The Saints have now gone seven quarters without an offensive touchdown, and with that drought comes the question louder and louder: At what point does it become time for changes on the offensive staff?
It's a question could apply to a lot of pieces of the current Saints staff, but Pete Carmichael and the play-calling will be the first to draw criticism. Dennis Allen wasn't willing to entertain the subject in the aftermath of a 26-9 loss to the Bucs in Week 4, but he also didn't rule anything out.
"When you get beat like that, you have to look at it all," the head coach said. "If you just said it was all on the execution, then that would look like a cop out, right? So, I think we've got to be better a lot of areas."
The Saints are 2-2 heading into Week 5 and any such shift in offensive responsibilities would be a major decision, particularly this early in the season. But concern is reasonable for an offense that's changed signal callers and is reasonably healthy, but has not seen improved results.
The Saints offense has now failed to score more than 20 points in seven consecutive games dating back to the 2022 season. Only one NFL team (Bengals) have fewer total touchdowns than the Saints' 5 thus far on the season. The Saints are tied with the Giants and Bengals for last in the NFL with 2 receiving touchdowns.
In Week 4 the approach changed, but the output dipped even further. Derek Carr attempted 33 passes, with 16 of those at or behind the line of scrimmage. He attempted just 17 such passes through Weeks 1-3 combined. He was also 1-8 on pass attempts 15-plus yards downfield after going 11-23 on such passes through the first three weeks. Carr wouldn't point to the shoulder injury suffered in Week 3 as the culprit for any change in approach or success rate, but the difference was clear to see.
"I love Pete," Carr said. "It falls on us as players to execute for him."
Regardless of any changes in the intervening days, the Saints will have to go on the road to correct any offensive struggles with visits to the Patriots (1-3) and Texans (2-2) the next two weeks.
"As a coaching staff, we have to to a better job of figuring out what we're going to be able to do, what we can do well and we got to be able to go out and execute those things," Dennis Allen said. "Because right know where not scoring enough points and we know we have to be better than that."
