If Week 1 was the best of times for the New Orleans Saints, Week 2 was the worst of times.
Coming off a dominant win over the Green Bay Packers, the Saints went marching into Carolina and were blown out 26-7 by the Panthers. New Orleans only managed 128 yards on offense, the lowest total of the Sean Payton era.
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“As good as you played last Sunday, you played every bit as bad this Sunday, especially on offense,” Sports Talk co-host Mike Detillier said. “You kept your defense on the field way too long.
“That was the thing that was the biggest surprise yesterday,” Detillier went on. “No running game, couldn't get open, couldn't protect, couldn't block. And Jameis [Winston] was affected by that like any other quarterback would be.”
Winston, who completed an efficient 70% of his passes with five touchdowns and no interceptions against the Packers, had abysmal numbers. He completed just 50% of his 22 passes for 111 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, compiling a lowly 26.9 passer rating (if he had thrown the ball directly into the ground every time, his passer rating would have been a 39.6).
While Winston did have a bad game, Detillier noted there were reasons beyond the quarterback's control for it. The Saints were without starting center Erik McCoy, and the retooled offensive line struggled.
“Your center is your time-clock,” Detillier explained. “He makes all the calls up front. Especially [with] blitz calls, protection calls, he's adjusting you.
“You just didn't adjust well,” Detillier said. “You didn't communicate well. [You] couldn't run the football. [You] had trouble protecting the quarterback.”
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The Panthers sacked Winston four times and registered 11 total QB hits. Carolina wasn't disrupting just the passing game, however. New Orleans was not able to get its running game going either.
The Saints averaged just 2.9 yards per carry, with Winston leading the team with 19 rushing yards. Saints running backs managed only 12 yards on the ground, with Alvin Kamara netting five yards on eight carries, though some of this was due to having to play catch up.
“Everybody wants to blame the quarterback,” Detillier said. “And Jameis didn't have a good day at all, but receivers have to get open. Come on, you have to make a move or get open down field and give your quarterback an opportunity. None of that happened yesterday.”
As Detillier pointed out, the wide receivers also did not have a good day. Only one receiver or tight end – Marquez Callaway – caught more than one pass; Kamara, who had four receptions, was the only other play with multiple catches.
New Orleans will need to quickly figure things out offensively for their next game: a road match-up against New England. The Patriots defense ranks fourth in the NFL in yards allowed and is tied for second in points allowed. Kickoff is at 12pm CT.
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