Shorthanded Saints fall to Dolphins 20-3; everything we know

Thank goodness that’s over. The Ian Book-led New Orleans Saints offense was far from competent — they weren’t even entertaining in their 20-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. Between the injuries that have wracked the unit and the many COVID-19 absences they’re dealing with, they just didn’t have any answers for the firepower boasted by a mid-tier Dolphins offense that’s been a weakness of the team all season.

It was ugly. It was disappointing. Here’s everything we know:

What went right?

AP Photo/Derick Hingle

Let’s start with the positives, the biggest of which came up front on defense. The Saints pass rush was impressive, especially in the first half, with Cameron Jordan tying the great Jim Jeffcoat for 31st in NFL history with 102.5 sacks. Marcus Davenport was a monster and forced the Dolphins to actively run and drop back to pass away from him. If they had any backups available they might have been able to sustain that pressure in the second half, but they were understandably gassed by the fourth quarter.

What went wrong?

AP Photo/Butch Dill

Pretty much everything on offense fell to pieces. The offensive line failed to keep Ian Book clean or even upright in the pocket, allowing 8 sacks on just 28 dropbacks. But while there were a lot of problems with the backups the worst offender was right guard Cesar Ruiz, who hasn’t missed a snap all season. His paralyzing lack of spatial awareness led to a series of pressures and several sacks. And when the Saints did find something that worked — running back Mark Ingram paced a healthy 4.3 yards per carry — Sean Payton was too stubborn to embrace it, giving Ingram just four rushing attempts across four quarters of play. Payton didn’t do anything to support his rookie quarterback in his first start.

And what's the bottom line?

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Few teams can overcome the adversity piled up on New Orleans: a season-opening hurricane relocation, a season-ending injury to their starting quarterback, and an unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak that took out nearly two dozen players as well as several coaches. But the Saints were in this game for quite a while. Even with everything stacked against them, they still kept it close until midway through the third quarter. Then the wheels fell off.

What comes next?

AP Photo/Derick Hingle

There are two games left in the regular season, and if the Saints want to keep going into the postseason, they’ve got to win both of them. And these matchups just happen to come against their two biggest division rivals, with a final home game next week in the Caesars Superdome against the Carolina Panthers and a Week 18 road game with the Atlanta Falcons, maybe with the seventh playoff seed on the line. Another loss won’t eliminate the Saints entirely, but it would probably put the playoffs out of any realistic reach.

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