NEW ORLEANS — Down 13 starters the New Orleans Saints looked like they didn't belong on the field with the Buffalo Bills in their 31-6 loss.
"Obviously, we were not very good tonight. It was a long game, especially offensively. I thought the two things that stood out were that we had trouble with any type of balance, protection. I thought our return game struggled, especially in the kickoff return. I thought we hung in there defensively for the first half. We had some takeaways, but it wasn't very good. Disappointing," said Sean Payton.
Buffalo's first drive was a sign of things to come. Josh Allen marched the Bills offense right down the field to take a 7-0 lead. Those were the only points of the first quarter and the Saints offense only managed to gain 36 yards in the first quarter.
"It just feels hard. We're just not getting anything going early in games and today we kind of allowed it to snowball. We put our defense in a bad situation, so, we have to get (the offense) right," said Trevor Siemian.
With just under nine minutes in the second quarter, the Bills added a field goal to increase their lead to 10-0. Despite the Saint's struggles on offense, their defense did all they could to keep them in the game.
"We were trying to get the ball as much as we can, playing fast, we just gotta figure out a way to win," said Kwon Alexander.
The defense picked off Josh Allen twice in the second quarter. Bradley Roby got the first one and Kwon Alexander got the second interception just before halftime to stop the Bills from adding to their lead.
At halftime, the Bills led 10-0.
Buffalo opened the second half with a touchdown drive reminiscent of the way they started the game. That drive ended with a four-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Stefon Diggs.
The Saints went three and out following that drive and the Bills responded with their second touchdown of the third quarter to increase their lead to 24-0.
Siemian finally got the Saints on the board to start the third quarter when he connected with Nick Vannett for an 11-yard touchdown pass. The Saints went for two after the touchdown and failed to convert.
Allen led the Bills down the field one more time and threw his fourth touchdown of the game to give them a commanding 31-6 lead.
"Shoot, he's (Josh Allen) big and athletic. There were probably three or four plays, either 2nd or 3rd down, where all of a sudden, he gets into the defense for a first down. He's extremely talented," said Sean Payton.
The Saints will host the Dallas Cowboys in the Caesars Superdome next Thursday.
"We gotta focus on trying to find our next win," said Cam Jordan.