New Orleans Saints: 3 clear points of weakness in shootout loss to Niners

Man Coverage

The Saints’ secondary has seemingly been a weakness and a strength for the team all season. There have been high points, like the game against the Bucs where Mike Evans was held without a catch, and low points, like the first game of the season against the Texans.

This game against San Francisco was definitely one of the latter.

Looking at the statistics alone makes it obvious that the secondary was at a disadvantage in this game. Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 349 yards and four touchdowns. Even the one interception he threw couldn’t be totally pinned on him. Jimmy G is a good quarterback and he’s steadily improving, but the Saints were making him look nearly perfect almost the entire first half.

At one point in the second quarter, Garoppolo had thrown for more touchdowns than incompletions and had an absurdly high passer rating. To make matters worse, the Saints fell victim to a trick play that allowed for Emmanuel Sanders to add a passing touchdown to his resume as well.

Currently, New Orleans sits at the 17th spot in opponent passing yards allowed per game, and it showed in this game. When a team like the Niners has so many weapons and the assistance of smart play-caller, the Saints’ secondary was put on their back heels the entire game.

If it wasn’t for some key pressures and smart plays by the defensive line, this result could have been even worse. Dennis Allen has his work cut out for this unit in the coming week as they prepare for the Indianapolis Colts.

Luckily for the Saints, the Colts are down some of their key weapons right now due to injury. So there isn’t as much pressure to match the depth of Indianapolis’ offense, but the Colts are still one of the best-coached teams in the league and it could provide a good test for this secondary.