With the Saints leading 16-3 and facing second-and-8 near midfield with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on Monday night, Mark Ingram caught a short pass and had a clear path to pick up a first down. Bizarrely, Ingram stepped out of bounds a yard short of the first down.
If Ingram had picked up the first down, the Saints probably would have won the game: A fresh set of downs would have given them more plays to keep the clock running, and the Bucs wouldn’t have had time for their two late touchdown drives.
But Ingram stepping out of bounds left the Saints with third-and-1, they threw incomplete on that play and then punted on fourth-and-1, and the rest was history: Tom Brady marched the Buccaneers down the field for two touchdown drives and the Bucs won 17-16.
After the game, Ingram admitted he was to blame.
“I’m sick about this one,” Ingram wrote on Twitter. “Regardless of circumstances or how I feel I have to get that fresh set of downs for the squad. I apologize to my teammates my coaches and my city for a crucial mistake. We work way too hard and sacrifice blood sweat and tears. I will be better.”
It was an enormous missed opportunity, in a game that effectively ended any opportunity the Saints had at winning the NFC South. Ingram knows he cost his team dearly.
