The New Orleans Saints struggled in a tough beating at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles with a 40-29 loss in Week 11. While missing the services of a handful of players, the Saints weren't able to gain momentum, especially on the offensive end en route to a third straight defeat.

Currently, Sean Payton and his squad are still sitting in the second spot of the NFC South with a 5-5 record, thanks to the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons losing games. The Saints will definitely have to double their effort as they will be facing a Buffalo Bills squad that is also raring to get a win on Thanksgiving.

With that, here are three takeaways from the Saints' disappointing loss to the Eagles in Week 11 action.

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New Orleans Saints Week 11 Takeaways

3. Trevor Siemian must be better after a rough outing

The Saints are having a hard time getting their offense going with the absence of their QB1 in Jameis Winston due to a season-ending torn ACL injury. Taysom Hill is also nursing a foot injury and was surprisingly activated against the Eagles, though he was only supposed to check in an emergency situation.

The Saints have turned to Trevor Siemian at quarterback, and it didn't go well this past weekend. He struggled for the first three quarters of the game as New Orleans failed to put up points across the board. Siemian eventually bounced back in the final frame, though it was already too deep of a hole for them to get out of and was basically just garbage time.

The Northwestern product finished the game with 214 yards on 22-of-40 passing to go with three touchdowns and two interceptions. With the inaccuracy of his passes along with several bad throws (including one real bad pick-6), the depleted Saints offense found it even harder to gain rhythm without its best players on the field.

Certainly enough, Siemian will have to find ways to get better and learn from his errors in order to give the Saints a fighting chance to win their next games in the weeks to come.

2. Saints' defense got burned

Without a doubt, the Saints' defensive unit remains one of the best in the league as of the moment. However, with the team's offense mightily struggling, the defensive rotation was forced to see a lot more action on the field. This eventually caused exhaustion for Saints defenders throughout the game, as they failed to limit the Eagles' offensive weapons in Week 11.

Opposing QB Jalen Hurts ran for 69 yards on 18 carries for three touchdowns, while Miles Sanders also broke loose with 94 yards on 16 attempts. Tight end Dallas Goedert and wide receiver DeVonta Smith also left their imprint on the game with 62 and 61 receiving yards, respectively.

Indeed, the Saints' rushing defense wasn't at its best. The rest of the defensive rotation also couldn't keep up with the fast pace of the Eagles, which resulted in a big number going up on the board.

On a normal day, the Saints' defense could manhandle the Eagles' offense, though the struggles of New Orleans in the scoring department definitely held them back in their efforts to successfully mount a late comeback in the game.

1. Saints are looking disjointed and have a bumpy road ahead

Over the past few weeks, Sean Payton and his men have been going through tough times without its best players in Jameis Winston, Alvin Kamara, and Terron Armstead, among others, due to injuries. These key injuries have impacted the Saints in a big way, now with three consecutive losses after starting the 2021 season with a sterling 5-2 record.

With their most recent loss to the Eagles, it looks like the Saints have yet to resolve their errors on the field and still have a lot of work to do to get back on track. Luckily, there's still plenty of time left in the season to do so, and they're still holding on to the No. 7 spot in the NFC. There are a lot of teams jockeying for position at the bottom of the NFC playoff picture, though, so there's going to be a lot of movement as this season comes down the stretch.

To add to their woes, the Saints also have a tough schedule ahead as they are set to face the Bills for Week 12 and the Dallas Cowboys the week after. Hopefully, New Orleans will regroup and bounce back as soon as it can in order to save the 2021 season.