Heartbreak: Saints Fall to Denver on Blocked PAT Return 25-23

“That’s what I felt in the time and the moment”. There inevitably might be some controversy to arise from the Broncos’ win, anyway.

The Saints have rebounded nicely from a slow start and have evened their record at 4-4.

Michael Thomas has enjoyed a brilliant rookie season and has a great future. Still, Denver’s dynamic defence produced four pivotal turnovers in a wild 25-23 victory over the previously surging Saints on Sunday. It was a good challenge.

The play calling early on was a flawless mix of run and pass with Trevor Siemian finding targets on play action calls. On the play, Jairus Byrd was late getting to Taylor.

Newton threw for 261 yards and a touchdown and ran for 54 yards and a score for the Panthers (3-6). From that moment on through the third quarter, the New Orleans Saints scored 17 consecutive points.

Meanwhile, the point man on each side of the Broncos’ ball – the quarterback Siemian and free safety Stewart – kept their wits about them. The Eagles wrapped it up when Caleb Sturgis drilled a 48-yard field goal with 1:57 left to make it a two-score game. Four second half field goals from Dustin Hopkins ensured Washington the victory.

Brees, throttled by Phillips’ defense for most of the first half, hit two long completions to bring the Saints within a short field goal as time expired. Antonio Brown caught 14 passes for 154 yards, including a 15-yard score with 42 seconds left after Roethlisberger faked a spike to surprise the Dallas defense.

Brees final TD pass capped a six-play, 75-yard drive that began with 2:50 left and no timeouts.

Fortunately Denver has one of the league’s leading pass rushers in Von Miller, 27, and he knows he’s got his hands fill taking on Drew.

After a three-and-out, Siemian led the Broncos 43 yards in 10 plays to set up McManus’ 28-yard field goal, putting Denver on top 20-17 with 3:23 left.

Travis Siemien completed 25 of 40 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. The Broncos blocked the kick when Justin Simmons leaped over everyone on the line.

But Denver safety Justin Simmons blocked the kick and defensive back Will Parks scooped up the ball and returned it the other way for 2 points to give the Broncos a 25-23 lead. Parks took off, and even though it looked like he stepped out of bounds, a review of the play didn’t come to a conclusive answer. That’s about as soul-crushing of a defeat one can have at home. They overcame so much to put themselves in position to win. Stewart intercepted Brees twice – joining the now injured Aqib Talib as the only Broncos with multiple interceptions in one game.

As this defense has done time and time again, they come up with a crucial turnover when they needed it most.

Who dat say they gone beat dem Saints? That is nearly always fatal. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something like this goes down in New Orleans. Denver was 11-for-19 (57%) on third down conversions.

The 49ers (1-8) lost their eighth in a row despite a strong game by Colin Kaepernick, who tied it 20-20 on a 4-yard run with 1:55 to play. Cameron Jordan was tremendous throughout.

The Saints tried an onside kick, but it was recovered by the Broncos to secure the win. But running the ball 37 times in this one, Denver was able to reach the century mark for the first time on the ground since C.J. Anderson was lost to injury.