Why the Saints Lost: From the Bird's Nest

[wcd35]

Do some research and look at the games that the Saints have lost in the past 3-4 years and look at the pass to run ratio. When you become one dimensional in the NFL you lose, plain and simple. Yes the 5 turnovers hurt, but we were still in the game despite the 5 turnovers. There was never a single situation throughout the entire game where the Saints were in a position to completely abandon the running game. Look at our scoring drives, we ran the darn ball and it opened up the passing game, because we were effective. Much of the game our 3 pro-bowl OL were getting destroyed by a rookie and a pro bowl DE without them blitzing any LB's. They dropped everyone into coverage because they didn't have to worry about filling running lanes because we through the ball nearly every play.

Yes, we out gained the 49er's and still lost. I will still blame the loss on poor play calling.

That is such a misinterpreted statistic. Its a result of the circumstances not a cause of failure. That is to say, its a meaningless number with respect to being the cause of our loss, though it is somewhat reflective of the game's narrative. Other factors dictate throwing it that much in all of those games. This one happened to be the turnovers and losing a key RB. Playcalling wasnt an issue in the 2nd half. If you go down 30-0 in a game and throw it every play after that and lose 30-29, then it would still feed into that useless statistic and would ignore the fact that maybe we fumbled 3 times inside our 20 or muffed punts, etc.

[cajun4life]

I am not looking at statistics, I am talking about the flow of the game and the effect that attempting to run the ball successfully or unsuccessfully has on a NFL defense. We were never out of the game, causing the Saints to throw the ball every down, which we seemingly did throughout the entire game. I am sorry but 14 attempts to run the ball against any defense is not enough. The Saints were the 6th best running team in the NFL, with 3 pro-bowl OL. We ran the ball 14 times, 13 by RBs. That is not enough. By not attempting to run the ball any more than we did, it allowed SF to drop 8 guys into coverage and cut off several passing lanes. We had two big plays in the passing game that were made by Sproles and Graham. I know that many of you will not agree with me, but IMO when the Saints are most successful they at least make an honest effort to run the ball. They never attempted to establish the run, they never even tried to set up the run with the pass. 82% of the plays called against the 49er's were pass plays, most of the game we were less than a TD down. I could understand that play calling if we had been down 17-21 points the whole game, but that was not the case. Despite all of the turnovers, we were still in this game because the defense balled its @$$ off for all but the last minute of the game, not because we threw the ball for 460+ yards.

[SlappyCajun]

The Defense did not ball its ___ off. The 49ers had the 26th ranked offense in the NFL. The Defense is supposed to stop them. Say what you want about the play calling. Our team had 5 turnovers and that play calling got us 32 points on the road vs. the 4th best defense in the NFL.

[CajunFan3406]

Drew Brees lost the game for the Saints. He threw two picks. I hope we don't re-sign him.

[wcd35]

You dont keep running half the time when you're down 17 and going at a 2.6 ypc clip, just to keep it balanced. Circumstances dictate otherwise. Maybe in the 2nd qtr we could have tried to settle it down a little more, but in the 2nd half, its time to change the game plan.

[cajunhawk]

Why not add something intelligent.

What about that statement is lacking intelligence? All I see are Saints fans trying to grasp at straws trying to figure out what went wrong. They played the same defense they always played, the played the same offense they always played. Sure they had turnovers but as we saw it wasn't a deciding factor. So what else could it be? Exhibit A.

[SlappyCajun]

What about that statement is lacking intelligence? All I see are Saints fans trying to grasp at straws trying to figure out what went wrong. They played the same defense they always played, the played the same offense they always played. Sure they had turnovers but as we saw it wasn't a deciding factor. So what else could it be? Exhibit A.

How is 5 TO's not a deciding factor?

[cajunhawk]

How is 5 TO's not a deciding factor?

Because despite turning the ball over 5 times, the Saints lead the football game with a little over a minute to go. Regardless of the turnovers they had every opportunity to win that game.

[CajunT]

http://espn1420.com/why-the-saints-l...he-birds-nest/

I agree SF set the tone of the game with the hit on Pierre and fumble, but it was not what cost the Saints the game. You don't score two touchdowns in the last five minutes of the game to take the lead twice and say that hit or fumble on the first drive cost us the game.We all agreed, well most of us last week that called in on the following:

1) Saints could not turnover the ball against the NFC's top defense- Oops, 5 To's
2) Saints must run the ball enough to keep the 49ers front seven off Brees- Oops, not only did the front seven bring pressure all day, they used bliztes as well...beat the crap out of Drew all day
3) Give Drew the ball in the fourth Quarter and let him do his thing- Check, he did
4) Make Alex Smith beat you, he hasn't done it in the past- Ooops, he did make the plays to beat you!
5) Yes, Williams blizted all season and all game is nothing new! But for God Sake, shame on him for not making adjustsment after getting beat on that same play twice. This is the NFL, the land of the best?


All the above is why the Saints lost, the hit and fumble where just the first act.

[SlappyCajun]

Because despite turning the ball over 5 times, the Saints lead the football game with a little over a minute to go. Regardless of the turnovers they had every opportunity to win that game.

So anything that did not happen on the last drive of the game was not a deciding factor. That makes no sense. They did have every opportunity to win on the last drive. If they didn't have five TO's they may have been up 17 by that point.

That's like saying that UL's stopping SDSU's rushing attack in the New Orleans bowl was not a deciding factor in the game, because with 35 seconds left SDSU had the lead.

[Turbine]

Saints lost to the 49ers for the same reason the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana lost to the McNeese Cowboys.

TURNOVERS

You can't say 5 turnovers kept the defense on the field and then say the turnovers had nothing to do with the defense having nothing left.

[cajunhawk]

So anything that did not happen on the last drive of the game was not a deciding factor. That makes no sense. They did have every opportunity to win on the last drive. If they didn't have five TO's they may have been up 17 by that point.

That's like saying that UL's stopping SDSU's rushing attack in the New Orleans bowl was not a deciding factor in the game, because with 35 seconds left SDSU had the lead.

That's just playing the "what if" game. What if Pierre Thomas's jaw is not demolished on the first drive? What if Alex Smith grew eagle's wings and was able to fend off the blitz by hovering over the line of scrimmage? What if the ground became littered with ball bearings and no one could keep any footing. The fact is, the Saints were still leading with less than 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter DESPITE the 5 turnovers. Let's say the 5 turnovers do not happen, there is no guarantee that the Saints still win that game. The odd's are better, but still not 100%. Now with even better accuracy I can tell you that had the Saints stopped the Niners on the last drive, they would have won the game. I can say that with 100% certainty.