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ATLANTA — Saints wide receiver Marques Colston fixated his eyes on the ground and his traveling bag as he packed his belongings in the visitors’ locker room of the Georgia Dome.

Two sets of reporters approached the veteran in an effort to see what Colston might say about a nightmare sequence — one in which he dropped a pass and lost a fumble in back-to-back plays in overtime of a 37-34 loss for the Saints (0-1) to the Atlanta Falcons (1-0). Matt Bryant kicked a 52-yard field goal three plays after Atlanta linebacker Joplo Bartu recovered Colston’s fumble.

But Colston politely declined to speak with the first group of journalists. He soon silently walked away from a second one and headed out of view.

Less reluctant to talk about the Saints’ final gut-wrenching possession were some of the colleagues he’s known since arriving in New Orleans as a seventh-round draft choice. And to a man, they refused to let anyone suggest Colston was at fault for the outcome of a disappointing season opener.

“He’s won a lot of games for us,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “And when you get in overtime, it can appear to be one play, but there are a series of plays throughout the course of a game.”


Read more: Saints wide receiver Marques Colston not to blame for loss, teammates say | Saints | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

darksoul35

Colson didn't give up almost five hundred passing yards but he did have that fumble and a few drops. He didn't lose it but he could've won the damn thing.

Jamessr

Hmm 60 minutes of play time and only a fool will narrow it down to 1 play.

Danno

Unless that players name is Roman Harper

iceshack149

I love Marques Colston but he is to blame. Who cares how they got there? The Saints have a much greater chance of winning if he doesn't fumble.

OldMaid

Colston is not a fool.


Fariweather fandom, we won't go there.

Colston was stripped of the ball there. Yeah, maybe he did not have it tucked tight enough. Maybe not. Routine drill of his. Also , routine drill of Saints and Falcons, any team, is to strip that ball. ATlFal did.

With a loss like this, there were many mistakes BEFORE it got to that crucial point and OT.

Brees, intercept? It happens. Did that cost the game? No.

Turnovers happen. They happen with both teams.


Defense really costed the game. Defense is better than the punished year, but defense STILL lacks that power. Force.

Mardigras9

Settling for 3's early instead of 7's came back to haunt them. Hey Ryan had the game of his life and they only beat the Saints 3 in OT on a 50yd+ FG at home, not worried.

Euphoria

I am most upset that they went out of bounds on several plays on that last drive instead of taking more time off that clock. How in the earth can they not be aware of how much time was left on that clock.

The Dude

How? We put up over 30 points in regulation. When your offense puts up 30 points there is no reason in hell the game should even go into overtime. Our defense was horrid. Terrible. If it wasn't for them the game would not have come down to one or two plays. Yea Colston blew two plays that may have helped us win the game in spite of our ****ty defense but its not what lost the game. You cannot rely on your offense to continually bail out your defense. That's not their job. Their job is to put up points, which they did. Our defense failed to stop them from scoring less than 34 points. That's atrocious.

WhoDat!656

Really? And what would the Saints chances of winning have been if the defense had done its job?