NEW ORLEANS – Drew Brees found his pace a little too late on his return Sunday from eleven broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Brees started from 0 to 6 with an interception in the New Orleans Saints’ 32-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was the first time in Brees ’20-year career that he started a game from 0 to 5 or worse, according to an investigation by ESPN Stats & Information.
Brees retreated with some important throws, including a 51-yard deep ball to Emmanuel Sanders, an impressive escape from pressure for a 24-yard touchdown pass to Latavius Murray and a fourth-quarter pass to Alvin Kamara and Lil’Jordan Humphrey.
But in the end it was too sporadic, and the Saints were too exhausted to lose the second game in a row and fell to 10-4.
“I’ll be honest. I think there are some things I’m still working on. But that’s what it is,” Brees said.
The veteran QB let out a big laugh when asked if he had 100%.
“No,” Brees replied, before adding, “but I’m on my way.”
He will have to recover quickly a week before the Saints host the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day.
Brees, who missed the previous four games due to his injuries, ended up going 15 of 34 for 234 yards, while falling short in the quarterback game against Patrick Mahomes. His 44.4% completion rate was the third lowest of his career.
The Saints also finished 1-of-11 in third downs.
It didn’t help that the saints were so exhausted in a wide receiver. Michael Thomas and Deonte Harris were placed Saturday in the injured reserve, and Tre’Quan Smith left the game early Sunday with an ankle injury.
“He wasn’t really efficient, obviously, in the passing game,” Brees said. “I would say it was a combination of forcing some things on the field instead of just finishing below, there were some mistakes and they hit us with some defensive looks where you just have to throw the ball.”
When asked how he would respond to the perception that he wasn’t ready to go back or was too rusty, Brees noted that some of his first decisions and pitches were “just a hair’s breadth”.
“I mean, listen, my first pass of the game, I should have thrown a control, we get the first one first and we have a car running. Instead, I’ve tried to adapt to a [deep into heavy coverage to fellow QB Taysom Hill]”Brees said.”[But] in every game, there are things like that. And we are a very efficient offense. We are a high efficiency passing game. And so we’ll get back to that. “
When asked about Brees ’slow start, Saints coach Sean Payton said it’s hard to pinpoint just one position.
“I thought our third down numbers weren’t good enough today. I didn’t think we ran the ball efficiently when we tried,” Payton said. Everyone will shout, “You have to run the ball 30 times.” It’s impossible if you’re not becoming third.
“So, overall offensively, we weren’t very sharp.”
Brees said he has steadily increased physically over the past week or two. And when asked if the importance of Sunday’s tent clash was part of his motivation to return, Brees said, “Right now, all games are so important. Along the stretch, everyone is fighting and something. And everyone is struggling to get on the field and put together our best effort to help our team win and advance in our playoff state. “
The Saints now win the No. 1 spot in the NFC as they would lose a head-to-head tie with the Green Bay Packers (11-3). However, there is a scenario in which the Saints could win a three-way tie at 12-4 with the Packers and Seattle Seahawks (10-4) as long as Green Bay loses another conference game week 17 in Chicago.
Payton confirmed that the Saints goal is to get Thomas healthy back for the playoffs after an all-season ankle injury has continued to bother him. Thomas has to miss the last three games of the regular season before returning. “I think we’re doing the smartest thing with Mike,” Payton said.
The Saints defense made a brave effort against the offense of Muhammad and the Chiefs, but eventually ran out of gas, with Kansas City making 92 offensive plays and holding the ball for 41 minutes and 14 seconds.
Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan was also sent off at the end of the game to connect with a punch against the offensive attack of Chiefs Andrew Wylie.
The rehearsals showed Wylie grabbing Jordan’s shirt by the neck and not letting go. Jordan tried to push him away before throwing the punch; he tried to explain this to officials to no avail.
Muhammad finished the 26-of-47 pass (55.3%) for 254 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. But he lost a bang in a fourth-quarter sack. The Saints also scored a safety by forcing a fight on the point return just before the break.