New Orleans Saints Kicking Themselves Over Turnovers, Not Missed Field Goal

While the rest of the football world talks about kicker Garrett Hartley’s 29-yard shank that could have won the game in overtime for the Saints on Sunday afternoon, the Saints are more concerned with their sudden propensity to turn the ball over.

In their 27-24 overtime loss to the Falcons Sunday, the Saints committed three turnovers, two of which were Drew Brees interceptions. One pick ended a six-play, 54-yard drive in the second quarter as the Saints looked to retake the lead.

“That was not like me,” said Brees. “I was disappointed in myself.”

The Saints did not commit a turnover in their first two games.

“I told this to the team,” head coach Sean Payton said, “when you turn it over like we did early on, we give up a big plays, and we fail to convert that kick in overtime like that, it’s going to be tough to overcome those things.”

The Saints turned the ball over just once in the second half, and after stopping the Falcons in overtime, drove down the field to set-up Hartley’s 29-yard attempt.

Hartley kicked the game-winner in Week 2 against the 49ers on Monday night, and missed two field goals in the season opener against the Vikings. Despite Hartley missing the game-winner, Brees took some of the blame from his kicker for the faltering offense.

“It’s not just about missing the field goal at the end,” said Brees. “There were a lot of things prior to that had we executed better we wouldn’t have even been in that situation.  All you ask for is a chance to win at the end. We felt like we did some good things at the end of the game to put ourselves in a position to win.”

The Saints fell to 2-1, tied for the NFC South division lead with the Falcons and Buccaneers.

The Saints were 4-2 in one-possession games in the 2009 regular season and 1-0 in the playoffs. They were also 2-1 in overtime in 2009. So far, in 2010, they are 2-1 in one-possession games and 0-1 in overtime.

The defending Super Bowl champions will host the 0-3 Panthers next Sunday at 12 p.m. CDT.

This article can also be found at www.footballnewsnow.com.