The New Orleans Saints lost their week two matchup against the Panthers in embarrassing fashion. After putting on a show week one against Green Bay, the whole team was disappointing to watch.
While this was upsetting to watch, there is no reason to overreact. It’s only the second game of the year, there were injuries and Covid related issues for the Saints but that’s no excuse. There should be some concern for some aspects of the team but there were still some positives from the game. Let’s hope that this is just the week 2 curse and the Saints get back on track going forward. Here’s my notes on what needs improvement, how it can be improved and the positives from the game.
Negatives
- Penalties. Penalties all game killed the Saints, I wrote last week about how the Saints need to not let the penalties kill them. Whenever the Saints did something productive a flag would be thrown that play or the next. The Saints continuously shot themselves in the foot, they would take one step toward then take two steps back. They had 11 penalties for 115 yards, that should never happen. Every year this seems to be a problem for the Saints in the beginning of the year and get cleaned up at some point, but those penalties are going to lose games for the Saints if they aren’t cleaned up.
- Communication. If the Saints want to have any offensive production in the future they have to communicate better, it shouldn’t matter how loud the stadium is or where they are playing. Terron Armstead mentioned that the offensive line did a terrible job communicating on blitz pickups which ultimately affected the whole game. Winston as well needs to communicate with the line prior to the snap of where the blitz is coming from. The Panthers weren’t hiding their blitzes, they just came in swarming and Winston needed to diagnose that and alert his linemen about it pre snap. Winston was sacked four times and lost a total of 31 yards. The Saints just shot themselves in the foot there.
- Offense. The offense looked the worst it’s been in years. The last game I can recall the offense being this bad was 2018 vs the Cowboys and at Carolina. The offense only had 128 yards, 48 of them were rushing yards. Those 128 yards are the lowest in the Sean Payton era in New Orleans. There’s a lot of issues and concerns on this offense and I’ll go into detail on each one of them individually.
- Receivers. The receivers absolutely have to be better. Prior to Sunday’s game I wasn’t too concerned with the recovery room and didn’t think it was a position in much need. After today though it most definitely is something that Sean Payton should look into. They couldn’t create separation off the line and since they couldn’t do that, Winston couldn’t throw to anyone when he was blitzed. Obviously some routes take time to develop more than others but it’s something that needs to be evaluated this week by the front office.
- Play Calling. The game plan for Sunday’s game was definitely not ideal. There were only 13 designed run plays called, and Alvin Kamara was barely involved in the game. I don’t want the Saints to run the ball 25 times a game but running the ball opens up the passing game and keeps the defense on it’s heels. Especially when you have someone like Alvin Kamara and a backup like Tony Jones, it might be smart to get them running a little bit. Sean Payton said himself that play calling could’ve been better.
- Jameis Winston. I’m not gonna sit here and say Winston is all at fault cause he isn’t. He was pressured almost every time he had the ball in his hands and the offensive line couldn’t give him time. However, there were too many occasions where Winston was indecisive. He couldn’t choose if he should run or throw the ball and ended up taking a sack. Another occasion where Winston messed up was throwing an interception before halftime. At that point the Saints were in desperate need of points and that was gut wrenching. He needs to learn that taking a sack is a much better outcome as opposed to turning the ball over. Winston needs to work on ball control and management and I’m sure Payton will address it this week.
- Conversions. The Saints just couldn’t convert in third down which was just painful to watch. This put the defense back on the field and gassed them even more. They were 2-11 on third downs and 0-2 on fourth downs. Not much else needs to be said, it was a bad day for the offense.
Positives
- While this game was a disaster there were some positives from it, and one of them was the special teams play. Deonte Harris had 156 kick return yards on only five returns averaging 31.2 yards a return and had one that went for 39 yards. The overall kick return team had 173 kick return yards. The special teams group also had a block field goal attempt which could’ve been a game changer but the offense couldn’t do anything off it. Let’s not forget the punt team as well, Blake Gillikin had six punts for 294 yards and one inside the 20 with an average of 49 yards a punt and a long of 60. He did have a bad punt or two but the others were bombs down the field. The final special teams shoutout is Ty Montgomery who has been a stud in place of Justin Hardee and is making himself known as a special teams guy.
- While the defense didn’t look as elite as it did last week it still had its good moments. Considering guys like Marshon Lattimore, CGJ, Kwon, etc. were out; after the first quarter or so the defense did figure out a way to get off the field. It was the poor execution by the offense that put the defense right back on the field just after getting off. Yes the Panthers had 26 points but the defense is something I wouldn’t be super concerned about. They had goal-line stops and created opportunities for the offense. The defense was rocky at first but figured it out at one point, only so much they can do.
Written By Kadin Janisch
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