At one point in time, facing the New England Patriots was seen as something of an automatic loss before the game even began. To beat the Patriots was the equivalent to taking down Alabama for a college football team.
But times have changed, and Bill Belichick’s team no longer holds quite that same level of power, heading into its upcoming matchup against the New Orleans Saints looking to return to the right side of the win column.
The Saints look to do the same after falling 26-9 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here’s a look into three storylines to watch:
1. Still early, but something of a must-win game.
It sounds a bit odd to call a game this early in the season a “must win” contest. But given the tone — a lackluster one at that — the Saints have set to this point in the season, coupled with the upcoming schedule, a loss here bodes badly for the future.
The schedule toughens up away as the Saints face their division opponents down the line and, for lack of better words, teams that have done far better than them offensively. There’s no denying the bar is set pretty low, though.
2. Much ado -- or not -- about offense.
The Saints signed former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to a huge contract in the offseason as their moves, including but not limited to that one, implied a playoffs-or-bust mentality.
That’s hardly going according to plan as the Saints have fought their way out of close games, winning or losing by a margin of 3 points or less in every game this season outside of their latest loss.
Many are pointing their fingers at different figures both on the sideline and within the roster, but perhaps the most common of those is offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael.
Carmichael himself said that he “has to get better” and he and his unit have the opportunity to do just that Sunday. Pass protection has improved, something that may help open the offense up, but that will have to continue into the remainder of the season.
Chris Olave could be in for a big game if so, something that could greatly benefit New Orleans.
3. Will the Patriots put up points, either?
The Saints are not the only ones coming into this game with an underwhelming offense. The Patriots have been equally as unexplosive on this side of the ball, scoring 20 or less points in every single game this season.
In their latest outing, the Patriots scored just 3 points in their 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Expect this to be a low-scoring outing that will come down to who has the better defense, unless one team is able to hit its stride for the first true time of the season on the other side of the ball.
The Saints have one of the NFL’s most respectable defenses, though the offense needs to do a better job of getting them off the field and doing well in all three phases of the game.
