Let me start by saying this: The only reason I'm writing this column is because I always write it after games. I'm not sure I can even find three legitimate things to criticize after what might have been the most dominating Saints victory I've ever witnessed in person.
The New Orleans Saints scored 47 points and allowed the Panthers to score 10. It was a record-setting day that also represented the second time in as many regular season games that the Saints offense put up 47-plus points. This is the QB and offense we were freaking out about?
For obvious reasons the up segment will be significantly longer than anything else, and I'm going to struggle to include all the good things that happened in this game. With all that in mind, here's who stood out and who fell flat in a scintillating Saints win over the Panthers.
1. KUBIAK'S CARR ... VROOM, VROOM
Derek Carr finished the 2023 season on a heater, but that couldn't possibly carry over the offseason, right? Too much had changed. There's a whole new scheme. There'd be a learning curve, right?
Well, if there was one we didn't see it on Sunday against the Panthers. Carr completed, dare I say a Brees-like 82.6% of his passes (19-23) for 200 yards and three touchdowns. He didn't have any turnovers, and I don't think there was even a throw that you'd call at risk beyond a pair of jump balls for touchdowns hauled in by TEs Foster Moreau and Juwan Johnson.
Things got started fast with a 59-yard touchdown to Rashid Shaheed on the Saints' first third down of the day. It was a bold play call in a situation where the Saints could've opted for a safer play to move the chains. They went for it all and they got it all. The tone was set and the Saints never looked back.
Even when things didn't work you could see the vision and the Panthers survived on the strength of strong defensive efforts. The Saints went for the end zone again on third down on their second possession. The ball was dropped exactly where it needed to be for Shaheed down the right sideline, but Panthers DB MIchael Jackson made a nice play to break it up.
On the next drive of the first quarter Carr went to the end zone again, this time targeting Taysom Hill. It was a well-placed ball that Hill got his hands on, but Panthers safety Nick Scott got an arm in and broke it up. A few plays later Carr freelanced, extended a play and found Moreau the aforementioned touchdown.
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The play-calling worked. The run game set up the pass. Carr executed and got the ball out fast, on time and on target. Five different players scored touchdowns. The layered play-calling helped slow the rush and protect the offensive line. For one day Derek Carr and and the offense could do no wrong. There will be tougher tests ahead, but the Carr haters won't have much ammunition if he's playing at this level.
ALONTAE TAYLOR VIBES CHECK
It's tough to name just one defensive player because so many stood out, but Alontae Taylor earned every bit of this hype party. The Saints have been playing football for a long time. It's tough to say you've done anything that hasn't been done before, but Alontae can say that now.
Taylor is the first Saints defensive back EVER to log three sacks in a game. He blitzed with speed and finished the play at the quarterback. It was impressive, particularly when you consider he had just one sack to this point in his career, but it didn't end there.
The slot corner's 6 total tackles (5 solo) led the team on a day where there was a very balanced defensive effort. His three sacks set the Panthers back 26 yards. He also logged 3 tackles for loss and another 3 QB hits. Late in the game he played rookie Xavier Legette perfectly and calmly knocked away a pass into the end zone.
The third-year pro has locked in on the slot position this season and he's been balling all camp. He looks calm, in control and he's turned himself into a weapon in this defense after being a liability at points a year earlier. Young players struggle, but it's the guys who lock in and use that as motivation that become the stars of this league. It's easy to watch Alontae Taylor play and see a star in the making. We got more than a glimpse of that in Week 1.
PUT SOME RESPECT ON BLAKE GRUPE'S NAME
This wasn't exactly a game that called for high-leverage kicks. That said, any time you can say you went 9-for-9 on kicks in a game from any distance, take a bow.
The most impressive kick was still early in the game before it became a laugher. The Saints offense drove for a touchdown, then the defense immediately got the ball back on a Will Harris interception. The offense didn't move the ball, but they were already on the edge of realistic field goal range.
I was a bit surprised to see the Saints even attempt a 57-yard field goal early in a game, so much so that I thought initially they might be running a fake. Nope, they showed trust in their Lilliputian kicker and he delivered with his remarkable leg strength. The kick would've probably been good from 60-plus, and it put the Saints up two scores early in the game.
