Saints lose fourth straight game because they’re really bad at doing simple things

The New Orleans Saints are now 2-4, losing their last four games. The fourth loss came on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, falling 51-27. Simply put, the Saints should be embarrassed. The team shouldn’t just be embarrassed because they lost four straight games, New Orleans should be embarrassed because it’s terrible at doing simple things, and that’s why the team is losing.

Injuries certainly haven’t helped the Saints, with several key guys missing the Week 6 game. However, that’s not something a team can control. What teams can control are things like tackling. Unfortunately, New Orleans can’t tackle to save their season.

The Saints didn’t lose on Sunday because they were dealing with injuries, or because they were starting a rookie quarterback in Spencer Rattler. They lost because they refuse to tackle, and for a veteran team that’s supposed to be able to lean on its defense, that’s unacceptable.

Saints’ poor tackling leads to fourth straight loss

In addition to 51 points, the Buccaneers had 594 yard of offense, 317 through the air and 277 on the ground. Tampa Bay averaged a dominant 7.9 yards per carry.

Those numbers should make Saints fans sick to their stomach, and they likely were while watching the game unfold. New Orleans repeatedly took bad angles, and looked like a Pop Warner team as they attempted to bring Tampa Bay’s ball carriers to the ground.

This issue took center stage in the third quarter, when New Orleans led 27-24. Baker Mayfield threw a short pass to Chris Godwin, and what should’ve been a decent gain for Tampa Bay, turned into a 55-yard touchdown, as the Saints whiffed on multiple tackles.

A few series later, the defense allowed rookie running back Bucky Irving to break no less than five tackles for a 31-yard gain. A few plays later, the Bucs scored another touchdown.

This embarrassing effort continued for the rest of the game, with the Saints allowing the Buccaneers to convert a 3rd-and-16 on a screen pass, and also running in another touchdown untouched.

The splashy interceptions the defense get every week mean nothing if the group is going to play horrible when it’s not forcing turnovers. Additionally, while it may seem convenient to blame this slump on injuries and absent players, the truth is New Orleans just isn’t doing the simple things effectively.

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