NEW ORLEANS – Saints cornerback Ken Crawley spent much of Sunday afternoon unsuccessfully chasing Bucs wideout DeSean Jackson around the Superdome.
The Saints defense played about as poorly as I’ve ever witnessed in the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era in a stunning 48-40 defeat by Tampa Bay. Crawley probably mustered one of the most descriptive explanations for a poor defensive performance that I’ve ever heard in a postgame press setting, though.
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“We came out flat and played boo boo,” Crawley said.
Urban Dictionary provided two definitions for the term “boo boo.” The first defined it as a cute nickname for someone. The second said the phrase meant “weak as f—k.”
I’m guessing Crawley was pointing to the second definition.
The Buccaneers torched the Saints defense after many, including me, hyped the unit as one of the better defenses in the league entering the season. Tampa Bay’s offense amassed 41 points (seven occurred off a Mike GIllislee fumble turned into a scoop and a score by Bucs safety Justin Evans), 529 yards of total offense and an 8.5-yards-per-play average. The Bucs produced a 400-yard passer, two 140-plus yard receivers, 112 rushing yards and a 62 percent success rate on third down.
“Take your pick. Take your pick,” Sean Payton said when I asked what happened to the defense.
The unit allowed points on every drive in the first half except when the Bucs took a knee to send the game into halftime.
Seriously, halftime was the Saints’ best defensive strategy in the first 30 minutes.
More of the same occurred in the third quarter, when the Bucs added a field goal on their opening possession of the second half. The first Saints “stop” occurred when Ryan Fitzpatrick misfired a deep ball to a wide-open Chris Godwin after Crawley fell to the turf at least 15 yards away.
It was the only time that Fitzpatrick missed when he targeted Godwin.
Fitzpatrick never missed when he targeted Mike Evans or Jackson. Evans caught seven passes on seven targets for 147 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown reception that beat Marshon Lattimore. Jackson snagged all five targets for 146 yards and two scores, with Crawley often the victim.
“It’s a big stunner,” Crawley said. “It’s something that I know we’re going to regret in the long run. This team, we know this team. Things they hit, we knew some of the stuff was coming. We just played a bad game overall.”
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Lattimore flustered Evans last season. Evans resorted to cheap shots and a suspension thanks to Lattimore’s presence a year ago. This year, Evans resorted to dominating the one-on-one battle.
“He had some plays,” Lattimore said. “He won some 50-50 balls. It is what it is. It’s the NFL. Everybody is going to have their day.” On the 50-yard TD, Lattimore said: “I’ve just got to be there. I’m on an island by myself. No help, no nothing.”
No pass rush didn’t help matters, either, as the Saints recorded no sacks and barely breathed on Fitzpatrick.
The official scorer credited the Saints with two quarterback hits on Fitzgerald. Tyeler Davison and Marcus Davenport each received roughing the passer penalties on the two hits. Argue the validity of the calls all you want, and I’d likely agree with you. The bigger problem was that those were the only times that the Saints pressured Fitzpatrick at all. Tampa Bay often doubled up on 2017 All-Pro Cam Jordan leading to one of his most quiet games in recent memory.
“We couldn’t stop anything,” Lattimore said.
This sort of meltdown reminded me of when the Saints walked into the 2007 season with expectations a mile high coming off a 2006 campaign that included a berth in the NFC title game. Peyton Manning then proceeded to shred the Saints through the air, or more like shred then-Saints corner Jason David through the air again and again.
Fitzpatrick topped Manning’s performance.
The journeyman backup quarterback launched for 417 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, computing to a 156.2 passer rating (158.3 is a perfect rating). Fitzpatrick connected on six plays of 30 or more yards and two throws of 50 or more yards.
The Saints offense mustered way more of a fight Sunday than it did in the Colts’ 41-10 win more than a decade ago. Still, the Saints are 1-7 in their past eight season openers and have lost five consecutive Week 1 contests.
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“I don’t know why we start off slow every year,” Lattimore said.
Football Perspective produced via Twitter a mind-numbing to answer Lattimore’s question. Here are the quarterback ratings for opposing passers in Saints openers dating to 2011:
2018 – Fitzpatrick: 156.3
2017 – Sam Bradford: 143
2016 – Derek Carr: 98.5
2015 – Carson Palmer: 122.8
2014 – Matt Ryan: 128.8
2013 – Ryan: 96.8
2012 – Robert Griffin III: 139.9
2011 – Aaron Rodgers: 132.1
Totals: 71 percent completions, 2,773 yards, 21 TDs, one interception, 127.9 QB rating
“That’s not the type of game that suits us, and that’s the type of game that in years past we’ve been a .500 team,” Payton said.
Searching for answers, Lattimore harkened back to last season, when the Saints started 0-2 and rebounded with an eight-game winning streak. Numerous Saints players, such as Jordan and Brees, said this loss should be a wake-up call.
“We needed this,” Lattimore said. “We needed to get slapped in the face one good time to see that we’re not on the level we think we’re on. We’re going to get it right. We’re going to get better.”
As a reminder, those two opening losses a year ago came against Minnesota and New England. Can you imagine a 0-2 start this season? The Saints already lost to Tampa Bay. A loss at home to Cleveland would be a Category 5 catastrophe. The Saints probably won’t beat anyone if they continue to play defense like they played Sunday.
Payton preached after the loss that nothing carries over from the 2017 season. So far for the defense, he’s got that right.
(Top photo: Stephen Lew / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Larry Holder is a Senior Writer for The Athletic, focusing on the NFL. He was a Saints beat writer from 2006 to 2013, then became a Saints/NFL columnist starting in 2013. Before joining The Athletic in 2018, he worked for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, CBSSports.com and the Biloxi (Miss.) Sun Herald. Follow Larry on Twitter @LarryHolder
