The honeymoon phase is over. The New Orleans Saints didn’t look anything like the team that became the talk of the NFL through the first two weeks in Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Klint Kubiak can’t hide Derek Carr forever, and even if they had some key injuries, the offense just looked completely out of sorts. No wonder they lost 15-12.
Already without their best chess piece in Taysom Hill, the Saints had to play without Erik McCoy after just a couple of snaps, which disrupted communication on offense throughout the afternoon. But much of the blame falls on Carr. He threw too many bad balls in this game. Two touchdown passes to Rashid Shaheed were dropped because his placement was off. He foolishly turned the ball over on a game-losing interception in the final minute by biting off more than he could chew attacking the deep middle of the field.
Kubiak did a great job limiting Carr’s responsibilities through the first two weeks by leaning on play action and sliding his release point around in the pocket. But the Eagles defensive line played with a lot of discipline and didn’t give Carr any time to move and read the field. Not every defense can do that. Those that can have proven Carr can’t carry this team to a win.
And ultimately this all falls on the head coach. Dennis Allen’s defense created a lot of opportunities for the offense, including a couple of turnovers and a first-half shutout, but they folded late. Tight end Dallas Goedert had a career day against them (10 catches for 170 yards), including a pivotal field-flipping reception when three Saints defenders collided with each other on third-and-long. Allen has preached that bigger defensive linemen are better too stop the run but his defense gave up 6.9 yards per carry on Sunday. Saquon Barkley had his best game in years.
This was a humbling loss for the Saints. It brought many of their flaws back into the light, and we’ve gotten back to asking uncomfortable questions about them. Can Allen win three games in a row? He hasn’t yet. Can his team compete with good teams? Results are mixed. Can Carr guide them to the playoffs? Not if he plays like this, going 14-of-25 for just 142 yards.
It doesn’t get easier from here. The Saints need to regroup and prepare for a divisional matchup with the Atlanta Falcons next week. If they had won they could’ve seized the top spot in the NFC South after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got spanked by the Denver Broncos. Instead they’re praying on the Falcons’ downfall, but they were doing that anyway.
