INGLEWOOD, Calif. — If the preseason is a time to get the bugs out of the system, the might need to get an exterminator on the line for their return trip to the Gulf South.
The Saints played an incredibly sloppy brand of football in their in their second preseason contest, committing 12 penalties for 96 yards while turning the ball over three times —
“Just a lack of discipline, lack of detail," coach Kellen Moore said. "A lot of them are under our control. Twelve penalties in a football game, you’re not going to win. … We talked a lot about that and it was obviously a step back from the progress that we feel like we’ve made.”
It didn’t really matter who was on the field.
The offensive “starters” for Saturday’s game — the Saints, for the second straight week, rested all of their regular first-teamers — committed three drive-killing penalties within their first 10 plays.
Rookie guard Jeremiah Wright was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after drilling a Rams player late, negating a five-yard gain. Bryce Lance also wiped out a five-yard gain with an offensive holding penalty, and while the Saints were able to overcome Lance’s hold by converting a first down, Kevin Austin then committed an offensive pass interference to wipe away a 10-yard gain on a screen.
The defense had some especially egregious penalties. Even if there is some room for debate on rookie Lorenzo Styles’ defensive pass interference that allowed the Rams to convert a fourth and 3, New Orleans was also penalized twice for having 12 defensive players on the field.
Finally, with the offense in desperation mode midway through the fourth quarter, the Saints had a fourth-and-1 conversion from their own 33-yard line negated by an illegal formation.
“We weren’t aligned correctly,” Moore said. “The officials were right, 100 %.”
The final accounting for the Saints’ 12 penalties: Two for offensive holding, two for defensive pass interference, two for 12 men on the field, and one each for false start, unnecessary roughness, illegal formation, offensive pass interference, defensive holding and ineligible receiver downfield.