The Sean Payton era has been no stranger to finding a way despite key injuries, and that's never been more true than the first 10 weeks of the 2021 season.
WWL Radio analyst Deuce McAllister knows that as well as anyone. But even grading on that curve, the Saints' injury predicament heading on the road for a Week 11 showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles feels like an inordinately steep task.
"When you’re missing … Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, your left tackle, your right tackle, your left guard," McAllister said Friday, joining Voice of the Saints Mike Hoss on WWL Radio to preview the Week 11 matchup.
"It’s like, man, yea, good luck with that.”
━━━━
THE GAME
SAINTS (5-4, 2nd NFC South) at EAGLES (4-6, 2nd NFC East)
Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
When: Noon, Sunday, Nov. 21
TV: FOX
Listen: WWL AM-870; FM-105.3
━━━━
The Saints head to Philadelphia knowing they won't have the services of RT Ryan Ramczyk (knee), LT Terron Armstead (knee/shoulder), RB Alvin Kamara (knee) and Ty Montgomery (hand). Quarterback Taysom Hill (foot) missed two days of practice, but got in limited practice on Friday and is listed as questionable.
Related
DE Tanoh Kpassagnon (ankle) and DT Malcolm Roach (knee) will also miss the game. CJ Gardner-Johnson and rookie Payton Turner are on IR, but the defense has remained relatively stable in terms of availability. The accumulation of so many absences on offense is what has McAllister predicting struggles at Lincoln Financial Field. The Saints can still win, of course, but they'll likely have to do it on razor-thin margins and in a close, grinding version of a game that might've otherwise been a simple one.
“We talked about Sean Payton and the coaching job. … If he is able to pull this one off, this may be the best coaching job that he has done, just because of the sheer number of players that are not available," McAllister says. "And you’re talking about the players that are not available, you’re also talking about All-Pro players."
Regardless of Hill's status, it'll be Trevor Siemian getting the start, with rookie Ian Book serving as the game-day backup.
“Can they go out and execute? You talked about, with this team, how that margin for error has not been really big, well now the [margin], it’s basically gone," McAllister said. "And now at this point it becomes, all right, can you create? Can you create an extra possession? Can you hit on some explosive plays? Can you go and steal a possession? Those are all things that this team will have to go out there and do."
For their part, the Saints will never point to injuries as an excuse. They'll say that the opponent doesn't care whether there are better players in street clothes. They're coming full-bore either way, and the Saints' job is to find a way to win. But outside of the locker room, it's easy to see the effects sinking in with star playmakers unavailable in many instances. Receivers have struggled to create separation, kickers have been unreliable, Siemian has been solid taking over since Jameis Winston's injury, but he's still not the player the offense was built around all offseason.
All that has resulted in back-to-back games that have been lost under similar margins, both 2-point losses that came down to the final seconds. One egregiously bad roughing call, one uncharacteristic fumble by special teams dynamo Deonte Harris, one busted coverage and 64-yard bomb to Cordarrelle Patterson. Two losses that could've easily gone the other way.
Related
The Saints have proven they can get it done under those circumstances. It'll never be easy, McAllister says, because it's going to take perfection to come home happy.
"Normally you’d say, ‘all right, well they’ll walk in and they could win by 10.’ I don’t know if that’s necessarily the case this time. You’re talking about a close game where you’ve gotta just basically be able to steal it at the end or be able to defend it where you can win it at the end just because, from a talent standpoint, you don’t have some of the elite talent guys that could get you over that edge where you can go out there and kind of make a mistake or two and get away with it," McAllister says. "I don’t know if you go out there and make a mistake or two with the guys that you have here, particularly on offense being down, and get away with some of those things.”