It was true then as now; Saints aren’t good enough

    He said it 25 years ago, and it rings true today. Said Jim Mora after a 24-22 loss to San Francisco, “The Saints aren’t good enough.”
    Last Sunday in Green Bay, the Saints got more than enough breaks to win.
    On a third-quarter tackle, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was poked in the eye by Malcolm Jenkins. His backup, Graham Harrell, then botched a handoff. Jenkins recovered the fumble at the Saints’ 8.
    Four plays later, Drew Brees hit a wide-open Joseph Morgan for an 80-yard touchdown pass to give the Saints a 24-21 lead.
    In the fourth quarter, Green Bay scored to take a 28-27 lead. Darren Sproles then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, recovered by former Tulane player and current Packers rookie linebacker Dezman Moses. The play was blown dead by an official who ruled Sproles was down by contact.
    But, with the Packers out of challenges, the incorrect call stood.
    Still, the Saints couldn’t make that first victory happen.
    On their final drive, Sproles dropped a pass on third-and-4 that would have given the Saints a first down.
    And, Garrett Hartley’s successful 43-yard field goal attempt was wiped out by a holding call on David Thomas.
    On the same Sunday, two undefeated teams were proving that the margin of error between a win and a loss in the NFL is razor thin.
    In Atlanta, backed up on his 1-yard line, quarterback Matt Ryan completed a 59-yard pass to Roddy White. With 10 seconds to play, Matt Bryant’s 40-yard field goal gave the Falcons a 30-28 win over Carolina.
    At the two-minute warning in Arizona, quarterback Kevin Kolb converted a third-and-18 with a first-down pass to Andre Roberts. And, in the final seconds of the game, Arizona tied it on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Roberts on fourth-and-10. The Cardinals won the game in overtime.
    Against the Packers, the Saints converted nine of 17 third downs (53 percent) and won the turnover battle, 2-0. Yet, the Saints are still winless.
    Have the Saints lost confidence? Yes.
    How do you not feel a tad shaky after blowing an 18-point lead at home to the Chiefs and then have the winning field goal at Green Bay taken off the board by penalty?
    The Saints would appear to have a myriad of problems. But, basically, they have two.
    They can’t run the football with any consistency. Against Green Bay, the Saints rushed it 19 times for 45 yards.
   And, the Saints defense can’t consistently get stops. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw only 10 incompletions in 41 attempts. And Green Bay running back Cedric Benson averaged 4.7 yards per carry.
    In 2007, the Saints started 0-4 and finished 7-9. That could be happening again.
    Sunday night, my guess is the Saints will beat the Chargers and head to the bye week for a ton of soul searching.
    Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at edaniels@clarionherald.org.