The Saints' offensive line struggles have been a talking point through each of the first three weeks, but they really came to a head in Green Bay when QB Derek Carr took a big hit and stayed down on the turf.
It was the 11th sack of Carr through 11 quarters of football, and this was the one that caused the AC joint sprain that could sideline him for Week 4 against the Bucs. Jameis Winston took over and the Saints offense and special teams were unable to put any more points on the board, resulting in a 4th quarter collapse and 18-17 loss.
Saints offensive line coach Doug Marrone joined Mike Hoss and Bobby Hebert this week on the WWL Saints Coaches Show to break down some of what's been going wrong.
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Doug Marrone on WWL in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
“I’ve got to keep putting them in the right position, keep drilling them, keep getting them more consistent and doing that," Marrone said. "Everyone, no matter how good you are in this league, is going to get beat. That’s part of it. But consistency is what we’re looking for and that’s what we need to get."
Head coach Dennis Allen echoed that idea in his post-game comments.
“There’s a couple of them where we just got beat early, and so we’ll have to keep looking at what are we doing technique-wise, what are we teaching? Are we teaching the right things?" Allen said. "But certainly that’s an area where we’ve got to get better at that, because it’s not been good enough.”
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One area that coaches will point to consistently is the need to create manageable third down situations, and that's clearly been a factor the past two weeks. Carr was sacked seven times total against the Panthers and Packers. Six of those came on third downs, and four were on 3rd & 9 or longer. Carr was also sacked on a 3rd & 15 play against the Titans.
There's an element of pass protection that goes beyond blocking efficiency. Execution on early downs and situation play-calling must also be looked at.
"At the end of the day we have to do a better job," Marrone told WWL. "I’m not going to sit here and try to make excuses. It starts with me. I have to do a better job. We all have to do a better job. We have to win. We have to win these matchups. It’s 5-on-5. We can’t afford to lose one. That’s the thing about protection. One person loses and that’s it."