Saints’ defense struggles in 25-19 loss to Patriots

BATON ROUGE, La. (LouisianaFirst) – The New Orleans Saints’ defense struggled against New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye in a 25-19 loss Sunday.

The Saints’ offense started with a bang, a 53-yard pass from Spencer Rattler to Chris Olave on the first play of the game. But the drive fizzled out quickly, resulting in a 34-yard field goal by Blake Grupe to give New Orleans a 3-0 lead.

New England responded on its first possession with Drake Maye connecting with DeMario Douglas for a 53-yard touchdown to go up 7-3. The Saints chipped away at the deficit, adding a 48-yard Grupe field goal to make it a one-point game.

The Patriots extended their lead late in the first quarter with a 25-yard touchdown from Maye to former LSU Tiger Kayshon Boutte to take a 14-6 lead.

New Orleans responded early in the second quarter with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Taysom Hill, his first of the season in just his second game since returning from injury, to cut the deficit to 14-13.

The Saints would retake the lead 16-14 with just under 2 minutes left in the first half with a 38-yard Grupe field goal. The lead only lasted just over a minute with New England Maye connecting with Boutte for a second time, this one a 29-yard touchdown, with 31 seconds left in the first half to take a 22-16 lead into the half after the 2-point conversion.

The Patriots extended their lead to 25-16 to open the third quarter with a 24-yard field goal. The Saints wouldn’t answer until the beginning of the fourth quarter with a 54-yard Grupe field goal to make it 25-19 New England.

The Saints will face the Chicago Bears next Sunday inside the Superdome.