NEW ORLEANS — A fourth quarter rally fell short for the New Orleans Saints losing 31-24 to the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2) as the offense continued to struggle in the red zone, including a drive to win the game on the 6-yard line inside a minute to play.
Two touchdowns, including a 17-yard pass from Derek Carr to Michael Thomas and a successful two-point conversion hauled in by Alvin Kamara, pulled the Saints to a 24-24 tie with 6:38 to play. But a 44-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence to Christian Kirk gave the Jaguars the final go-ahead score with 3:08 remaining.
Saints fans became increasing disgruntled as New Orleans continues to struggle offensively this season by failing to score a touchdown in first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2) in the Caesars Superdome Thursday night.
"Boos" filled the Dome as New Orleans mustered only 139 yards of total offense, including 45 rushing and 94 passing, to trail the Jags, 14-6, at the half.
The Saints failed to capitalize on two defensive turnovers, one of which led to a 23-yard field goal after only managing one yard after a 1st and Goal at the 6-yard line.
Rookie kicker Blake Grupe, who missed a 51-yarder in the first quarter, gave the Saints their only scores of the first half, including kicks of 23 and 35 yards. Then added another 42-yarder to in the third quarter bring the Saints back to within eight, 17-9.
On the second play of the fourth quarter, Taysom Hill scored on 4th and goal from the 1 to cap an 87-yard drive and end the Saints touchdown drought dating back to the first quarter in the loss against the Houston Texans last week. That pulled the Saints to within eight with 14:21 to play.
The Saints (3-4) entered the game ranked 28th offensively on red zone efficiency with 36.84 percent success rate. New Orleans came in ranked 25th in touchdowns scored with 10, four of which came in a 34-0 shutout of the New England Patriots two weeks ago, and two other were recorded off a punt return from Rashid Shaheed and a Pick-6 by Tyrann Mathieu.
The two Saints scoring drives consisted of 12 yards on six plays (2:10) and 29 yards on eight plays (3:44).
"Obviously, we didn't finish in the red zone as well as we would have," Saints head coach Dennis Allen told media after the game. "But, you know, if you're 50 percent in the red zone in the National Football League, you're going to end up being one of the better red zone teams. So there was some improvement there.
"And yet I still think there's some things that we can be better at," he continued. "I mean, I think there are some opportunities there that, you know, we just we just missed on. So I think we're a lot closer, but we're still not there yet and we're going to keep grinding until we get there."
At the half, Carr was 11 of 21 for 100 yards, while Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, who made the start despite nursing a sprained left knee, was 15 of 21 for 146 yards passing and 35 yards on two carries.
Former Louisiana prep star from Jennings High School, Travis Etienne, scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half, including a 17-yard run in the second quarter.
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