tiggerpolice

--It was a case of deja vu for the Saints in their Christmas Eve loss to the Detroit Lions when Jason Hanson put his foot into a 39-yard field goal as the clock expired for a 13-12 win.

If the Saints (3-12) felt as if it were a kick to the gut, it was. Three of their 12 losses have come on field goals in the final six seconds -- including two on the game's final play.
The kick by Hanson had to remind the Saints of the loss to the Falcons more than two months ago, which also came in the Alamodome.

The Falcons missed a 41-yard field goal in the closing seconds, only to get another opportunity when the Saints were penalized for defensive holding. Todd Peterson's 36-yard do-over on the final play was good for a 34-31 Atlanta win.

--The Saints failed to score a touchdown for the fourth time in their last 11 games in the loss to the Lions.

John Carney kicked field goals of 35, 47, 33 and 20 yards -- with the final three-pointer giving the Saints a 12-10 lead with 1:52 left in the game. But the Lions won it on Hanson's 39-yard field goal on the final play.

The Saints also failed to get the ball into the end zone in losses to the Packers (52-3), the Dolphins (21-6) and the Buccaneers (10-3) earlier this season.

--The Saints had some opportunities to score a lot of points against the Lions as they got to midfield or beyond on seven of nine meaningful possessions.

But on those seven series, they settled for the four field goals by Carney and punted the other three times.

They also struggled, as they have all season, in the red zone. They penetrated the Lions' 20 three times and did not score a touchdown, dropping their red-zone percentage to 40.0 percent -- which tied them for 28th going into Monday night's game.

--The Saints' run defense was the best it's been all season against the Lions, but that's not really saying much.

As a team, the Lions gained just 71 yards on 24 carries, marking only the fourth time in 15 games this season that the Saints had held their opponent under 100 yards. It was also the first time in 10 games they've kept their opponent from getting into triple digits.

The previous rushing low for a Saints' opponent this season was 92 yards by the New York Giants in Week 2.

--The Saints' loss to the Lions was a rarity considering they've been very good when taking a lead into the fourth quarter since Jim Haslett arrived in 2000.

Haslett's team held a 9-7 lead over the Lions going into the final period on Saturday, but two Jason Hanson field goals gave Detroit the win.

The Saints are now 2-2 this season and 37-6 under Haslett when they have the lead after three quarters.


http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/teamRep...NotesAndQuotes