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What was the most impressive was how the Saints approached the situation. On 2nd and 4 the Saints went to Alvin Kamara who was taken down for a 5-yard loss. On 3rd and 9 from the Saints' 39, the conservative play would've been something safe to pick up at least a few yards for a more manageable kick. Instead they went for it all, knowing they were kicking it either way. As noted above, Carr put a ball out perfectly for Shaheed, but Panthers DB Michael Jackson broke it up. The confidence in the kicker from 57 is notable to say the least.
Grupe also delivered on kicks from 50, 42 and 39. He hit all five of his PATs.
We'll still have to wait to see how he handles the higher-pressure moments. His only true clutch kick came in Green Bay in Week 3 of last season and he pushed it to the right. It's a kick that was brought up early and often while he battled with Charlie Smyth for the starting job this offseason. It was a difficult moment, but also a learning experience for the rookie.
There's still work to do to add the "clutch" label next to the kicker, but it's hard not to appreciate the laser accuracy of the kid's kicks. Did any of them even make you lean in your chair to try to help it in? Nope.
The Saints should feel good about their decision at placekicker.
LAGNIAPPE
This segment's gonna be long. Deal with it. Let's start with the offensive line, where Trevor Penning and Taliese Fuaga delivered in a way that I don't think there was a lot of external confidence that they could. Yes, there was a pair of holding penalties. Yes, there were mistakes. I don't really care. I needed to see a tandem that could stand the heat, and that's what we saw. Penning's confidence keeps growing, and I think getting the first-game jitters out of the way was valuable for the rookie. They held up to an extent that it didn't feel like the offense really had to scheme excess help either way. Things will get a lot more difficult in Dallas, but it's hard not to be encouraged by the way this has started. ... Rashid Shaheed is so dang valuable to this team it's hard to fully quantify. There's obviously the speed, and he's liable to go off for a 50-plus yard TD at any point. His speed in the screen/reverse game is an ever-present threat, but then there's special teams. Shaheed should've scored on his final return but he got caught up with Payton Turner as the DE tried to throw a block. But even without big returns, he was saving yardage repeatedly by fielding Johnny Hekker's awkward rollers. They went down as returns of 8 and 5 yards, but that doesn't display the 30 or so yards he saved by not letting the ball roll. Having a special teams ace is such a luxury, and when that guy can be a key piece of the audience, you've got yourself a cheat code. ... Talk all you want about the decline of aging running backs, Alvin Kamara is still Alvin Kamara, and when he's used correctly, good luck stopping him. That's what we saw today with AK rolling up 110 yards and a short touchdown, his 50th game with 100-plus yards from scrimmage in his career, the most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2017. ... I was also a fan of how Jamaal Williams and Taysom Hill carried the ball, even if Jamaal's 3.5 yards per carry don't jump off the page. He picked up the hard yards when he needed to get them and broke through for a 14-yard TD that's effectively his first in a Saints uniform if you don't count the victory formation hijinks of Week 18 last year. If the Saints can run the ball like this, everything gets easier. ... I had someone tell me they felt like Chase Young had the most impactful zero-stat day in NFL history, and I find it hard to disagree. He made life hell for the Panthers OL, and if the refs actually made the obvious holding calls it'd have been a lot more apparent. On one play Chase bullrushed a blocker straight onto his back and then that player reached up his legs in an obvious trip. The Saints stopped the play for a loss, somehow no flag. Seriously, look at this nonsense. Young didn't record a tackle or a sack, but he did have a pair of QB hits and was a constant threat. Bryce Young was uncomfortable all day. I love the way this defense looks right now. ... Give DA credit. He held the course, did what he could and he sure seems to have a team capable of making noise this year, even if no one outside the building believed it until 3 p.m. on Sept. 8. ... I think we should give Chris Olave credit, not because he had a big game, but because he didn't pout over it. Whether Olave is getting the ball or not his presence on the field will open up things for others. If teams want to bracket him, he needs to accept it, run his routes with conviction and block on run plays. He finished the game with 2 catches for 11 yards, though he did have another 9-yard grab negated by penalty. Still, selfless players and teams find success. Olave's monster days will come (and I don't think we'll be waiting too long), but I loved his approach in this one, even if it wasn't Olave's day. No one other than Olave fantasy owners should be able to find fault in the Saints' offense today. ... DA told us he expected both Jordan Howden and Will Harris to contribute this season, regardless of who started at strong safety. Well, that's exactly what happened. Harris got the start and took down an interception on the Panthers' first play of the game. Howden got his first career interception later in the game. There aren't many holes in this defense.
THREE DOWN
The penalized
What I can say for the Saints is that they did just enough bad to make the coaches happy, and by that I mean they won't have to look too hard for corrections.
