JACKSON: Saints’ foundation crumbles in 44-13 loss to Seahawks

By Ross Jackson

SEATTLE, Wash. — Every New Orleanian knows that cracks in the foundation will quickly spread if not handled appropriately. The cracks in the New Orleans Saints’ foundation began to show themselves early in the 0-2 start before the team’s game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. 

Double-digit penalties to open up the season saw only a small improvement in Week 2. Missed tackles and a lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks created concerns for the defense. A lack of explosive play generated questions and doubt about the offense. Big returns should have signaled upcoming problems on special teams. 

In the Saints’ 43-13 blowout loss to the Seahawks on Sunday, which dropped the team to 0-3 to start the season, the cracks in the foundation became earth-shattering. 

The game was littered with failures on all three levels of the team and were spawned by the same issues that coaches and players said they would look to address in the practice week. 

A missed sack turned into a 29-yard gain. An unnecessary roughness penalty erased a chance for the defense to get off the field and immediately resulted in a touchdown drive for Seattle. Aggression at the beginning of the game–going for it on a pair of fourth downs early–became an inconsistent commitment when settling for field goals down four scores. 

There was no hiding the flaws in this game with cosmetic positives. 

Yes, quarterback Spencer Rattler had a fine game, all things considered. Rookie cornerback Quincy Riley forced a second-half turnover in his first defensive action. But none of that can be taken as consolation in a game where the team was simultaneously overwhelmed and underprepared. 

“It’s how you respond,” said head coach Kellen Moore after the game. “You have to narrow your focus. Look at the items that are good and certainly recognize those, but again, we did not do enough to start the game to put ourselves in a really good position to be competitive there. No one’s going to feel bad for you. No one’s going to come save you or anything. We’ve got to put in a bunch of work and we’ve got to get better right now.”

After two games of hanging in there, New Orleans was caught in a rut early. Seattle scored 38 points in the first half with just 7:41 in time of possession. It was an insurmountable situation to face, often brought upon by self-inflicted wounds. 

Accountability is a necessary part of making a loss like what the Saints just faced count for something. It will be up to the individual players but also Moore and his coaching staff to ensure that. 

“It’s something we have to spend a lot of time (on),” Moore said of accountability. “Acknowledge, talk through and obviously understand if someone can’t play that way, then obviously we’ve got to find the guys who can. But I have all the confidence in the world these guys will respond the right way .”

For the first time this season, New Orleans looked like the preseason projections that predicted them to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. And now, they have to be ready to travel and take on a Super Bowl contending team in the Buffalo Bills.

Before it gets better, things could get a lot worse for New Orleans and its faulty foundation for at least one more week.