The New Orleans Saints are coming off arguably their best offensive performance of the season in a 27-24 win against the Carolina Panthers.
The Saints converted a season high 85 percent of their third down conversions in the victory despite missing two of their top offensive players, Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.
New Orleans’ offense has made several improvements throughout the season despite having several players missing at points during this season due to injury.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees said one of the reasons they were able to make those improvements despite the roster uncertain was time “time on task.”
“Each year is different, especially when you have a bunch of new guys that didn't get preseason or offseason and are all of a sudden just thrown in a mix and you have to figure out who are we as an offense? What is our identity? What are we able to do? What are we hanging our hat on? What's our bread and butter? How are we putting guys in the best position to succeed based on the defense we're playing, the matchups, there's so much that goes into a gameplan,” Brees said. “I feel like the more time on task you get, the more game experience, especially with young guys, the more you begin to fine tune what you're doing."
Even though the Saints have played better on offense recently, players still believe their’s room to improve.
"I think capitalizing on opportunities when we have them, like in terms of like keeping the chains moving, especially when we're in good field position instead of, settling for field goals, going ahead and keeping the chains moving and getting points,” Saints tight end Jared Cook. “And then also, we're in the red zone, making sure we capitalize on those points as well, making sure we get touchdowns, instead of kicking field goals. I think that would be huge for us."
The Saints will face a tough challenge trying to continue that improvement as they face a Bears defense that is in the top half of the NFL.
“I think this defense definitely presents a lot of challenges, up front obviously with their power and their pass rush and also on the back end with the ball skills. They are a very opportunistic defense,” Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael said. “Obviously there’s a lot of challenges for us with this defense. You also have to focus on the things that you do well. As you’re preparing for the game, you’re looking at your defense, but also looking at the things that you do well that fit for both sides.”
