The New Orleans Saints have to make a change. It is unfathomable that they haven’t already. This is a team that looks broken, from top to bottom. They have lost six straight games now after getting hammered by the Los Angeles Chargers 26-8 in a game that felt worse than what the box score shows. Let’s get into what happened here.
Injuries Weren’t The Problem For The Saints
First things first, injuries were not the main concern for once. This team finally got some of their star power back for this matchup and it ultimately didn’t make a difference. We got to see Taysom Hill, Pete Werner, Cesar Ruiz, Chris Olave, and Lucas Patrick all back out on the field today, yet the team still came out flat. It was honestly a nice wake-up call for the coaching staff, who appear to be convinced that this roster is better than what their record shows due to injuries suffered. Don’t get me wrong, the injuries have been terrible in New Orleans this season, but right now, that isn’t what is holding them back.
Offense Is Uninspiring
This offense just looks miserable. People don’t like Derek Carr much, but since he’s been out of the lineup, this unit doesn’t even look competitive. Spencer Rattler could very well end up being the quarterback of the future for this franchise, but that doesn’t mean he’s not playing poorly right now. Rattler started the game well before severely cooling off as it went on. He had 12 completions on 24 pass attempts for 156 yards without a touchdown or an interception. It was late in the third quarter when he got benched in favor of Jake Haener to try and spark this group. Haener completed nine of his 17 attempts for 122 scoreless yards also. Neither player stepped up and made a difference here, showcasing how much this group depends upon Carr (even if fans don’t like him).
Outside of quarterback play, this group just doesn’t have many playmakers in general. Alvin Kamara is dynamic of course, same goes for Olave and Taysom Hill, but besides them, it is super thin. Bub Means exited with an injury, Juwan Johnson often disappears in games, Mason Tipton hasn’t shown anything special, and those are the only names that caught a ball today. You can’t continue to rely upon three players to make an entire offense work, because that won’t consistently win you games in the NFL, it just won’t.
Defense Couldn’t Get Control Of The Game
Flipping over to the defense here, I was very pleasantly surprised at how effectively the Saints handled the Chargers’ rushing attack. J.K. Dobbins took 17 carries and turned them into 57 yards and a touchdown. It isn’t ideal from the Saints’ point of view, but 3.4 yards per carry is just fine to me. Kimani Vidal had six rushes for 16 yards, and Justin Herbert had four for 49 (though one was a 35-yard scramble that inflated those numbers). All in all, the run defense and defensive line in general made some plays today, which was a welcome change. Unfortunately, the secondary was left in the dust. Herbert completed 20 of his 32 pass attempts for 279 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Ladd McConkey had the best game of his NFL career with six receptions for 111 yards and two touchdowns. This team let up big chunk plays after big chunk plays in the passing game and could have gotten burned on a lot more had the Chargers not dropped a few passes.
It also doesn’t help that the cornerback depth is becoming a true problem. We all saw what happened to Paulson Adebo last week when he fractured his femur. This already left the unit limited in what they could do. This week, we saw Marshon Lattimore exit with an injury, not returning for the remainder of the game, and Rico Payton leave with his injury. This left the team with basically just three defensive backs Alontae Taylor, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and Ugo Amadi. They have been decimated back in the secondary, and now that’s showing up right when the defensive line plays better than before.
Changes MUST Be Made
I’m going to continue saying this, but it is time to rebuild. It is time to make a coaching change. General Manager Mickey Loomis said that we need to look beyond the results of the season, but the results are starting at us in the face weekly. This isn’t a good team on offense and defense, and this starts with coaching. For the third week in a row now, I would be very surprised to see Dennis Allen coaching another game for this football club. If he does, then it is becoming clear that management is content with losing like this. The Saints make every opponent look better than they are, and it doesn’t matter what part of their team plays well, others will drag that performance down through the mud. Fans are tired of hearing that the team “needs to play better” from the coaches. The results are the results, a change is necessary.
Respect To The Chargers
As for the Chargers, they played a great game. Herbert looked in control from the very beginning and they didn’t let up. They put their foot on the gas pedal late in the fourth quarter and scored a late touchdown to seal it. It wasn’t running up the score, it was just playing until the whistle, when the Saints appeared to have given up. Los Angeles also got after Rattler and Haener, bringing pressure on numerous occasions to throw off any type of rhythm that they might have developed throughout the game. All-around great showing from them, they deserved the win today and they got exactly that. As for the Saints, it is back to the drawing board once more with an extremely difficult matchup ahead of us. They get the Carolina Panthers next week, followed by the Atlanta Falcons. If they lose to the Panthers, they are officially in last place in the division and last place in the NFC entirely. Safe to say that this is a meaningful matchup.