Postgame notes from New Orleans Saints' 32-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs

Saints fall to 10-4

Dec 20, 2020 at 09:47 PM

-With the 32-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Dec. 20 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the Saints fall to 10-4 and lose back-to-back games for the second time this season. New Orleans returns to action Friday, Dec. 25 when it takes on the Minnesota Vikings at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. central on Fox.

-With the loss, New Orleans' all-time record vs. Kansas City falls to 5-7.

-New Orleans amassed 285 yards, including 225 passing and a season-low 60 rushing. The Saints were held to a season-low 18:46 time of possession. New Orleans' 29 points scored is its most since scoring 31 at Denver on Nov. 29.

-New Orleans held Kansas City to 232 passing yards, its lowest passing total since Oct. 25 and ended a Kansas City streak of six straight games with at least 300 yards passing. New Orleans also surrendered 179 rushing yards.

-New Orleans' defense extends its streak to 17 straight games without allowing 300 yards passing to an individual player, second to Pittsburgh's 23 among active streaks.

-New Orleans recorded four sacks of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, moving New Orleans' total to 40 sacks on the season. New Orleans has now recorded at least 40 sacks in four consecutive seasons for the first time since the team did so from 1995-2001.

-New Orleans' defense forced one turnover, a Mahomes fourth-quarter fumble forced by defensive end Trey Hendrickson, extending its streak to seven straight games recording at least one takeaway. Seven games is the Saints' longest streak since recording a turnover in nine straight games in Weeks 8-16 of the 2018 season.

-New Orleans forced its first safety of the season, when linebacker Craig Robertson forced a fumble by Kansas City punt returner Demarcus Robinson that traveled out of the end zone with 20 seconds to play in the first half. The Saints last recorded a safety on Oct. 20, 2019 in a 36-25 victory at Chicago.

-For Coach Sean Payton, the loss drops his record to 1-2 all-time vs. Kansas City and 0-1 at home against the Chiefs.

-Quarterback Drew Brees made the 285th regular-season appearance of his career, good for sole possession of 17th all-time in NFL record books. In his first game since Nov. 15, Brees finished 15-of-34 for 234 passing yards and three touchdowns, marking the 96th time Brees has thrown for at least three touchdowns in his career.

-Running back Alvin Kamara scored his 15th touchdown of the season on a 14-yard reception from Brees with 9:49 to play. Kamara becomes the first player in Saints history to score 15 touchdowns in two separate seasons, having scored 18 touchdowns (14 rushing, four receiving) during the 2018 campaign. The touchdown was the 53rd score of Kamara's career, which moves him into a tie for fourth place in club record books with running back Dalton Hilliard. Kamara finished with 54 rushing yards on 11 carries and 40 receiving yards on three catches.

-Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders recorded his longest reception of the season on a 51-yard completion from Brees with 11:38 to play in the second quarter. The catch set up the Saints' first score, a Taysom Hill 1-yard touchdown run two plays later. Sanders finished with four receptions for 76 yards, his highest total since recording 122 yards in the Saints' 30-27 Week 5 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.

-Hill rushed for his sixth touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run with 10:24 to play in the second quarter, setting a franchise record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single season (breaking a tie with Archie Manning's five in 1977). Hill finished with three yards on two rushing attempts.

-Wide receiver Lil'Jordan Humphrey scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on a 17-yard reception from Brees with 2:12 to play. Playing in the sixth game of his career and first of the 2020 season, Humphrey becomes the 73rd player to catch a touchdown from Brees, the 94th to catch a pass from him in the regular season. Humphrey finished with two receptions for 29 yards and the one score.

-Linebacker Demario Davis led New Orleans with 15 tackles, marking his fourth game this season with double-digit stops and his most as a Saint. Davis recorded the 1,000th tackle of his career on his fourth stop of the game, tackling Kansas City running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire with 19 seconds left in the first quarter. Davis has 106 tackles this season, becoming the first Saints defender to surpass 100 tackles in three consecutive seasons since Curtis Lofton did so from 2012-14.

-Safety Malcolm Jenkins finished second on the Saints with a season-high 12 tackles, marking his first game of the season with double-digit stops. Jenkins added one tackle for loss.

-Defensive end Trey Hendrickson recorded his third game of the season with at least 2.0 sacks, moving his season total to 12.5 sacks good for first amongst all NFL defenders alongside Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Green Bay Packers linebacker Za'Darius Smith. Hendrickson added five quarterback hits and one forced fumble.

-Cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson recorded a career-high three pass defenses and has broken up at least one pass in each of the Saints last six games. Gardner-Johnson added four tackles.

-Defensive end Carl Granderson recorded his third sack of 2020 and second in December, taking down Mahomes for an 8-yard loss with 4:23 left in the first quarter. The sack was Granderson's lone tackle in the game.

-Linebacker Kwon Alexander recorded the 500th tackle of his career, stopping Edwards-Helaire with 5:55 to play in the fourth quarter. Alexander came into the game with 494 career stops, and finished with six tackles, one pass defense, and one fumble recovery.

-Punter Thomas Morstead averaged 47.3 yards on eight punts, which included one punt downed inside the 20-yard line, the 250th such punt of his career. Morstead becomes the 35th player to have 250 career punts downed inside the 20-yard line since the statistic was first tracked in 1976.

-Tight end Jared Cook recorded two receptions for 29 yards. Cook now has 498 receptions, which moves him into a tie for 21st all-time for receptions by a tight end with former Vikings tight end Steve Jordan, the father of Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan.

-Running back Latavius Murray recorded his first touchdown reception of the season on a third quarter 24-yard catch-and-run from Brees. The score capped off the Saints' four-play 75-yard drive to open the second half and gave New Orleans its first lead. Murray finished with two receptions for 26 yards and rushed four times for three yards.

-The Saints extended their streak to 302 regular-season games without being shut out, the longest such running streak in the NFL and fourth-longest all-time. The streak dates back to September 6, 2002, when New Orleans defeated Tampa Bay 26-20 at Raymond James Stadium.

Photos: Game Action #1 | Saints-Chiefs Week 15 2020