What I Liked:
I loved the way the quarterbacks of both teams were slinging the ball around the field. If you like the passing aspect of the NFL, this one was for you. Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford combined for 57 completions on 80 attempts, 750 yards, 4 touchdowns, and just 1 interception.
Drew Brees, while only making up 342 of those yards through the air, was responsible for 3 touchdown passes in a game that both quarterbacks were great at distributing the ball around the field to their various receivers. Props go out to both quarterbacks in this game.
What I Hated:
The game was never seriously in question, save for a brief period in the 3rd quarter. I was really hoping that the two teams would find a way to make it a one possession game late, but that never materialized.
The other facet of the game I didn’t like was both teams’ running games. The Saints had some level of success with Mark Ingram, but the Lions were never able to establish anything of the sort. Had they been able to do so, they may have been able to pull this game out.
Basically, this game came down to which team took advantage of their given circumstances, and that team was the Saints on this night. Once again, the slow start of the Lions crippled their ability to win the game.
Where They’re Going From Here:
The Lions received a ton of help today. Basically every team around them in the standings also lost, giving them a golden opportunity to gather themselves and keep plugging away next week. The Saints, with the win, basically secured themselves of the NFC South title. They’ll be in the playoffs for sure. The question now becomes whether it will be as a 2 seed or a 3 seed as they are still a game behind the 49ers for one of the coveted playoff byes.
