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When the New Orleans Saints suffered their first defeat of the season, a 30-27 loss at New England back on Oct. 13, the team’s failure to win a game on the road in a tough environment wasn’t really given much afterthought.
The Saints didn’t make enough plays that day to put the game out of reach and ultimately gave New England quarterback Tom Brady too many chances to beat them.
Few people would have said the loss was because the Saints suffered from an inability to win games on the road as a whole, or that a failure to do so would define this year’s team.
But by Week 16, the Saints’ failure to win games away from the friendly confines of the Mercedes Benz Superdome has become an all-too common theme.
New Orleans lost yet another tough road game last Sunday, falling 17-13 in the closing seconds to NFC South rival Carolina. The Panthers’ (11-4) win pushed them past the Saints for first place in the division for the first time all year with one week remaining.
The Saints may have never led by more than one possession on Sunday, but New Orleans did hold a 13-10 lead with under a minute to play and boasted a defense that had shut Carolina and third-year quarterback Cam Newton down for the entire fourth quarter, previously forcing four punts on as many Carolina possessions.
Newton led the Panthers 65 yards for the winning score in a span of just 32 seconds.
He saved his two best throws in the game for the Panthers’ last drive, finding Ted Ginn on a crossing route for 37 yards on the first play of the drive and then dropping the ball to tight end Greg Olsen in tight coverage two plays later for 14 yards.
Newton found Domenik Hixon in the front corner of the end-zone on his next pass to deal New Orleans a bitter last-second loss.
The Saints (10-5) have now dropped three consecutive games on the road and may need to win Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay – fortunately for them it’s in New Orleans – to clinch a playoff berth.
Their record on the road this season fell to 3-5.
“Look, this year we haven’t been as successful on the road,” said Saints coach Sean Payton, who looked as tired of answering questions about his team’s performance on the road as he has all year. “I’ll leave it at that before I say something dumb.
“I think we did what we needed to do,” he added. “We did what we needed to do defensively.”
The numbers would back Payton up.
The Saints finished with twice as many first downs as Carolina (20 to 10), 365 total yards to Carolina’s 222, and controlled the time of possession by more than 17 full minutes, 38:48 to 21:12. They ran 81 plays to Carolina’s 44, and didn’t yield a third-down conversion all day.
With their defense in control throughout the second half (much of it in a torrential downpour), it looked as though the Saints were grinding their way toward a victory.
Jimmy Graham caught the go-ahead touchdown pass from Drew Brees with 6:37 to play, capping a 97-yard drive that began with a 46-yard reception by Graham that moved the Saints out of the shadow of their own end-zone and into Carolina territory.
Then, two drives later, when Carolina chose to punt on a 4th-and-7 at the two-minute warning, it looked as if the Panthers may have just punted away their final chance at a victory with only two timeouts left in their pocket. The Panthers’ defense forced the Saints into a punt (New Orleans’ drive netted only two yards), and that’s when Newton took over, going 3-for-3 for 65 yards on the final drive.
Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said there was never a point in the final drive where the team felt they lost control of the game.
“I felt like we were in control the whole time,” Jordan said. “(There were) a couple of minor blips, but honestly, the offense was definitely controlled by our defense.
“(Newton) made a lot of gutsy plays and he came out with that win. I think there was still a lot of pressure coming up the middle and from the outsides. He just stepped up and was able to make a couple of plays.”
Jordan downplayed the Saints’ road woes, saying it was just a matter of execution Sunday — or not executing, in some instances.
“Every week, you’re going to face elite talent,” Jordan said. “There’s always going to be opportunities you’re going to have to seize and we just didn’t capitalize on enough of them.”
And now, going forward, the Saints will have to capitalize on them – and most assuredly on the road – if they are to make a deep playoff run.
The Saints will host Tampa Bay at 3:25 p.m. this Sunday with coverage provided by FOX. The Buccaneers fell to St. Louis, 23-13, last Sunday.
The NFC South division title is also still within reach, but the Saints need help in the form of a Carolina loss Sunday. The Panthers play at Atlanta at 12 p.m.
New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees, center, tries to pass as he is hit by Carolina Panthers’ Greg Hardy, right, and Dwan Edwards, left, in the second half of an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. The Panthers won 17-13. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
