Disgusted. That's the best way to describe the look on the face of Saints players and coaches as they took the podium following another frustrating, mistake-filled loss.
This time it was a 20-13 defeat at the hands of the upstart Texans and their rookie head coach and quarterback. The Saints managed just 3 points in the second half and failed to score on five separate drives where a touchdown would've tied the game. That included multiple red zone trips and a missed chip shot.
The biggest slice of frustration comes with a side of familiarity, because red zone struggles are nothing new. They only seemed fixed in a 34-0 rout of the listless Patriots. Today it was 0-for-3, and the end zone only seemed further away the closer the Saints offense got to it.
The silver lining: The Saints are 3-3, and with an 0-4 day from NFC South teams they remain just a half game out of first in the division. But that's well outside of the frame right now. The Saints need to find answers, and fast. A talented Jaguars squad is headed to town on Thursday.
With all that in mind, here are my stock up and stock down (mostly down) players after a Week 6 disappointment.
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THREE DOWN
THE MISTAKE-PRONE
Derek Carr said he was livid when he came off the field. I'm sure that was at least in part directed at himself. But he was far from the only problem when it came to execution. The play-calling is another question entirely.
Carr was trying to operate behind a patchwork line, but that's not what caused the miscommunications on far too many routes throughout the game. The communication with Rashid Shaheed seemed particularly problematic. At one point Shaheed ran a wheel when Carr was expecting something else.
On the final drive it seemed like Carr had a chance at Shaheed, but they were again on different pages.
On another play it looked like Carr and Michael Thomas got their signals crossed. The QB oddly dumped the ball into the turf for a grounding penalty. The mistake was enough, Carr compounded it with a silly penalty out of ... frustration? I don't know. It was the story of the night.
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It's tough to pinpoint an exact source of the issues. Carr won't call anyone out, and Shaheed put together an impressive performance in between those moments. He had the Saints' lone touchdown on a deep ball in the first half. He went up and saved a likely interception for a big gain in the second half when Carr underthrew a deep ball. At a certain point it's difficult to not look at the coaching and ask what exactly is being missed. Criticism will land on the play-calling as it always does, I think the issues run deeper than that. I've said it before and I'll say it again: There's no good play call for bad football.
We're nearing the halfway mark of the season and miscues are still coming early and often. The Saints' margins are razor thin right now and the offense is on the wrong side of it too often. At some point enough has to be enough, right?
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THE RUN DEFENSE
It's difficult to blame the defense in a game where they held the opposition to 3 points in the second half, but the first half performance was still troubling. Too many yards surrendered on first down -- a similar issue that we saw in the loss to the Bucs -- made life way too easy on rookie C.J. Stroud.
The Texans ran wild in the first half with 90 yards by the end of the second quarter. Cam Jordan said after the game there was no real adjusment, it was just a matter of playing better. Somehow that's more troubling. Did the defense come out flat? Why? How?
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It's clear that veterans are frustrated right now. There are calls for accountability. Dennis Allen made it clear in the postgame: Do your job. If you can't, they'll find someone who can.
Is it fair to ask the defense to never miss a beat? Absolutely not. But that's the reality of this team right now. The run stopping has to be better.
Cam Jordan summed it up best: "There’s only one way to feel. We’ve got to get this sh** together.”
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K BLAKE GRUPE
A miss from 50-plus wouldn't have been nearly enough to land a rookie kicker on this list. But a failed 29-yarder? That might as well be an alarm bell. Just one week after winning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Blake Grupe was a problem in another Saints loss.
It's possible there was an issue in the process of the kick, but that can't be an excuse. In the end, that's 6 points that really should've been on the board. If Grupe had a perfect day, the Saints' final drive would've been likely been enough for a chip shot game-winner. With the way things were going, the Saints might have been better off with a 2-point attempt even if they got in on the final drive.
The Saints aren't going to second-guess themselves now on their kicker decision, but there's no question the rookie has injected some question marks into what was otherwise a rock-steady start to his NFL career. With an offense that seems to settle for field goals way more often than it should, he's got to be better than he was in Houston.
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DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
Zack Baun. I mean, ugh. The Saints did exactly what they wanted to do to open this game. C.J. Stroud made an ill-advised throw, and the Saints took advantage for the rookie's first interception of his career. Instead of just going down, Baun fought for more yards and fumbled. It was a massive momentum swing with Houston driving for a touchdown. Again, ugh. ... Marshon Lattimore. The first thing I'll say is that Nico Collins is a lot better than he's getting credit for. That said, Marshon is a star and has to win his matchup. He didn't do that enough today, and that's been the case too often the last few weeks. ... Kendre Miller. He didn't do anything "wrong," but he was too absent. Would certainly love to see him incorporated more. I don't think much went right in this game, so I won't hold it too much against the rookie. This is more about the offensive decision-making than anything else. ... OC Pete Carmichael. It's easy to heap everything on the play-calling. To me it's more about the actual coaching. Where is it?
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THREE UP
G/C/T CESAR RUIZ
It’s been a brutal year for Saints offensive linemen when it comes to head injuries. In three of the past four weeks the Saints have had a starter leave with a concussion. Cesar Ruiz was that guy in Week 3, and he’s since worked back.
But it was Ruiz today picking up the slack after Ryan Ramczyk went out with a head injury. Landon Young was out with a hip injury. James Hurst went down with an ankle injury. The Saints seemed out of option at right tackle. Cesar Ruiz stepped in.
Now, I genuinely don’t know if he did it well. That’s something I’ll have to watch on film. The Saints were at a massive disadvantage in protection, and the Texans took full advantage by sending pressure look after pressure look after pressure look at Derek Carr on the game’s final possession, and it worked.
All that said, there aren’t many positives to pull from this game. Ruiz deserves a lot of credit for stepping up.
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TAYSOM HILL (the pass-catcher)
I’ve been wanting to see the tight ends get more involved in the offense, and that certainly happened with Taysom Hill this week.
He wasn’t particularly effective in his QB sets and couldn’t haul in a tough grab downfield in the first half, but he finished with a career high 7 catches for 49 yards. He picked up tough yards and converted some key first downs.
Again, this is the type of positive you can pull out of today. Less than ideal.
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P LOU HEDLEY
After some shaky performances to start the season, we’ve seen back-to-back solid games from the rookie Lou Hedley.
It doesn’t always look pretty, but what a lot of people might not appreciate about the Aussie kicker is that his punts have been nearly impossible to return. He doesn’t have a booming leg, but it’s all net. The issue comes when you’re punting from your own territory and needing him to flip the field, but I he did that well today.
He had one kick where his heels were at the back of the end zone and he forced the Texans to begin their next drive at about the 50. That’s all you can really hope for in that situation. He’s settling in nicely.