Saints better but still not good enough

The New Orleans Saints were better Sunday.

But they still weren’t good enough.

They lost to the Minnesota Vikings 28-25 in London for their third straight loss to fall to 1-3.

They continued their habit of starting slowly, but started getting better a little earlier than had after other slow starts.

They had a chance to win or at least get into overtime.

But they didn’t.

They had too many self-inflicted wounds (again), were hampered by the absence of four injured starters on offense and had a bit of bad luck, which tends to happen to teams that don’t play consistently well.

Andy Dalton played well overall in place of injured Jameis Winston – 20 of 28 for 236 yards with a touchdown – but he wasn’t good enough to elevate the team above its myriad other issues.

The Saints were minus-1 in turnovers, though that wasn’t as bad as the minus-4 and ninus-3 in losses to the Buccaneers and the Panthers.

They were penalized 10 times for 102 yards, though at least a couple of those – an illegal-use-of-the-hands call on Tyrann Mathieu and a pass interference call on Marshon Lattimore – were nearly as unwarranted as they were crippling.

The special teams had numerous breakdowns, though Wil Lutz was inches from having the greatest kicking game in NFL history. He made a 60-yard field goal to tie the game with 1:51 left and his 61-yarder on the final play of the game would have forced overtime, but it hit the left upright, struck the crossbar and fell to the turf in the end zone.

Dalton didn’t have Alvin Kamara or Michael Thomas to give the ball to (or Andrus Peat to block) and he lost Mark Ingram II for part of the game, though Ingram did return.

Latavius Murray (57 yards) gave the running game a lift as did Taysom Hill (two-yard touchdown run). Chris Olave (67 yards and a touchdown) and Marquez Callaway (53 yards) were Dalton’s most-productive targets.

The Saints, who had scored a total of 13 points in the first three quarters of their first three games, trailed 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.

But on the second-to-last play of the period, Tyrann Mathieu made his first interception as a Saint, breathing life into an otherwise listless team.

The Saints drove 60 yards and Dalton and Olave teamed on a four-yard tying touchdown pass.

Two Saints turnovers – fumbles by Dalton and punt returner Deonte Harty – gave the Vikings a pair of scoring opportunities and both times the defense allowed just a field goal.

That produced a 16-7 third-quarter deficit that could have been worse.

The Saints sandwiched two touchdowns around yet another Vikings field goal and they had the lead for the only time all day – 22-19.

But the Vikings quickly regained the lead, driving 75 yards as they converted four third downs – three on Saints penalties – producing Justin Jefferson’s 3-yard touchdown run and a 25-22 Vikings lead after a missed extra point.

The missed kick proved to be important as it kept the field goal in play as the game reached its final few minutes.

Dalton brought the Saints to the Vikings 42 and on the first play after the two-minute warning, Lutz’s 60-yard field goal tied the score.

The Saints stopped the Vikings ensuing kick return at the 18. A three and out would have all but guaranteed overtime and provided an outside chance at giving Lutz a tie-breaking opportunity.

But the defense didn’t get a three and out.

On the first play, Dalvin Cook ran for 14 yards and got out of bounds. On the next play Jefferson caught a 39-yard pass from Kirk Cousins, producing a first down at the Saints 29.

That forced the Saints to use all three of their timeouts before the Vikings kicked a tie-breaking field goal.

It was reminiscent of last week’s loss to Carolina when the Saints finally scored their first points early in the fourth quarter. They suddenly were within 13-7 and had a chance to turn the game in their favor.

And two plays after the touchdown, two missed tackles turned a flanker screen into a back-breaking 67-yard touchdown.

On Sunday, the Saints back wasn’t broken because Dalton and Olave managed to connect on a 32-yard gain that gave Lutz a shot from 61 yards.

But the ball didn’t bounce his way, just as it rarely has bounced the Saints way in the first month of this season.

The improvement from a week earlier was noticeable, yet not substantial enough to get a win.

The offense continues to start slowly. Overall the special teams continue to fall well short of the lofty standard they have established in recent seasons. And though the defense remains the most dependable unit it’s developing a bad habit of saving its breakdowns for when they will do the most damage.

Until each unit gets in sync individually and they start complementing one another in a positive way, the performances will continue to mirror the first four.

At 1-3 this season is far from over.

But if the Saints are going to evolve into a team capable of extending its streak of winning seasons to six, they need a victory.

And really soon.