There's no way to sugarcoat the Saints loss to the Eagles. The offense struggled, the defense was shredded...and New Orleans looks like a 1-4 team.

It would be different if the Saints suffered close losses or had games stripped from them. That's not how this season feels. New Orleans traveled to Philly and suffered a , and the Eagles shot themselves in the foot in the first half, despite amassing 300 yards of offense. It looked like things could have been much worse at halftime, then they did get worse. Much worse.

Three fumbles and an interception plagued the offense, and a 10-10 game early in the second half ballooned into a blowout in a hurry. Head Coach Sean Payton sounded clearly frustrated after the game.

"You can't give it away four or five different times and expect to win," Payton said.

Both sides of the ball were brutal. Brees was sacked five times, while the receivers struggled to get open. In fact, Payton said the word "struggled" in regards to the kicking game, offense and defense. That makes all phases of the game. With the offense unable to stay on the field, the defense was torched for 519 total yards.

Sam Bradford completed 32-45 passing for 333 yards and two TD's, and he had all the time in the world to operate in the pocket against a non-existent pass-rush. Delvin Breaux and Brandon Browner both managed to pick him off in the endzone, but it didn't matter. Too many holes in the boat to stop it from sinking.

"Too many mistakes in a bunch of different areas," Payton said after the game.

In terms of a bright spot, Willie Snead registered his best game as a Saint with six catches for 141 yards. The undrafted grinder is proving to be a reliable option for Brees in clutch time, but he can't do it alone.

 

"It's tough when you lose the ball and you can't put drives together," Snead said.

Brandin Cooks went over 100 yards on the day with a TD, but it came when the game was already out of hand. Brees tried to force him the ball a few times with poor results, and to make matters worse, Marques Colston left the game with an injury after a rough game with several drops. Brandon Coleman is still nowhere to be seen in the receiving corps, and the plan with the running backs was a bit odd.

After his overtime heroics last week, CJ Spiller only received six touches. Even Mark Ingram was under quota, with only 14 touches. Brees had to throw the ball 43 times, and he ended up taking five sacks on the day and fumbling twice.

With Terron Armstead out on the offensive line, rookie Andrus Peat couldn't hold off Fletcher Cox, who feasted for three sacks on the game. After the game was tied 10-10, the turnovers led to a tired defense, which led to a blowout.

Four turnovers on offense, over 500 yards allowed on defense and a dismal performance from Brandon Fields in the punting game with Thomas Morstead sidelined. Aside from Willie Snead, hard to find a bright spot.

Numbers tell us that teams who start 1-4 have a five percent chance of reaching the playoffs...willing to bet on those odds, or is it time to start bailing the water out of the boat and prepare for the future?

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