The New Orleans Saints failed to capitalize on the early forced fumble against Miami | Turning point of the game

In no way, shape or form did the New Orleans Saints defense fail to carry their water in a 3–20 loss to Miami on Monday night at the Caesars Superdome.

The unit allowed 13 points, 259 yards, intercepted a pass, sacked Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa three times, and trained for stops on 10 of 15 third-down attempts. It wasn’t as flawless as a Tampa Bay shutout in the previous game, but it was pretty close.

But a good game had to be a great game, considering the offense probably wasn’t going to be of much help. It might not even have prevented the defeat – the Saints were trailing 7-0 at the time and could only muster one field goal in the game – but it could have helped turn the momentum around.

New Orleans had a touchdown after rookie quarterback Ian Book threw an interception, which was returned 28 yards for a touchdown in his third NFL game. And when the Saints offense ended three times in the next series, the defense was told to close Miami again, as it did in the opening game.

It was unable to do this for much of a trip that started on the Miami 31-yard line with 8:51 minutes in the first quarter. Five minutes and 43 seconds later, the Dolphins faced third and fourth places of the 14th of the Saints to score another touchdown and create a sizeable lead over a depleted opponent.

But in third place when Tagovailoa snapped a snapshot of the shotgun lineup, Saint’s defensive end “Marcus Davenport” was at his destructive best, blasting the middle in his pass frenzy and meeting Tagovailoa face to face in 19th producing a fumble who bounced backwards and the newly signed defensive tackle Braxton Hoyett tried to judge it for a scoop and possible score instead of falling on it as quickly as possible.

While Hoyett hesitated, Dolphin’s guard Austin Jackson did not hesitate; he choked the ball at the 30 yard line. And instead of a turnover, Miami turned luck into a successful 48-yard field goal by Jason Sanders and a 10-0 lead with 2:09 in the first round.

Perhaps – perhaps likely – the Saints defense could have shut out for the rest of the game and Miami still had enough points to win. But that good game, which could have turned into a great game, might have been enough to get the attack that New Orleans couldn’t create for itself.

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