Mike Triplett, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Saints' attacking approach the only positive in loss to Ravens

NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Saints got one thing right in Monday night's 34-27 loss to the Baltimore Ravens -- the offensive aggressiveness and sense of urgency that was so blatantly lacking a week earlier.

The Saints' first play of the game was an empty-backfield pass, with Drew Brees hitting Jimmy Graham for 11 yards.

Their second: a 67-yard gain on an end-around run by seldom-used dynamic receiver Joe Morgan.

Of course, that drive ended with a failure to punch it in, despite having first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. But we've established by now that this team is far from perfect.

At least the Saints looked more like their usual selves on offense while failing to get the job done.

"Last week was real tough the way we looked, but I thought we had energy tonight," said Saints coach Sean Payton, who had admitted his team was too "flat" after a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. "I felt like our guys had the energy and were ready to go. It's a game that comes down to opportunities, and we weren't able to capitalize on them."

That aggressive approach backfired when Payton said he went with a "gut feeling" to go for it on fourth-and-1 on the Saints' opening drive because he thought it was an important time in the game to send a message. Saints running back Mark Ingram wound up getting stuffed for the third time on that goal-line stand.

But it was the execution that failed -- not the mindset, especially considering the Saints need their offense to lead the way with their defense struggling so mightily.

"Our approach going in, and our players knew it, was that we were going to be aggressive in this game," Payton said. "And we obviously could look back and [have] kicked it. But it's something I decided."

Brees' performance was also aggressive but imperfect.

His stat line was a pretty good summation of what kind of night it was, for better and for worse: 420 yards, three touchdowns and one colossally-costly interception that was returned for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Brees admittedly missed a couple of throws in the red zone -- where the Saints scored only 20 points on five trips inside the 16-yard line. However, he seemed to be too generous on himself for a poor decision to throw the interception while under pressure.

Brees described it as "really just bad luck -- you get wrapped up just as the ball's coming out of your hand and it kind of deviates the throw a little bit."

The offensive line did earn its share of the blame, too -- on that play and many others. The Saints couldn't run a lick in the first half, and Brees was sacked four times overall.

In a bit of a role reversal, the unit that played the best was the receiving corps, which had been sagging for much of the season. Morgan also had a 62-yard catch in the first quarter. Marques Colston and Kenny Stills also had big nights. Even Nick Toon got in on the action.

Another positive spin for the Saints: Baltimore's defense was probably the best remaining on their schedule. New Orleans will certainly have better opportunities for success against the other three struggling members of the NFC South later this season (vs. Carolina in Week 14, vs. Atlanta in Week 16, at Tampa Bay in Week 17).

And, yeah, that's grasping at a consolation prize at this point. But, hey, someone has to win the embarrassing division. And an aggressive, attacking Saints offense offers their only hope to be that team.

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