NEW ORLEANS (AP) 鈥 In the New Orleans Saints’ first two games under rookie coach Kellen Moore, they had a chance to win at home on their final possession 鈥 and came up short.
On Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, their last-ditch drive ended with a fourth down sack of Spencer Rattler in Saints territory, allowing the banged-up Niners to run out the final 57 seconds of .
鈥淲e鈥檙e putting ourself in position to win games,鈥 Moore said. 鈥淯ltimately, we have to take advantage of those opportunities.鈥
New Orleans came up short despite getting a career-best three touchdown passes from Rattler and 99 yards rushing from Alvin Kamara. Much as they did after a Week 1, , the Saints lamented a series of earlier miscues that had them playing from behind.
Rattler, who fell to 0-8 as a starter in his second NFL season, threw behind a wide-open Chris Olave near the goal line, and the ball glanced off the receiver’s hands, on New Orleans’ opening possession.
Blake Grupe then missed a 40-yard field goal after his errant 38-yarder against the Cardinals.
鈥淭hat was a big play, big moment,鈥 Rattler said. 鈥淕ot to have that one back. Man we鈥檙e close though. We鈥檙e close. These games come down to the wire and you鈥檝e got to do what winning teams do.鈥
After holding the 49ers without a first down to start the game, the Saints were on the verge of forcing another three-and-out when cornerback Isaac Yiadom drew an interference penalty on an incomplete pass.
San Francisco quarterback Mac Jones turned that penalty into an 80-yard touchdown drive for a 6-0 lead, keeping the drive alive with a 15-yard completion to Ricky Pearsall on third-and-14.
The 49ers converted eight of 15 third downs, including a 7-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Christian McCaffrey on third-and-5 with 7 seconds left in the first half after New Orleans pulled to 9-7.
Defensively, 鈥渨e鈥檙e doing too much good on first and second down to put yourself in those situations, and it鈥檚 happened two weeks in a row,鈥 Moore said. 鈥淭hese third-and-10-plussers, we鈥檙e giving up way too much.鈥
San Francisco took advantage of another mistake in the third quarter after Rattler鈥檚 3-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed cut the deficit to 16-14. The 49ers extended their lead to 19-14 on their next possession, but the Saints were in field-goal range when linebacker Fred Warner forced Kamara’s fumble after the running back’s short reception.
Kamara initially was ruled down before the ball came loose, but 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan challenged the call and got a reversal that ended another promising New Orleans drive.
Soon after, Jones capitalized with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings.
Rattler’s short scoring pass to Devaughn Vele with 6:18 left gave the Saints a chance to come back, but New Orleans could not take advantage of two defensive stops after that.
鈥淲e got a lot to build on,鈥 said Rattler, who threw for more than one score in a game for the first time.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not flinching. I would not say the vibes are down at all. We got a lot ahead of us.鈥
That includes daunting trips to Seattle and Buffalo in the next two weeks.
鈥淚 like the way guys are emptying the tank,鈥 linebacker Demario Davis said. 鈥淚 like how guys are showing up and preparing. It鈥檚 just tightening up and few things. It鈥檚 just finding those one or two plays. The fight is there. The intensity is there.鈥
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