Brees under pressure
With a heat index over 100 degrees and wearing their black uniforms, the fatigue showed as the Saints were unable to hold onto a 9-point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Redskins had more rushing and receiving yards, a greater time of possession, and an interception but still trailed until the last six minutes of the game when they were able to score two touchdowns, an interception, and make a crucial fourth-down conversion to eliminate the Saints’ chances to pull out a victory.

The Saints struggled early in the first half with two turnovers in the first quarter alone: a fumble by Jeremy Shockey at Washington’s 28 yard line as the Saints were driving down on their first possession and an interception on the Saints’ 27 yard line on their second opportunity. Both plays were made by Washington S Chris Horton.

Their third possession early in the second quarter gave New Orleans their first lead of the game. After a sack and the offense unable to get a first down, the Saints punted the ball 52 yards to Washington’s 24. Antwaan Randle-El fumbled the ball during the return which was recovered by LB Troy Evans to set up the team’s first scoring drive: a one-yard touchdown run by RB Pierre Thomas with about eight and a half minutes to play in the first half.


The Saints did not run the ball much in the first half with a total of 21 yards rushing on 10 attempts and were unable to convert a third down. These problems continued to plague the team in the second half. New Orleans took the lead again with a quick drive downfield with about a minute left to make a 49-yard field goal, leaving the score Saints 10, Redskins 9 at the half.

However, the Saints opened up the game in the beginning of the third quarter with two touchdowns. WR Robert Meachem had his first catch as a Saint in the regular season for 19 yards and a touchdown on the Saints’ first drive of the second half. With less than 20 seconds to go in the third and following a sack on Redskins’ QB Jason Campbell by DB Chris Reis, Reggie Bush returned a punt 55 yards for the Saints’ third touchdown of the game.

The momentum appeared to be all for New Orleans as Washington had missed two field goals in the first half and missed a two-point conversion after RB Clinton Portis made his first touchdown run of the day.

But the Saints’ lack of a running game (only 55 total rushing yards in the game),only being able to convert three out of ten third downs, a tired defense that started to give up big plays, and an interception with three minutes to go in the game finally were too much. Just before the interception, the Redskins had made a single play drive for 67 yards that resulted in a touchdown. Drew Brees (22/33, 216 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT) and his playmaking ability in the end were not enough and the defense was visibly exhausted, missing several members of the starting lineup. They forced Washington into a fourth and two with a little less than two minutes to go but could not stop the Redskins from converting and winning the game.

The loss spoiled the news earlier today that the Saints had extended Coach Payton’s contract for another five years.

One piece of good news: Deuce McAllister had his first carry of the season in the second half for 5 yards, finishing the day with two carries for 10 yards.

Saints players that were inactive for the game were WR Marques Colston, CB Mike McKenzie, RB Aaron Stecker, S Roman Harper, CB Randall Gay, LB Scott Fujita, DT Antwan Lake, and DT Jermon Bushrod. LB Mark Simoneau is scheduled to undergo back surgery and will miss the rest of the season.