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New Orleans Saints: Breaking down the home stretch and predicting the final four

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - NOVEMBER 24: J.T. Gray #48 of the New Orleans Saints celebrates with his teammates after a play against the Carolina Panthers during the first quarter in the game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on November 24, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - NOVEMBER 24: J.T. Gray #48 of the New Orleans Saints celebrates with his teammates after a play against the Carolina Panthers during the first quarter in the game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on November 24, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

The New Orleans Saints have hit the stretch run of the regular season.

My prediction for the Black and Gold by this point in the season was murky, and I hedged on the season record. My prediction by quarters had the New Orleans Saints losing five games total, but my final prediction was they would only lose four games.

Both of those numbers could be bumped by another 13-3 season or – dare we think it – a 14-2 year?

Again, happily, my predictions were off and we’re ahead of schedule. Let’s look back at the games of the third quarter of the season and then jump ahead to the last quarter of the year.

Atlanta (home)

The Saints played all four games in this quarter against division foes. Division games mean more as they are against teams you face twice a season. You are more familiar with these teams. In some cases, you draft players maybe with a specific goal in mind to match up with some divisional opponents.

The Saints started this portion of the year with the Atlanta Falcons. The Saints were coming off the bye week and were hot. Teddy Bridgewater had won all five of the games he started while Drew Brees was out recovering from an injury.

Brees returned in the last game before the break – to the dismay and disapproval of many – and led the Saints to another victory. So the Black and Gold were facing Atlanta fairly healthy, rested, and winners of six straight.

Atlanta came in a flat throttled the Saints.

There’s not another good way to describe it. It was divisional football at its worst – the Falcons with their playoff hopes all but gone roll in at 1-7 on the season. But they were also coming off their bye week, and preparation and motivation met each other against the Saints.

The Falcons held the Saints offense without a TD. They sacked Brees six times and he threw under constant pressure.

The Saints had 12 penalties for 90 yards. We were 3-12 in third-down conversions. We only attempted 11 rushes. It was the perfect storm of negativity – the offense stunk, and the defense wasn’t as good as they’d been.

Losing games is never good or easy. Losing to the rival Falcons is more distasteful. We needed to cleanse our palate.

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