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Right tackle Zach Strief had an extremely rough day against Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston. Houston had three sacks, including a safety in the fourth quarter while the Saints' offense was imploding. Afterward, Strief admirably fell on the sword.

"I've never felt more individually responsible for the destruction of an offense before," Strief said. "I mean, I've just never been in a situation ... I mean, hats off to him (Houston). That's a game that you fear as a lineman. I had no answers. And I think I really gave us no chance to get anything going."

When asked if he was just talking about the sacks or other plays as well, Strief said, "I don't feel like I did a good job at any point in that game. ... I think I was physically and mentally beaten. And that's disappointing, because you just can't be in that situation. As a professional athlete, you can't be in the situation that I was in today."

When asked if he can attribute any of the team's struggles to the absence of Coach Sean Payton, Strief said, "I have a very hard time attributing what happened today to not having a head coach, because he can't block anybody. At the end of the day, I don't know what Coach Payton being here would have done to make me block somebody."

Strief has not been a consistent problem for the Saints, even though the line has been taking some heat from the fans. Strief actually graded out very well in the first two games, according to both the Saints' grades and my own film-study reviews.

He obviously played very poorly Sunday, however, and he obviously took it very hard.

New Orleans Saints offensive tackle falls on the sword after struggling against Kansas City Chiefs: Ten more observations - New Orleans Saints Football NFL News - NOLA.com

Shoe.

Gotta give it to Strief, at least he's not trying to put it on anybody but himself.

Danno

Jason David never blamed anyone but himself either. Just sayin'

WhoDat!656

Kind of hard to blame another player when he was the one that got burned!

Shoe.

very true.

What's the going rate for a competent NFL-caliber OT these days?

I got some change in a jar on my dresser if anybody wants to start a fund...

Crusader

Still I rather have him own up to it than him pretending that its raining...

MatthewT

One bad half of football, overall Strief is a very decent player. It was just a week where he got owned. I actually do not fault Strief for his bad game, I mean everyone has them once in a while. What I do fault is the Saints coaching staff for not making the necessary adjustments during the game to help fix that problem. It is not too much to ask when a guy is struggling to put a TE or FB over there to give him some help.

Danno

Yet people blame Harper for every completed pass against us?

44Champs

That attitude is probably why he was elected one of the team captains this year. Now if he can just step up and get better...

TheOak

The stress and mental strain of uncertainty and offseason drama is taking its toll.