After two weeks of looking like the NFL’s next great offense, the New Orleans Saints came crashing back down to earth with a tough 15-12 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Saints scored at least 40 points in two back-to-back games to start the season, but one of the NFL’s most efficient offenses was hamstrung for much of Sunday’s game and struggled to keep the Eagles’ defensive line from making plays due to injuries to starting center Erik McCoy and guard Cesar Ruiz.
“That was the best offense in the league to date,” a media representative asked Eagles safety CJ Gardner-Johnson after the game.
“Top what?” Gardner-Johnson repeated five times, praising his defensive teammates.
Perhaps the most important of these were the linemen. One thing we definitely learned during the game is that the Saints will go as far as their offensive line can take them. That doesn’t necessarily set them apart from other NFL teams in that regard, but it is important to the style of offense they plan to play.
This offense will lean on their running game to give Carr better opportunities in the passing game. The Saints want to be a play-action heavy team so Carr can minimize his risk by forcing the defense to respect the running game. Due to injuries and strong play from the Eagles’ defensive line, the Saints have been severely hampered and have started to show signs of limitations.
“It’s not always going to be this easy,” Carr said afterwards. “It’s a great opportunity for us. You get hit in the face and I think we responded to a tough, combative game.”
Carr averaged just 5.7 yards per attempt in this game, spending most of it on sub-100-yard passes before finishing with 142 yards. When the Saints got into situations where they had to throw the ball long and everyone knew they had to throw, they struggled. Aside from wide receiver Chris Olave, the Saints’ wide receivers really struggled to get open against the Eagles’ defensive backs — which is concerning because the Eagles don’t exactly have the Legion of Boom back there.
The health of McCoy and Ruiz will be paramount as the Saints try to rebound from this loss and get back to being an offense that can build and hold an early lead. New coordinator Klint Kubiak runs a Kyle Shanahan-style offense, and as other Shanahan-style offenses have shown, they can struggle to maintain rhythm when it comes to playing from behind and throwing the ball. Being a front-running offense isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but a legitimate dropback passing game is something the Saints will need to develop as the season progresses.
There’s no reason for the Saints and their fans to panic just yet. New Orleans’ 2-1 start is better than most expected for the Saints, even if this loss to the Eagles is undoubtedly frustrating. This is where Kubiak will really make his name in the NFL – by figuring out what counters he can run when the running game isn’t working.
They still nearly won, despite allowing a 65-yard touchdown run by Saquon Barkley and a 61-yard catch-and-run by Dallas Goedert on the Eagles’ winning drive. Those are the plays New Orleans made, not its opponents.
“We just allowed too many explosive plays on defense,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said, “and that was really the key to the game. The explosive plays we allowed and our inability to move the ball on offense.”
This was the first setback for what could be one of the best offenses in the NFL. The Saints just need to stabilize their offensive line so they can get back to being an offense that can move the ball down the field at will.
