The Saints have to find a tune up pretty soon

The New Orleans Saints finished last season with a subpar record of 7-10, which was tied for last in the atrocious NFC South. New Orleans came into the offseason with a few holes to fill, none bigger than a quarterback. There were several options at quarterback in free agency, as the Saints were unfortunately picking at the bottom of the first round in the 2023 NFL Draft, which led them to bring in free agent Derek Carr. The upgrade at Quarterback seemingly placed the Saints organization back in position to be contenders after struggling to find a future Hall of Famer Drew Brees replacement. Star wide receiver Michael Thomas was set to make his return, and he was going to be on the opposite side of the young emerging receiver Chris Olave, who had a great rookie campaign with over 1,000 receiving yards, 4 touchdowns, and 70 receptions.

Defense is the head of the snake for New Orleans; they feed off of attacking the quarterback, as they finished the 2022 season with 48 sacks, which was tied for 5th with Baltimore. Eight-time pro bowler Cameron Jordan lead the charge of the defense, and he is also the Saints all-time sack leader as he ended the 2022 season with 115.5 career sacks. The new season began, and the Saints were off to a good start as they began 2-0, but the offense seemed lackluster as they only scored a combined 37 points in their first two games. The New Orleans offense continued to show no signs of life, as they only scored 20 or more in one of their next four games. Coming into last night’s prime-time game against Jacksonville, the Saints were 2.5-point favorites at home going up against a banged-up Trevor Lawrence, who was a game-time decision. Early in the first quarter, the Saints forced two turnovers but were unable to capitalize as they only managed to produce three first quarter points.

The once dominant Saints defense appeared to be a shell of its old self as they gave up an opening drive touchdown for the first time in 18 games! Late in the 3rd quarter, the Saints were down 24-9, but they crawled back into the game and eventually tied the score with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Michael Thomas. The Jaguars marched down the field on the disappointing Saints defense and scored on a short pass that Christian Kirk turned into a 44-yard touchdown, but there was 3:08 remaining, which is an eternity in the NFL. Derek Carr and the Saints refused to accept defeat as they went on a long drive of their own, but they failed to tie the score mainly due to a dropped pass on the third and a goal by tight end Foster Moreau, 31-24. This loss drops New Orleans to 3-4, which is 3rd in their division and 2 games back from the first-place Buccaneers, who just beat them a few weeks ago. If the Saints don’t turn things around this season, expect big changes, especially in the head coach position. The second half of the season is approaching, and the Saints are in a poor division, so nothing is off the table just yet as we have a very long season ahead of us.