The New Orleans Saints felt like the home team during their Week 7 matchup in Paris. Unfortunately, it was not enough to give them the edge. New Orleans lost a heartbreaking game 16-10 against Pittsburgh on Sunday. Now the Saints 2-5 on the season and look completely lost after letting yet another close one slip away.
What must be frustrating for Saints fans is the same issues keep popping up in each game. QB Tyler Shough has looked quite good in his sophomore season. He's even looked good while playing with two broken hands. But the support systems around him just aren't good enough to translate to victories.
If the Saints cannot figure out how to win close games quickly, they'll have a difficult time clawing their way back in relevance.
So what exactly went wrong for New Orleans on Sunday? And what can they take away from this game moving forward?
Here are the Saints players most to blame for their crushing loss to Steelers in Paris.
New Orleans still can't run the football to save their lives
The Saints have struggled to run the football in recent weeks. They hit a new low with an absolutely dreadful effort from Paris.
New Orleans finished this game with just 18 total rushing yards as a team.
“The Saints could not establish the run game in Paris, averaging just 1.06 yards per rush. QB Tyler Shough was their leading rusher with just 7 yards. The Saints are the first team without a 10-yard rusher in a game since the Bucs in Week 4 of the 2022 season,” ESPN insights posted on social media.
Shough had three carries for seven yards, which is nothing special from a quarterback. What's terrible is seeing Alvin Kamara rush six times for five yards and Kendre Miller turn eight carries into only six yards. So when taking Shough out of the equation, the Saints rushed for less than one yard per carry.
In fairness, the Steelers are one of the better run defense units in the NFL this season. Plus Travis Etienne Jr. is hurt and the offensive line is missing a few pieces. But even all of that does not excuse such an inefficient showing on the ground.
The Saints won't win a single game if they continue running the ball like that.
The Steelers ran all over the Saints en route to an easy victory
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh could accomplish whatever they wanted with their running game.
The Saints could not contain the slippery Jaylen Warren. He had 18 carries for 101 rushing yards, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. His longest run of the game was 29 yards, with most of his other carries being efficient chain-moving runs. Warren also added three receptions for 36 receiving yards. When Pittsburgh wasn't running the ball, they were checking it down and making the short passing game an extension of the run.
The Steelers also got a great performance from Rico Dowdle, who logged nine carries for 41 rushing yards.
What's so frustrating about the disparity in running games is that Shough flat out outplayed Aaron Rodgers as a passer. It just didn't matter when Pittsburgh was dominating in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
Kudos to the Steelers for seeing what was working and never shying away from it.
The Saints simply made too many mistakes to win a close international showdown
Every play matters during a close game like this one. New Orleans made so many mistakes that added up to have a huge outcome on this contest.
The Saints did not show great ball security multiple times throughout the game. Shough nearly fumbled the ball on the team's second possession, but was bailed out by replay assist. Then on the next drive, both Shough and Kendre Miller coughed up the ball. Fortunately, Shough's fumble went out of bounds and Miller's was overturned on replay.
That drive ultimately resulted in a touchdown for Devaughn Vele, but it illustrates how undisciplined the Saints were throughout the game.
The young quarterback also threw a brutal interception to Payton Wilson in the red zone at the beginning of the third quarter.
Finally, Shough missed a huge opportunity to win the game on one of the Saints' final possessions in the fourth quarter. ESPN's Bill Barnwell shared a chart of the third-and-12 play where Shough checked the ball down to Alvin Kamara. It shows that Chris Olave was wide open running down the seam. If Shough targeted Olave, it almost certainly would have resulted in a touchdown.
Shough was the engine for the entire offense, so it is hard to blame him personally. After all, he had no running game to support him.
The Saints need to play better situation football if they want to turn some of these close losses into wins.