It was another tough game to watch for the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, as they squeaked out a win against the Carolina Panthers. The day was defined by two quarterbacks, Derek Carr and Bryce Young, unable to find much that worked on the offensive side of the ball. Still, the Saints walked away with a victory and are tied for first place in the NFC South.
How did we get here? Let’s break it down by asking and answering three questions:
What went right?
What went wrong?
And what’s the bottom line?
What went right?
Despite the final score being 28-6, there wasn’t a ton that went right for the New Orleans Saints in this one.
Without Taysom Hill in the game, the already shaky red zone gameplan took a huge hit. One thing that the Saints did in this game that proved to work was using Jimmy Graham as a target in the end zone. Graham made an impressive catch earlier in the game and was rewarded with a target that he brought in for a score. Despite being 37 years old, the 6’7 tight end proved to still be a threat in certain situations.
The defense has been disappointing for most of this season, but a bright spot has been rookie safety Jordan Howden. He led the team with 10 tackles while adding a sack and a pass deflection.
What went wrong?
Derek Carr still has not been playing well enough, even with two touchdown passes in this one. He had under 50 passing yards until a ways into the fourth quarter, which is just not good enough to win games against competent teams.
Frustration mounted after Carr took a sack and then he and Erik McCoy walked off the field with a huge argument. Things seemed to calm down by the end of the game, but it wasn’t a pretty site for a while.
The run defense of the Saints also continues to struggle. Chuba Hubbard had 87 yards on the day and backup running back Miles Sanders had 74. Bryce Young had 40 as well, running quarterbacks also still an issue for the defense.
Blake Grupe had another miss, this time on a chip shot 29-yard field goal. His game against the Falcons had inspired some hope that he was behind his woes, but the miss today brings his field goal percentage back down to just 77.4%
And what's the bottom line?
Despite everything, the Saints got the win and are tied for the division lead at 6-7. The Saints might not have all of the looks of a playoff team, but still stand in prime position to host a playoff game. They do not currently have another game this season against a team with a winning record, but do still play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons. It’s far too early to tell what’s going to happen with the playoff race.
Either way, it might be hard for fans to get excited about the playoffs given how the team has been playing. They are still a long ways away from consistency and are running out of time to fix things.
So what comes next?
We’re headed for the third game in this homestand with the New York Giants visiting next week. It’s a big opportunity for the Saints to get back to .500 and maybe break the tie on top of the NFC South standings. But this is an opponent they can’t afford to take lightly. The Giants defense has shut down better offenses than New Orleans’ this year and rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito could make enough plays against their slow pass rush to make a difference. It has all the makings of a trap game.
