The Saints had what would have been one of the more remarkable comebacks of the 2023 season slip through their fingers on Thursday night. For most of their Week 7 matchup against the Jaguars, New Orleans’ offense was sluggish and found themselves trailing 24-9 midway through the third quarter. However, it was after a Derek Carr pick-six that the offense started to show some life, so much so that they were able to tie the game at 24.
The Jaguars eventually answered that surge from the Saints with a 46-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead, but left over three minutes on the clock in regulation. New Orleans took the ball and marched all the way to the Jacksonville six-yard line with roughly 40 seconds left in the game.
Following a couple of incomplete passes by Carr, he dropped back on a third-and-6 play and found tight end Foster Moreau wide open in the back left side of the end zone. The quarterback then lofted the pass in Moreau’s direction and hit the tight end in the hands, but the ball popped out of his fingertips and he dropped what was as easy of a touchdown as you could hope for in that situation.
That score would have given the Saints the option to either tie the game with an extra point or attempt a two-point conversion and go for the win right then and there. However, those possible decisions were thrown out the window with the drop. After that play, the Saints went for it on fourth down and the Jaguars were able to break up a pass intended for Chris Olave, which led them to the 31-24 victory.
As the Jaguars were running down the clock, Moreau could be seen on the sideline visibly upset with himself and being consoled by his teammates. Per team reporter Erin Summers, Moreau was sitting on the bench postgame with his helmet still on. Then, running back Alvin Kamara came up to Moreau, hugged him, and walked him to the locker room.
That was Moreau’s lone drop of the game. Prior to that play, he had hauled in all three of his targets for 33 yards.
