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NEW ORLEANS – This was not supposed to look like this. Not yet. Not with a young defense that had finally turned things around impressively last season.
However, the New Orleans Saints started the 2018 season with a defensive flop as terrible as anything they posted in some of those bad historic seasons between 2012 and 2016.
They allowed Ryan Fitzpatrick to win 417 yards and four touchdowns and run for a fifth Sunday in a 48-40 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Bucs had more TD passes over 50 yards (two) than the punts (one).
This was one of the biggest surprises of the first week of the NFL – a breathtaking performance by a team that has been designated as one of the popular Super Bowl choices this season.
And it's still a slow start for the Saints, who have not won the first match since 2013.
"We needed that, we had to be hit on our face a good while to see that we are not at the level we think we are, but we are going to get better," said Marshon Lattimore.
The second-year cornerback – the NFL defenseman of the year – allowed Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans to win a big day (seven catches for 147 yards and 50 yards). .
It was the kind of day for the defense of the Saints.
The unit was also out of area coverage during the fourth game of Tampa which allowed DeSean Jackson will open for a 58-yard touchdown. If you keep points at home, it's now two 50-yard games against a Saints defense that has only allowed one game over 50 in the entire season in 2017.
His defensive teammates such as Ken Crawley, Marcus Williams, Patrick Robinson and Vonn Bell have also fallen victim to what should be the most talented unit in New Orleans defense.
But it's not just the back end that failed to do its job. Coach Sean Payton lamented that Fitzpatrick was "without pressure" for most of Sunday.
"Make your choice," said Payton when asked what did not work in defense. "We did not press the smuggler, the guys were open, the third socks were awful. [529] yards We have not disturbed the timing of any element of the passing game. And too many penalties.
"I can not think of any positive."
When a reporter started asking Payton a question saying, "Obviously, anything can happen in this league at any time …"
"It's true, and you've just seen it, so there's no" but "after." You need to be ready to play in this league, "said Payton – but he has notably credited Tampa Bay and Fitzpatrick. to do just this Sunday.
Drew Brees recorded 439 yards and three touchdowns, Alvin Kamara scored three times and Michael Thomas captured a 16-pass franchise record for 180 yards and a touchdown. The attack also made two expensive mistakes, with lost fumbles from Thomas and Mike Gillislee.
Nobody has specifically suggested that the Saints have come out flat, absurd or too confident in their first game of the season: "I do not think anyone has come out with the mentality [the Buccaneers] Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins said, "They beat us at the end of last year, so I'm sure they had all the confidence in the world they could beat. we. And they did it. "
But the result was exactly the kind of "hangover" that the saints were trying to protect all summer long.
Payton responded to these Super Bowl expectations at the first training camp team meeting, using the "Prove Them Right" message as a way to capture the same mindset of teams determined to prove that the reviews are wrong. The saints had a poster with this message hanging on the outside of their team during the training camp.
And they have been talking all week to avoid the slow starts that have led to 0-2, 0-3, 0-3 and 0-2 records in the last four seasons.
But, as Lattimore acknowledged, no discussion can do the job they need on the field Sunday.
"I mean, we like to do what we say, of course, but it's not always going to end like that, it takes time to be a great team," he said. "You know, there are a lot of new guys on the team, and we always try to get together and do things right."
"It's the first game – do not panic – we left 0-2 last year and had a run of eight straight wins, we're still together, we'll do it right."
The good news about this slow start trend is that the saints have already come here. Too often. Last season, their defense ended in a total of 1,025 yards in the first two games of the season. The Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots, respectively, before this epic turnaround that led to an 11-5 season and as NFC South.
"This is not a death sentence," said Rankins. "You take it on your chin, you learn it and you play better next week."
"Let's hope the Super Bowl will not be won in the first week," Cameron said. "We have a lot of things to deal with, and I'm my most severe critic, and I think my father would be my second most critical critic – so I'm looking forward to this call.
"[But] we have a 24-hour rule. We must clear our minds of this catastrophe that has just happened. You can not be proud of 41 points on the board (by the Bucs offensive). But we must move forward. "
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