With their loss on the road against the Minnesota Vikings, the Saints wasted an opportunity to separate themselves from the rest of the NFC South. New Orleans sits at 5-5, still very much in the postseason picture, but are just a half game up on both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons.
This is despite the fact the Saints added Derek Carr this offseason, and entered the year as the likely favorite to win the division. Such is the New Orleans way -- especially with this coaching group led by Dennis Allen -- to make matters tougher than they should be.
Injuries and turnovers often tell the story of any game, including this one. Derek Carr was replaced by Jameis Winston thanks to an injury. Neither quarterback was able to hold onto the ball consistently, and gave Josh Dobbs and the Vikings a short field. Michael Thomas also went down with an injury, and this receiving corps has been a huge distraction of late thanks to off-field concerns with MT and Chris Olave.
Both Derek Carr and Jameis Winston deserve some criticism for Saints defeat
Carr wasn't necessarily playing poorly when he went out with an injury, as he completed 13-of-18 passes, though he did fumble once. Perhaps the bigger indictment for Carr was his inability to put the Saints in a position to score against this Vikings defense. Carr was signed to a lucrative contract this past offseason with that goal in mind. Instead, the Saints offense looked stagnant with him on the field.
Enter Jameis Winston, who was able to apply some pressure on the Minnesota secondary with his arm. Jameis threw for two touchdowns, and has a tremendous amount of arm talent. However, with that talent also comes a gunslinger mentality that came back to haunt New Orleans late.
Winston threw two late interceptions, the latter of which cost the Saints dearly. Winston may be a backup, as he was forced into a tough situation unexpectedly, but he's also a former top draft pick and a starting-caliber passer for some teams. Fans should expect better from him.
Dennis Allen calls most the defensive plays, and the Saints fell short on that end
The Saints pass rush recorded just one sack on the day and failed to apply much pressure on Josh Dobbs, a veteran passer in just his second game starting with Minnesota. Yes, Dobbs is a tremendous story, but he should not be knifing through the Saints defense at this rate.
Allen and the Saints defensive line put its secondary in a tough spot, especially given the lack of Vikings game tape with Dobbs as a starter. At this point, that's still a decisive advantage for Minnesota -- very few teams have seen Kevin O'Connell's offense with Dobbs at the helm.
Dobbs and the Vikings didn't turn the ball over, while the Saints did so frequently, especially late. Minnesota also remained committed to its ground attack despite a 3.8 yards per carry average. They ran the ball for over 120 yards, mixing in just enough of a rushing threat to keep the Saints honest. It was a reliable game plan for O'Connell, but Allen surely deserves some blame here.
Pete Carmichael is on the hot seat in New Orleans, and for good reason
Despite having their backup quarterback in the game, Pete Carmichael refused to do what the Vikings were able to achieve so successfully -- relying on the run game. Once Carr was injured, the Saints and Vikings were playing with the same disadvantage -- neither Winston nor Dobbs was expected to be the starting quarterback this season.
Instead, Carmichael put Winston in position to fail, forcing him to play hero-ball. The end result was an offense that moved the ball fairly well in the passing game at times, but turned it over with regularity.
The Saints ran the ball just 15 times on Sunday. Alvin Kamara is one of the best running backs in football at his best, and averaged over four yards per carry. The only problem? Kamara touched the ball in the run game just nine times. That's not nearly enough.
Carmichael preached progress on the offensive side of the ball just this week. The Saints scored only 19 points. Something has to change moving forward, and it could be time for Allen to consider his offensive coordinator as part of the problem.
