The New Orleans Saints suffered what is one of the most confusing losses in the NFL thus far this season in Week 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. When taking a look over the stats from the game, it is hard to fathom that New Orleans didn’t come out on the right side of the final score.
The Saints lost the game 31-24 despite dominating numerous areas of the game. New Orleans had more first downs, total offensive yards, more third and fourth-down conversions, fewer penalties and dominated the time of possession.
They had the ball for 36:10 compared to 23:50 for Jacksonville, as this loss is virtually impossible for the Saints’ coaching staff and players to explain. On top of that, they set a new franchise record.
According to Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com, the Saints ran 87 offensive plays. That is tied for the most in a single game in the franchise’s history, adding to the laundry list of items that makes this loss unexplainable.
It is truly stunning that the Saints were unable to pick up what would have been an impressive, dominant victory. The Jaguars are one of the top-five teams in the AFC, making this a marquee win for New Orleans.
But, they dominated in every area but the final score. At the end of the day, that is the only thing that matters as the Saints are now 3-4 on the season, losing two games in a row and four out of their last five.
Luckily for New Orleans, their schedule for the remainder of the season isn’t a daunting one to navigate. As things currently stand, there are only three matchups against teams who currently have winning records; their two divisional games against the Atlanta Falcons and a visit from the Detroit Lions.
If the Saints can put together more performances like the one they did against the Jaguars, it will be hard for them not to start piling up victories.
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