The New Orleans Saints' offense has a difficult time getting untracked in the 2023 season, with a Week 5 beatdown of the Patriots notwithstanding.
The Saints put up 430 yards of offense but only managed 13 points in a frustrating loss to the Texans. GM Mickey Loomis explained on WWL Radio this week that despite the slow start, the team remains committed to its process and confident that things will get turned around.
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Saints GM Mickey Loomis in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"We’re all accountable for the task and the jobs that we have to do, and so if you can’t do them or you’re not doing them, then you’d better change in a hurry, or somebody else will end up doing that job," Loomis said, echoing head coach Dennis Allen. "On the other side of that equation is, look, we’re going through some growing pains here. We’ve had a lot of changes on offense over the last two years."
Those growing pains loomed large in a few notable instances during the loss in Houston, which included a pair of missed field goals from rookie Blake Grupe (52 and 29 yards). There were also several instances where the quarterback and receiver appeared to not be on the same page, torpedoing opportunities. Penalties and other issues cropped up often, and the Saints failed to score a touchdown on any of their three red zone trips.
Loomis points out that it's not unusual to see offenses come out of the blocks slow in the NFL, and while you'd like to see things running more smoothly by Week 6, the Saints are certainly not alone in that. NFC South teams went 0-for-4, and the Saints were joined by the Chargers, Vikings, Bears, Chiefs, Broncos, Titans, Falcons, Bengals, Seahawks, Giants, Browns, 49ers, Patriots, Bucs, Cardinals, Bills and Giants among the ranks of teams to score 19 or fewer points in their matchup this week.
"We’ve got to figure that out pretty quickly," Loomis continued. "Look, I saw some really good things in this game. We had 430 yards of offense. We’ve got to learn how to finish and how to not have negative plays when we get into the scoring area. Obviously we have to kick and make field goals. So, look, those are things that are correctable and I believe we have the people that can correct that.”
The Saints won't have much time for corrections ahead of Week 7 as they now turn to face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday Night Football. It'll be a challenge on recovery, particularly for an offensive line group that sustained injuries to both starting tackles vs the Texans, as well as gameplanning and preparation.
“Every team is going to have at least one of these short-week games," Loomis said. "We’ve got two of them and it’s just something you have to deal with in the schedule and we’ll deal with it.”
