Seahawks at Saints: 3 things we learned
By John Buhler
The New Orleans Saints defeated the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon in Week 8, 25-20. Here are the three biggest takeaways from this NFC game.
Week 8 saw four NFC South home games. The first one to end was the New Orleans Saints’ thriller against the Seattle Seahawks. New Orleans’ bend but don’t break defense stifled an exhausted Seahawks team to win 25-20 in the Big Easy.
The Saints improve to 3-4, while Seattle drops to 4-2-1 on the year. Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Saints’ home victory over the Seahawks.
1. Are we sure Russell Wilson is good this season?
He has been hobbled all season behind a terrible offensive line, but are we sure that Russell Wilson is a good quarterback in 2016? He has great on-field leadership skills and can make some plays with his feet, but he’s not throwing touchdowns.
Interestingly, Wilson will have gone over a month without throwing a touchdown pass for the Seahawks. He last had three against the lowly New York Jets on October 2nd. Wilson is playing through pain, but he’s not helping the Seahawks do much of anything on offense.
He still is a franchise quarterback for Seattle, but he does not belong in the 2016 Pro Bowl. Understandably, it’s a popularity contest, but he’s not playing like a Pro Bowl quarterback this year. Thankfully, his defense is carrying this team.
2. Maybe the Saints defense is getting better?
It’s only been a few weeks since the Saints have given up 30 points in a game, but the Saints hasn’t given up 30 points in a game two weeks in a row! Is this progress? You better believe it is in the Crescent City.
Yes, neither the Kansas City Chiefs or the Seahawks have dynamic offensive weaponry, but the Saints are showing some semblance of improvement defensively. Cameron Jordan has been huge on the defensive line, aiding in pass disruption.
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has a way to go to make this a respectable unit, but the Saints are improving week-to-week on defense. It might be enough to give them a shot at making the 2016 NFC Playoffs.
3. Overtime is horrible for West Coast teams traveling east.
Overtime is zero fun for teams that can’t score. It’s really awkward to tie, but even worse to go from West Coast to the East the week after a full fifth quarter in overtime. All Seattle did these last two weeks was play defensive snaps.
They had to stay on the field mostly because the offense has been inept with Wilson less than 100%. It caught up to them in Week 8. Seattle committed a boat load of penalties on defense. The amount of holds this team had signified that it was exhausted by having to grab the Saints to keep them in check.
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Teams that can’t score with great regularity are only further exposed when coming off an overtime game. The Saints took advantage of the tired Seahawks to move to 3-4 on the season.