NEW ORLEANS — For the longest time, the New Orleans Saints have been recognized by NFL fans for having an explosive offense led by future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Drew Brees and possessing a defense as formidable as swiss cheese. Not anymore.
Over their last three games, the Saints’ defense has yielded zero points in the second half. Yes, you read that correctly. The New Orleans defensive unit has not surrendered a single point over the final 30 minutes of games during the last three contests.
In fact, the only second-half score allowed in that trio of affairs was the “pick two” from the Panthers’ Donte Jackson on a failed conversion attempt on Monday night.
On the other side, the Saints’ opponent on Sunday — the Pittsburgh Steelers — has struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball after halftime, lately.
Mike Tomlin’s team posted just a field goal after intermission against the New England Patriots on Sunday. In other recent games, the Steelers were outscored 18-8 by the Los Angeles Chargers and blew touchdown leads on the road to both the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos.
Given the recent track record of these two playoff contenders, Tim Benz argues that if the Saints are up at half, don’t expect a comeback. Same goes for the Steelers if they’re trailing at the break.