The New Orleans Saints fixed their fatal flaw against the Buffalo Bills. Okay, the Saints are winless in four attempts this year, so it may be unfair to say they have one fatal flaw. Penalties, however, have stood out the most among the bunch, and Kellen Moore got them under control for the first time this season.
Coming into the game, the Saints were averaging double digit penalties per game. The absolute lack of discipline that contributed to this problem was concerning. It wasn't a talent issue. To see that get fixed was one of the brightest spots of the game. The next step is to carry this momentum beyond one week. The Saints don't have high expectations, and one way to live down to them was having that many unforced errors.
On Sunday, the Saints were only flagged four times. That is their season-low by far. Of those four infractions, none of them were against the defense, and an intentional grounding was the only penalty on the offense. The other three were special teams penalties. That means no pre-snap penalties that have plagued the Saints offense and kept them behind the sticks.
Penalties were mostly absent for the Saints but still had the worst timing
They say it’s quality over quantity. Through the first three games, New Orleans had a lot of penalties and timely infractions. The flags would oftentimes give opponents first downs on third down and take first downs away from the Saints.
This would happen throughout the game and impact the flow of action. The Saints kept that at bay versus Buffalo until the end of the game when Nephi Sewell roughed the punter with a little over five minutes left.
The Saints forced a three and out and were getting the ball back down nine points. Instead, the penalty allowed the Bills to kick a field goal and drip clock. Scoring two times in five minutes would have been tough, but doing it in two minutes was completely unrealistic.
The Saints didn't have many penalties, but the roughing the punter came at a pivotal time. It may feel difficult to say the problem is completely solved because of that. However, that doesn't wipe out the positive of the team having one combined penalty between the offense and defense. As a whole, the Saints played disciplined football for the first time this season.