Saints at Seahawks aftermath: What are the experts saying after the Saints 33-27 victory
The New Orleans Saints handed the Seattle Seahawks a somewhat stunning 33-20 result and the Seahawks their first loss of the 2019 season.
Given the fact that there was no Drew Brees and Teddy Bridgewater was making his first meaningful start since he was a Minnesota Viking in 2016, the Saints were facing very large odds at CenturyLink.
A stunning result triggers stunning reactions around the league, even before the final whistle.
The Seahawks scored late in the game to make it 33-20 and everybody was stunned that Carroll did not go for two or even attempt an onside kick shortly after.
It’s been a while since the Saints have won a game without Drew Brees under center.
As for the Seahawks, despite Russell Wilson’s big day it was frustrating in the rain.
“The Seahawks finished with zero sacks and only two official hits on Bridgewater. Both were by Quinton Jefferson, who continues to play well in a starting role that has him playing end and tackle. Ezekiel Ansah made his Seahawks debut but didn’t make any impact plays nor did he show up on the stat sheet. Not that it would have been reasonable to expect him to take over in his first game of any kind since last December. But the overall lack of pressure on Bridgewater was startling for a front seven that has a lot of pass-rushing firepower. Jadeveon Clowney had one tackle.”
“When you have Russell Wilson on one side of the ball and Bobby Wagner on the other, you’re never out of the playoff conversation. But they squeaked by the Bengals at home, and held on against the aforementioned Mason Rudolph on the road. They didn’t look good early last season either before turning it around, but you wonder if they’ve sunk to a firm third in the NFC West.”
He also has some thoughts on Tyler Lockett:
“I’m not gonna hold it against him because it’s just gamesmanship. But for the second straight week Lockett drew a suspect flag by flailing his arms straight up at a moment when his arms, physiologically and biomechanically, would not flail if he was actually the victim of a penalty. NFL officials have enough trouble properly calling these games and Lord knows the rulebook doesn’t need to be expanded, but do we need to start penalizing/fining players for flopping? I might be considering thinking about whispering that the answer is maybe.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2019 at 4:58 PM.