A lot of things didn’t go the New Orleans Saints way in their 19-25 loss against the New England Patriots. However, penalties were not one. Even with the added yardage, the Saints still weren’t able to pull out a victory.
The Saints still had some calls not go their way. For example, the pass interference penalty on Quincy Riley in the first quarter and the unnecessary roughness call on Alontae Taylor were both questionable. The Saints actually gave up more penalty yardage than the Patriots. But the penalties on the Patriots will be remembered more.
The Saints were penalized eight times for 67 yards. That’s a step up from the start of the year. The Patriots on the other hand were flagged 11 times for 65 yards. This doesn’t seem egregious on the surface, however it becomes worse when the situation and plays they took away comes into account.
The Saints failed to take advantage of Patriots penalties taking points off the board
The Patriots had a 61 yard touchdown from Drake Maye to Demario Douglass wiped off because of a questionable offensive pass interference on Stefon Diggs. What makes it worse is that Diggs wasn’t even in the play.
In the end, it didn’t matter. The Saints were called for a pass interference the next play and Maye capped off the drive with a 25 yard touchdown to Kayshon Boutte. But still, it was a momentum shift at the time.
Another situation of penalties aiding the Saints came on a key drive in the fourth quarter. The Patriots had the ball on 3rd and seven while up by six with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. Then, on back-to-back-to-back plays the Patriots were penalized, thus ending the drive. One of these plays was a major gain to Diggs that was called back for offensive pass interference. It was a questionable call, but you could argue Riley got away with a DPI on the next play.
In retrospect, these penalties didn’t matter as the Saints fell to the Patriots. However, it’s another example of the Saints not being able to finish the game in an advantageous situation. In the future, they have to take advantage of situations like these when they arise.