In a 47-10 win it would be very easy to overlook, but 10 penalties for 95 yards is a pair of numbers that are both a lot higher than you want to see. So let's call some folks out. Here's the list:
- Bub Means: Offensive holding, -10
- Chris Olave: Illegal formation, -5
- Trevor Penning: Offensive holding, -10
- Isaiah Foskey: Offensive holding, -10
- Chase Young: Offsides, -5
- Erik McCoy: Unnecessary roughness, -15
- Taliese Fuaga: Offensive holding, -10
- Derek Carr: Delay of game, -5
- Payton Turner: Unnecessary roughness, -15
- Paulson Adebo: Defensive pass interference, -5
- J.T. Gray: Kick-catch interference, -15
One positive thing you can say about that list is that no name appears more than once. Players made mistakes, but there were no repeat offenders -- at least in the penalty sense.
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Not all penalties are created equally. Some were tough luck, some were forced and some were just foolish mistakes. For example, the coaching point for McCoy feels kind of meaningless, considering he was trying to pull defenders off his quarterback. You can't do that, but it's also a mistake you make one time (and not one that will come up often).
What I'm interested to look at most on film is just how Fuaga and Penning held up overall. Neither allowed a sack, but both got holding penalties. Fuaga's was more significant as it negated an Alvin Kamara touchdown, but all it did was delay Alvin's jaunt into the end zone by a few plays. Still that's something to watch.
In tighter games, which are certain to come, those penalties could be the difference.
Punts & backups
It's hard to be too critical of a rookie punter in his NFL debut, particularly when a team scores on its first nine possessions. Still, I have to find something and I'm not convinced Hayball is going to hold onto this job all season.
Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi said the team was simply working out punters to have a "ready list" in case they needed to find a replacement, but I don't know. I'll need to be impressed by Hayball at some point to be convinced he'll hold the job and that didn't happen on either of his kicks today.
Hayball's first kick was sent from the Saints' 27 and traveled just 38 yards. For a guy who won the job in part due to having a stronger leg, that's a rough look. The short kick seemed to be the cause of Gray's penalty, turning it into just a 23-yard net field position change.
Hayball's next kick was from the Carolina 48 and certainly wasn't terrible, with the ball going out of bounds and getting spotted at the 13 for a net change of 35. Two things: A. If you're kicking the ball out of bounds anyway, be a lot more aggressive than that in terms of your angle, and B. I'm no official, but I was standing about 15 feet from where the ball went out of bounds and the spot suuuuure felt generous to the Saints. On first glance I saw it going out of bounds beyond the 15. It kind of seemed like the refs phoned in the final quarter of this laugher and no one questioned it, but it was a bad spot.
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It's probably not helpful for a punter to sit for 3 hours before your first kick of the day, but it's the ever-ready position. Hopefully we see better results.
I also have to mention Cedrick Wilson, a player I really like, but a guy who has not shown particularly adept at fielding punts. He took over late in the game in the return role and immediately muffed a kick for a turnover near midfield. Again, in a 37-point blowout you just shake your head, move on and kind of forget about it. In a close situation that could be the type of moment that decides a game. I also didn't think Wilson handled himself particularly well when he fielded punts in the preseason against the 49ers.
You go with a veteran in that situation because you trust them. If that's not the case, throw Tipton back there and see what he's got.
Backup drama
You're right, I'm fishing pretty deep for a complaint right now. That said, the Saints made a statement today -- whether they meant to or not -- when they made Jake Haener the backup QB. The game turning into what it was meant that statement had a rare opportunity to be scrutinized, with Derek Carr hitting the bench and Jake Haener taking over for the final two offensive series.
In the defense of the young QB, the Saints weren't exactly running a lot of exciting offense. It was about getting to the end of the game without mistakes. He threw the ball once and it was a poor decision.
I'm honestly down on the backup drama in general. The way Carr started the season I don't imagine we'll be having a whole lot of Rattler talk for at least a week. I won't give folks too much credit, though, because a tough day in Dallas will get everything started up again.
I wouldn't put it past the Saints to make Rattler the backup next week, but then you create a scenario in which folks will infer meaning, rather than simply a change. I guess it's inevitable. If it was up to me I'd want to make a decision and stick with it, though I don't imagine that'll sit well with the Rattler hive. Do that Saints care? Probably not. Just keep winning games and we'll never have to talk about the backup anyway.