On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints were unable to extend their win streak, losing to the Atlanta Falcons 19-17. Ending the season with a loss is never what a team wants going into the offseason, but the Saints have many positive takeaways to feel good about. Still, there are clear reasons why they lost this game.
The Wide Receivers
Entering Week 18, the Saints had one starter left in their wide receiver room, which was star Chris Olave. In the end, he was ruled out of the last game of the season with a discovered blood clot in his lung, and the only other WR with real starting reps (Mason Tipton) was also unavailable. Not having Olave, who is third in targets among all WRs according to PFSN’s WR Impact Metric, was a massive loss.
That left a completely depleted WR room that consisted of players just called up to the 53-man roster for the first time and Kevin Austin Jr., who has been a depth WR all season. QB Tyler Shough has been excellent all season and has already faced so much adversity, but even he could not overcome the issues at WR. There were drops, the play-calling became repetitive, and the offense struggled to move the ball consistently.
Kicker Charlie Smyth
This one is painful, but Charlie Smyth was one of the main reasons the Saints lost this game. The young kicker has been an excellent story in the NFL, and he has the potential to be a very good kicker in the league; however, his long-range accuracy has been an issue at times. This is something he needs to really get a handle on going into next season, and he has already shown he can get it done.
From 56 yards to begin the second quarter, Smyth’s FG attempt missed right. Obviously, hindsight is dangerous, and many factors could have altered the outcome of the game; however, adding three more points to the Saints’ score would have given them a 20-19 lead. Many of the Saints’ games this season have come down to special teams woes, and this may have been the latest on a long list.
Backup Pass Rush
The last group of players that disappointed may sound a bit specific, but if you watched this game, you would know why the backup pass rush was selected. When all the starters, Carl Granderson, Cam Jordan, and Chase Young, were on the field, the Saints were demolishing the Falcons’ offensive line, getting to QB Kirk Cousins multiple times. When they weren’t, the veteran had all the time in the world to pick apart the defense.
Pressure was nonexistent with the backups in, and this further proves how badly the Saints need to improve their depth this offseason. On the Falcons’ first touchdown, with 3 minutes left in the first quarter, Cousins had way too much time and zero pressure in his face, which allowed WR Drake London to get wide open in the endzone.
