Saints can’t overcome errors, fall short to the Chiefs

The New Orleans Saints came up short against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Sean Payton’s squad was defeated 27-21 in a game riddled with errors on both sides of the ball.

The Saints started things on the right foot, as they held the Chiefs on their opening possession and took their first offensive drive 80 yards in 10 plays that was capped off by a Brandin Cooks touchdown catch from Drew Brees.

That’s about where it stopped for the Saints, as the Chiefs would score 21 unanswered points and never trail again. Alex Smith would find Spencer Ware for a quick pass that went for a 46-yard touchdown, Brees would have a pick-six to Daniel Sorensen, and Smith would find Tyreek Hill for a spectacular 38-yard touchdown reception. Suddenly, it was 21-7 Chiefs by halftime.

Brees would help the offense pilot a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Mark Ingram touchdown reception to open the third quarter, and the Chiefs would counter with a Cairos Santos field goal to go up 24-14.

When the Saints were threatening to make it interesting, Ron Parker would punch the ball out of the hands of Mark Ingram where the Chiefs would take over with 8:26 to play. On the ensuing possession, the Chiefs were backed up to a 3rd and 17, but converted after Smith found Chris Conley. Payton would challenge, but the call stood.

The Saints offense would get the ball back with five minutes to go in the game, and Brees methodically got the offense down the field with big plays to Michael Thomas and Brandin Cooks, and Brandon Coleman would get the Saints into the end zone with 2:33 left in the game to cut the lead to 24-21.

The Saints attempted an onside kick, but came up short. The Chiefs would run down the clock after Nick Fairley chose to take a bad personal foul penalty to Spencer Ware. Santos would add another field goal to put the Chiefs up 27-21 with 28 seconds left. The Saints couldn’t muster much on their last drive.

On a positive note, Drew Brees became the first player in NFL history to have 100 300-yard career games. The Saints (2-4) now look forward to their Week 8 home matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.