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Lutz had already made a yarder in the fourth quarter, and as the second kick had the distance, Allen raised his arms up to signal its success. Moments later, he lowered his arms to his head and frowned, watching Lutz's improbable kick hit one upright, then the crossbar , before finally spinning away as time expired at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
That was the story of the Saints , as they fell to the Minnesota Vikings , and the season so far: Hope followed by despair, with a lot of bad football played in between. Even a change at quarterback -- Andy Dalton started in place of an injured Jameis Winston -- couldn't fix the team's problems. Felt like we played well. Felt like at the end of the day, the two turnovers decided the factor in this game," Dalton said.
It's tough. But I thought we definitely did some good things out there. Turnovers, penalties and slow starts have doomed the Saints in three straight losses. They've scored three combined points in the first quarter of those games, and they've given the ball away freely, already eclipsing their fumble total with six this season. We lost by three. The Saints entered the loss to the Vikings trailing the league in net turnover differential and fumbled two more times.
The Saints have lamented the turnovers frequently this season after several of them have been potential game-changers. Fumbles by Dalton and kick returner Deonte Harty gave the Vikings short fields that led to two field goals Sunday. Sunday's result against the Vikings showed the Saints' problems are bigger than a simple fix.
Even if they wanted to look at starting some new players, they don't exactly have other options to turn to at the moment. They're already down several offensive starters -- obviously with Winston, wide receiver Michael Thomas is out with a toe injury and Kamara is out with a rib injury. Dating back to training camp, injuries are something the Saints have pointed to for their lack of offensive chemistry.
The only potential change the Saints could consider is switching to Dalton, or at least until Winston is fully recovered. Dalton wasn't perfect, but he was able to lead several touchdown drives and made some key throws, including a yard pass to Marquez Callaway in the third quarter that set up a touchdown run by Latavius Murray.
His yard completion to Chris Olave with 24 seconds left gave Lutz a chance to attempt the deep field goal. The problems remain bigger than Dalton. There were issues on special teams coverage against the Vikings, including giving up a fake punt.
At the conclusion of the game, the Saints were leading the league with 34 penalties. The Saints had three key penalties on the go-ahead drive by the Vikings, with safety Tyrann Mathieu saying he did not believe he committed an illegal use of hands penalty that gave the Vikings a third-down conversion.
Yeah, I don't think I touched him. I know I didn't," Mathieu said. You've got to live with it. Even after that, I thought we continued to fight. You know, so I'll line up with this defense any day. Allen and several players said the Saints have a long season to fix their issues, but unless they quickly correct them, the hole they've dug could quickly get deeper. I've been on teams with talent and won and teams with talent that lost. We have a lot of great leaders. I think you learn a lot about yourself through adversity.
It's still early. We just have to start faster on offense. People might say we could be , but we could be too. Dalton, making his Saints regular-season debut after joining the team on a one-year deal in the offseason, finished of passing for yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Looking at it today, I said it from the beginning, the two turnovers, six points, that completely changes the way the flow of this game goes, and, you know, it starts with me.
Skip to main content Skip to navigation. Choose Blog Andy Dalton gave New Orleans Saints' offense a spark, but bigger issues loom after start. Barnwell predicts the next QBs to get benched: Did Pittsburgh wait too long? Could Carolina swap soon? Saints rule out Winston; Dalton gets London start. New Orleans Saints in London. Oct 2,
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