Gone are the days of Drew Brees luring in the defense with deadly dump offs to Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles or Pierre Thomas, before exposing you with intermediate routes to Lance Moore, Marques Colston, Jeremy Shockey or Jimmy Graham, only to kill you deep with deep throws to Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson or Joe Morgan. That offense from 2006 to 2013 was arguably the best in NFL history and it was exciting to watch. This offense doesn’t have the offensive line or the playmakers to come close to that kind of production. Now the last two weeks with and without Brees the Saints offense was at least able to consistently move the football. That’s something they weren’t able to do in weeks 1 and 2. The progress made was a realization that no longer is this offense explosive and deadly. Instead, the Saints can remain competitive in games moving forward only if they’re methodical and highly efficient.
Here are the issues as I see them:
1. Offensive line play and health
Even if the Saints had the luxury of Terron Armstead at 100% and Jahri Evans playing, this unit would still be struggling. But unfortunately we’re stuck with Senio Kelemete filling in and Armstead banged up. Worse yet, Zach Strief looks like a shell of his former self and the necessity for Andrus Peat to come along turns out to be a lot more immediate than we expected. Most notably the hole at left guard is one that needs to be filled. Tim Lelito quite simply isn’t cutting it. With the progress of Kelemete my hope is that Evans can return and play at a reasonable enough level that allows Kelemete to shift over to left guard and put Lelito back to the bench. We should have known Lelito was going to be an issue when he couldn’t beat out an aging and injured Jonathan Goodwin last year. The reality is this offense doesn’t have the time to throw the ball downfield. The running game, despite having capable backs, is averaging just 3.45 yards per carry through 4 games. That’s abysmal. Ingram, Robinson and Spiller are all at under 4 yards per carry. Realistically it’s going to be patchwork on this offensive line all season, a constant struggle. But this unit might be best off eventually becoming Armstead-Kelemete-Unger-Evans-Peat this season if it can remain healthy. Quite simply, Brees doesn’t have the running game or the time to survey the field to be as dangerous passing as he’d probably like to be… and that is due to poor line play.
2. Lack of playmakers
It took overtime of the fourth game to finally see a big play for a touchdown. No surprise that coincides with the return to health and involvement of C. J. Spiller. Spiller, along with Brandin Cooks, represents the only true players on this roster capable of changing a game offensively in one play. But Cooks’s lack of size and power has caused him to get frequently jammed at the line, preventing him from getting open before the line caves in. Teams have been able to take Cooks out of the game because single coverage on everyone else is something you can get by with for the most part. Perhaps the increase in Spiller’s presence on the field will mean more plays both for him and others… but while that can happen occasionally, it’s still not going to happen a lot. Quite simply, while I like guys like Brandon Coleman, the aging Marques Colston, Willie Snead and Ben Watson/Josh Hill, none of those guys are stretching the field.
3. Drew Brees’s arm strength
Even if Brees had the time thanks to better line play, or the playmakers that got open downfield, I think it’s time we all agree to finally come to the conclusion that Brees has lost the deep ball. There was differing opinions or whether or not he could throw it last year but Brees revealed this year there was some truth to the rumors because he was dealing with a couple of injuries related to his throwing motion. The hit he took in Tampa, separate from last year’s issue, caused an injury that has clearly affected his ability to throw. I’m not saying he can’t ever throw the deep ball again, he just can’t right now. That doesn’t mean he can’t be effective, though, we saw him play very well against Dallas. It does mean the Saints have a quarterback that can’t throw the deep ball accurately or far enough. And given the lack of playmakers and the lack of time he has to throw, I’m not sure that matters much at all. That’s why I wouldn’t advocate Luke McCown playing over Brees like some have suggested. Sure, the Saints maybe lose out on McCown’s arm talent 2-3 plays a game (maybe more), but they gain more precision and Hall of Fame experience on everything else. And everything else is a lot more important right now. It’s a no brainer to play Brees if he can stay at this level.
OK, so where does that leave us?
So with those three truths above the Saints offense has tragic flaws that prevent them from being that explosive or dominant. At least compared to what we’re used to. That’s a reality we’ll have to deal with as fans as we watch them all season. The good news is they can compete in every game on this soft schedule, even with a weaker offense. The key is exactly what they’ve been doing the last two games. Embracing the fact that they’re a dink and dunk, short yardage, methodical passing offense. If they try to be the Saints of old, it will lead to sacks, fumbles, interceptions and sadness. You watch some of the games around the league this last week and you see teams getting trashed by 30/40 points and that’s because they’re trying to be something they’re not. Give Sean Payton credit for recognizing the issues this team has and playing to his strengths in an effort to try and stay competitive so they have a chance to win games. As bad as this Saints team has looked at times they’ve been down a score with the ball (or better) in the 4th quarter of every game. I think Payton could easily have continued to try being that explosive offense of old and things really would have gone down in flames, but instead he’s adjusted to what he has to work with the last two weeks. And for the most part we’ve seen improved play by the unit because of it, despite this offensive line’s poor play. The luxury of the dink and dunk strategy is it keeps the team in manageable 3rd down plays and it (hopefully) keeps a young, inexperienced and inconsistent defense off the field for larger chunks of time. This offense may not be as fun as what we’ve been used to since 2006 but it will keep the games closer. For now, until the Saints can overhaul their roster a bit more, this is the state of affairs and we as fans should learn to embrace the new identity too.
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