Offensive inefficiency dooms Saints as comeback falls short against Jaguars

Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

NEW ORLEANS — As bad as things were for the Saints when the fourth quarter began Thursday night — down 24-9 to the Jaguars, with one touchdown in 33 offensive drives in home games this season — it looked for a moment like they had a path to redemption.

Taysom Hill scored on a fourth-and-goal run, and Derek Carr threw a touchdown and two-point conversion to erase a 15-point deficit and tie the game at 24 with 6:38 left.

Then everything went wrong again. The Jaguars scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass, and when the offense got a first-and-goal for a tying touchdown in the final minute, Carr missed on four straight passes, and Jacksonville escaped with a 31-24 victory, handing the Saints (3-4) their fourth loss in five games.

“It’s very difficult,” receiver Michael Thomas said of another comeback coming up short. “It’s kind of like that saying, ‘You’re so close you can taste it.’ This is probably the closest I’ve been. I could feel it. I know it’s going to come. It’s just those small things.”

Just as in last Sunday’s loss to the Texans, offensive inefficiency doomed the Saints. On Thursday, it was five trips inside the 25-yard line yielding a total of six points. The offense converted with touchdowns on back-to-back opportunities in the fourth quarter, but given a chance to tie the game again, the offense stalled in close quarters.

Carr’s third-and-goal pass to a wide-open tight end Foster Moreau went off his fingers incomplete, the closest and most frustrating of the four incompletions. A final fourth-down shot, going for receiver Chris Olave in the end zone, was broken up. In all, the Saints ran 12 plays inside the Jaguars’ 10-yard line — Carr went 0-for-6, and six carries yielded a total of 4 yards, with no play gaining more than 1 yard.

The offensive struggles were bigger than that: The Saints went 3-for-18 on third down, and only three times in the past 30 years has an NFL team had that many third downs and converted at a lower rate. Carr was especially bad on third down, going 5-for-14 for 25 yards, with an interception returned for a touchdown.

Missed opportunities started early. The Saints had two takeaways in the first quarter, but got only three points to show for it. They went three-and-out after a Jaguars fumble near midfield, then saw Jacksonville muff a punt at their 17-yard line. More goal-line issues followed, with Alvin Kamara stopped for a 1-yard gain, then two Carr incompletions, leading to a field goal.

Jacksonville (5-2) came in on a three-game win streak, but quarterback Trevor Lawrence nearly missed the game with a knee injury. He somehow managed to rush for a career-best 59 yards, leading the Jaguars 75 yards on the opening drive, capped with the first of two Travis Etienne touchdown runs. Down 14-3 at that point, the Saints defense kept the offense in check, and it was a one-score game when Foye Oluokun picked off a deflected Carr pass and returned it for a touchdown and a 24-9 lead midway through the third quarter.

Dave Helman reacts to Jacksonville’s win over the Saints

Asked if the fourth-quarter comeback left the Saints closer to who they want to be, Kamara couldn’t find that optimism.

“No,” he said. “I’m just being honest. I can’t even elaborate. I don’t think so. It’s not enough, obviously. We finding it hard to start fast, we’re finding it hard to maintain and execute sometimes, we’re finding it hard to finish. That’s the glaring and recurring thing. What do you do? You keep going.”

Saints fans were loud in their discontent Thursday, booing the offense loudly with each missed opportunity. Carr took responsibility for his role in the loss, but also showed unhappiness with teammates in key situations on the field.

“There were some things that happened today that led to pretty big negative plays that should never happen,” Carr said. “That’s where my frustration was coming from. I’m going to do everything in my power to fix that, and I know our guys are going to do everything in their power. … There are some things in football that are completely controllable that I think we can do better.”

The Saints defense, less than two weeks removed from a shutout win against the Patriots, gave up 31 points, the most they’ve allowed in one day short of a year. New Orleans has a long weekend off before it gets back to work for a game at Indianapolis, with three of the next four games on the road and much to improve on, on both sides of the ball.

“Hopefully, we can reset and refocus,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “We need to look in the mirror. Each one of us individually can be better. We’ll have the weekend off to spend time with the family. We need to come back to work with the intent to win. That’s really the only thing that matters in this league.”

Greg Auman is FOX Sports’ NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.