The Saints offense has been on-point for one quarter this season. Neither seemed overly egregious and didn’t warrant such harsh penalties. However, I felt the Saints caught a similar break earlier in the game when Lavonte David was flagged for the same thing. If that’s unnecessary roughness, then football is simply not football anymore. That penalty extended Tampa’s only offensive touchdown drive. Speaking of impactful penalties, it was a bad call on Bradley Roby’s personal foul. The brawl doesn’t occur if Saints didn’t have 12 men on the field on the punt attempt three plays prior. Allen clearly feared a miss, which would have given Brady the ball with plenty of time remaining near midfield. If Lutz connected, it would have made the score, 6-0. It wasn’t an easy kick by any means, but Wil Lutz has proven to be more than capable. Interesting decision by Allen to punt at the end of the half instead of going for a 57-yard field goal. Or should they turn to a fully healthy Andy Dalton and let Winston heal up? This week of practice will go a long way in determining where they stand. If he’s still banged up but technically well enough to play, the team will have to gauge if that gives them their best chance to win. Post game, Winston walked very slow and gingerly to the podium. The Saints are now in an interesting scenario. It was his worst effort since week two of last season. He finished 25-of-40 with 236 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. He was off target on several throws and appeared indecisive at times. He tried often to connect with Olave but never could.
The bottom line is Winston and the team were confident in him suiting up to play, thus there was an expectation of performance for which he fell well short. How much his health impacted his play, only Winston can answer. Still, it never felt like his playing status was in doubt, but right before kickoff Sunday it was reported that Winston was dealing with four fractures in his back. Then came his limited participation in practice throughout the week with a back injury. Earlier in the week, Winston caught my attention when he commented on how sore he still was on Wednesday.
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