most complete game.
“I thought we made mistakes in a lot of ways,” he said. “Those are things that starting with me, we have to do a better job with, especially the recurring mistakes.”
One of the recurring mistakes in Sunday’s game was penalties. The Saints were penalized eight times for nearly 60 yards, and Payton said the team will study game film and work on making those corrections going forward.
Perhaps much of it could be contributed to the team having a bye week last week, but if there was anyone to blame to pass around for the Saints’ periodic sluggishness, Payton said it all starts with him.
Early on, “we looked sloppy in all three areas,” said Payton. “That starts with me and the staff, and right through to the players, we have to look closely at that. The last two times we have come out to play, New England and (Buffalo), the first halves weren’t very good and we have to get that cleaned up.”
The second half was a different picture and more along the lines of what the Saints hope to accomplish for four quarters.
After the Saints had weathered the early storm, the team eventually forced the Bills to become one-dimensional by taking away the Buffalo running game, limiting tailback Fred Jackson to just five yards on six carries in the second half.
The defense also pressured quarterback Thad Lewis throughout the day, registering four sacks and forcing an interception (one of three Bills turnovers on the day) as the Saints continued to get after their opponents.
All in all, in spite of some early sloppiness, the team was nevertheless able to show its resiliency by overcoming adversity and pulling away in the second half.
“It’s incredible any time you get a win in the NFL,” said Saints defensive back Jabari Greer. “There are quality opponents every week. Unfortunately we had to sit out a game last week but this week we fought through adversity and got the win.”
Now six of them and counting, to be exact.
The Saints will return to the field this coming Sunday in a noon road tilt with the New York Jets.
While the Saints are riding a high, the Jets are on a low.
New York lost 49-9 to the Bengals.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees fires a pass during Sunday afternoon’s game between the Saints and the Bills. The veteran quarterback tossed five touchdown passes in the win, compared to no interceptions. After the victory, the Saints will now move to play the New York Jets.
