Canton, so base on your logic, it is the Saints Offensive fault for scoring only 32 points against the #1 defensive. And the Saints Defense bear no responsibility for allowing an inept 49ers Offense to score 36 points. Really....?:smilielol:
Its hard to play good D when you are on the field the entire game, but I agree that the defense does bear some responsibility.
That said, this has never been a smothering defense, and without the turnovers, the 9ers only scored 19 points. If we keep the ball on those 5 possessions, don't you think we could have scored at least the 17 they scored on us? Then you are looking at a painfully lopsided victory for the Saints.
The point is, don't look at the game in terms of a single drive or even a single unit. It was a team loss. We had some key offensive people out, the D was predictable, and I recall it was very windy that day with a wet field. For me, its just too hard to overlook the offense and special teams continually breaking the golden rule of football "no turnovers".