A “decent amount of work” meant Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints starters played three series in Sunday night’s preseason game with the San Francisco 49ers. That’s one more possession than the the team played against the Arizona Cardinals a week ago.
That extra possession was the biggest difference from last week, both in number of plays and production. Against Arizona, the Saints produced two quick, lackluster drives. Derek Carr and company didn’t start much different against the San Francisco 49ers.
Chris Olave remained the main target. Carr remained inaccurate on out routes. The product on the field felt uncomfortably similar to last week’s performance.
Things changed on the third possession. The Saints drove 95 yards down the field for a touchdown. As a reference, New Orleans’ starting unit hadn’t totaled 95 yards all preseason in four possessions.
They leaned into the running game more effectively. Carr handed the ball off on 10 of 16 plays on the drive, including a couple of creative plays involving Taysom Hill lining up in the backfield. He then complimented the run game with a couple of short passes and a splash play to Olave.
This was easily the Saints best possession of the preseason. They took it from goal line to goal line with their ideal version of the offense. The run dictated the offense and made the right plays through the air when needed. This is the growth we’ve been looking for from Carr and Klint Kubiak’s offense. Let’s see if they can sustain it.
