The New Orleans Saints were one of the NFL’s most intriguing teams with a sky-high ceiling heading into the 2023 season.
But they’ve fallen flat in a number of areas that need some notable adjustments for them to get where they need to be on all three cylinders as a team, falling by a touchdown or less in three of their four losses this year.
Even with an overall record of 3-4, the Saints are still in the hunt to win a division that the Atlanta Falcons currently lead (4-3). Here’s a look into three things we know and three things we need to know seven games in.
1. Alvin Kamara is still Alvin Kamara, and that’s incredibly important
There has been plenty of talk surrounding the talent the Saints have on the offensive side of the ball and it is hard to argue that anyone other than Kamara leads the pack for them there.
Kamara has looked like the more vintage version of himself, playing with some additional speed and pop to his game since returning from his suspension. He’s been exactly the dual-threat, jack-of-all trades running back that so many at the position model themselves after, totaling 29 touches and a total of 152 yards as he led the team in both rushing and receiving in the loss to the Jaguars.
The Saints are going to need to keep him heavily involved, and find even more ways to implement him with the rate the offense is going. Kamara has spoken candidly about changes that need to be made there multiple times.
“It’s been two years since we had that offense that was rolling. Now we’re kind of in this rut of,” Kamara said in a press conference at the beginning of the month. “It is what it is right now… We’ve got to have some conversations about something. Because I don’t like losing.”
2. The defense has lived up to its reputation
The Saints were heralded as potentially having not only one of the best defensive units in the division, but in the NFL as a whole ahead of the 2023 season. That has held true and has played a major role in keeping them in football games.
Even though the Saints have not always come out on the right side of the win column, the effort on defense is usually something they can hang their hat on with an overall group that can contend with the league’s best.
But, regardless of all of this, the Saints need to reach a point where they can play complementary football both to get the defense off the ground so they can maintain energy and to eliminate the responsibility from that side of the ball to constantly be bailing them out.
The unit currently ranks fifth in the NFL in total defense, allowing an average of 285.7 yards per game.
3. Derek Carr is what we thought he may be
The Saints took a playoffs-or-bust approach with the moves they made in the offseason, though that hasn’t exactly worked out the way it was planned to when looking at where the team sits at this point in the season. The acquisition of Carr was a big part of that when the team signed him to a four-year, $150 million contract back in March.
One of the biggest things that stood out about Carr was that while he looked like a potential top-tier quarterback in spurts with Raiders, he has always struggled to stay steady and has had a questionable touchdown-to-interception ratio, regardless of the amount or lack thereof of talent surrounding him.
All of that, along with decision-making and accuracy issues about, have been the case in his time with the Saints. That’s reflected both in the film and on the stat sheet, in which has completed 63.9% of his passes for 1,600 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions so far.
The Fresno State product has taken note of these woes and puts a lot of the Saints’ issues on himself to fix.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to fix it,” Carr said in his postgame press conference after the 31-24 loss to the Jaguars. “I’m okay if a guy gets beat or if they make a play, they’re going to make plays, but there are some things in football that are completely controllable that I think we can do better.”
1. Can the Saints establish rhythm and consistency under Pete Carmichael?
The Saints have been a solid team on the offensive side of the ball in the past, but that hasn’t been the case on a long-term, consistent basis since the Drew Brees era. While Carr may simply be what he is and has reached his ceiling barring anything completely unexpected, the blame needs to be placed beyond the quarterback.
The Saints have found some life in the passing game with the return of Kamara despite still failing to get much of anything going in the run game, but need to allow their skill players to reach their full potential. That’s where offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and his decisions come into play.
One of the most puzzling things to look back on is the way the Saints outgained the Houston Texans, 430 to 297 yards of total offense in a loss. That hardly mattered though, as the Saints had a difficult time making it happen in the red zone, as has been an issue since.
Through the first six games of the season, the Saints had traveled to the red zone 19 times. They converted on just seven of those attempts.
2. Can the Saints capitalize on the opportunities that come their way?
In the past two games, which resulted in losses to the Houston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Saints have had almost too many opportunities to count in which they have failed to capitalize upon.
By the numbers, Carr looked solid in the 20-13 loss to the Texans as he was 32-of-50 passing for 353 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The only issue is that the Saints’ failures came in the most key of moments. That culminated in the last two drives of the game squandered on an unsuccessful fourth-down attempt and an interception from Carr.
In a game where the Saints trailed by just a touchdown, these mistakes made all the difference in the final outcome, which could have leaned heavily toward New Orleans.
In the fall to the Jaguars, the team impressed defensively as it forced a pair of turnovers with little return by the offense. One of those resulted in a 23-yard field goal from Blake Grupe. The rookie kicker also left points on the board in his own right with a missed 51-yard attempt in the first quarter.
So close, yet so far away, seems to be the narrative.
3. Will injuries continue to haunt the Saints?
In addition to some sputtering on the offense, the injury bug seems to have caught the Saints with a strong grip that certainly has not helped anything. Establishing consistency within the offensive line has been a particularly injury-related issue, as the group has been something of a revolving door due to ailing players.
Heading down a difficult stretch, staying healthy will be of the utmost importance for the Saints to remain contenders within a division filled with teams that have also had their fair share of issues – something that works to the Saints’ advantage as they continue to try to find their identity.
The Saints had some 13 players on their injury report heading into Thursday’s game against the Jaguars. Several key players were included in that list:
Tight end Juwan Johnson (DNP), safety J.T. Gray (DNP), offensive tackle Landon Young (DNP), offensive guard James Hurst (DNP), offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk (DNP), linebacker Demario Davis (DNP), safety Lonnie Johnson (limited), defensive end Cam Jordan (limited), safety Tyrann Mathieu (limited), wide receiver Chris Olave (limited), offensive guard Andrus Peat (limited), running back Jamaal Williams (limited) and quarterback Derek Carr (full participant) all found themselves listed.
Many of them played against the Jaguars last week, but the Saints still have a long list on the injury report going into Sunday’s game with the Indianapolis Colts. They must shake these injuries and keep their best players on the field.
