There's been a hefty amount of criticism levied at the Saints offense, with just nine points generated over six quarters of football as the team dropped to 2-2.
But as Bobby Hebert breaks down what he needs to see from this year's team as it heads out to face the 1-3 Patriots, that's going to be baby steps, particularly as it comes to the passing game with QB Derek Carr.
Listen to the full breakdown from Bobby Hebert in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"Are you going to be that difference-maker. That’s unrealistic if you expect him to be Drew Brees. It ain't the second coming of Drew Brees. He don’t have to be the second coming of Drew Brees," Hebert said. "He just has to be highly efficient where all of a sudden the offense isn’t a liability, where we’re scoring in the red zone, where we’re scoring points, where it’s not like ‘oh, we were lucky to win that game 18-17.’ "
The Saints offense has been particularly anemic in the red zone, cashing in for a touchdown just four times on its 12 visits thus far. One of those drives can be forgiven considering the team knelt to run out the clock. To this stage that rate is the lowest across the NFL. The Saints kicked three field goals in a Week 4 loss to the Bucs, two of which came at the end of drives that reached the Bucs' 19 and 14. Tampa won that game 26-9.
"That’s what it’s going to take going forward, and it doesn’t have to just be the weapons," Hebert continued. "It doesn’t have to be just Chris Olave. It doesn’t have to be just Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Juwan Johnson, whenever you look at all of our weapons and how we’re going to pass the ball around, spread the wealth or however you describe it. It has to come."
Things don't have to be perfect in Week 5, but they do need to be trending in the right direction. That's where the concern has crept in the most as it pertains to the Saints offense, which appears to have regressed, though it's admittedly come since Carr went down with a shoulder injury against the Packers.
The major benefit the Saints offense has as it tries to work its way toward efficiency is a defense that's currently leading the NFL in passes defensed. It's a group that Hebert is challenging to not just be a good defense, but to be a top unit in the NFL. That's likely what this team needs to make real noise this season. That's going to start with the veterans, and the Cajun Cannon is looking at Demario Davis and Cam Jordan.
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“For us to get where we need to get, and they’re kind of on the back end of their career, obviously, but we need Demario Davis and Cam Jordan — I’m challenging them — we’re going at New England. We’re going to go at the Houston Texans. We’re going to have Jacksonville here on Thursday night, and then we’re going to go at Colts. Look at those opponents. We need Cam Jordan not to be good or very good, we need them to be great. We need them to be impactful, to influence what’s occurring,” Hebert said.