In fairness to the New Orleans Saints’ defense, the numbers in a 15-point loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday didn’t tell the complete story.
Twenty-eight points and 422 yards allowed weren’t the best indicators of a defensive effort in which the Saints held Detroit to 1 of 5 touchdown conversions in the red zone, or of a unit that forced the Lions to kick five field goals in a 28-13 victory for Detroit.
But there was one defensive lapse that proved quite critical.
After Saints fullback John Kuhn scored on a 1-yard run to pull New Orleans to within 19-13 with 13:32 left, there was a buzz in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for many of the 73,137 fans that hadn’t had much to buzz about.