Saints Lose to Lions: The Good, Bad, and UNFORGIVABLE
By Bob Rose
Dec 4, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate (15) carries the ball between New Orleans Saints cornerback Delvin Breaux (40) and outside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe (59) during the first quarter at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
THE BAD: FOR THE 3RD STRAIGHT YEAR, THE SAINTS LOSE TO THE LIONS — AND IRONICALLY, THE SAINTS WILL LIKELY MISS THE PLAYOFFS FOR A 3RD STRAIGHT YEAR TOO
For the 3rd straight season, the Saints lost to Detroit — a team that just a few years ago when the Saints were having a lot of their success, were a team that the Saints practically “owned”.
But not any more.
Ironically, the Saints have not made the NFL Playoffs during that time — which after yesterday’s loss, appears will happen once again for a 3rd straight year as well.
In the loss to the Lions last year at the Superdome, the Saints failed to lead at any point of the game, not even for a brief few minutes. That happened again yesterday.
Just as they did a year ago, the Lions jumped on the Saints early, and then pretty much dominated both sides of the ball from start to finish. They looked like the better team, and more importantly they PLAYED like it.
The Lions’ game-plan was simple: to utilize a ball-control offense to keep Drew Brees off the field, and it worked to perfection. Detroit dominated time of possession, holding a 36:52-23:08 advantage.
The Lions scored on 7 of their 9 possessions in the game, and only had to punt twice. They gave the Saints an old-fashioned “whipping” — and the Saints unfortunately were powerless to stop it.
That’s one of the reasons why they’ll be sitting at home once again watching the NFL Playoffs on TV, instead of actually playing in them.