New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Observations from the Saints Loss at Panthers

So after a few days of rumination I had another take. See what people think of this;

Winston has played poorly. Special teams have played poorly. Coaching has been poor. Certain aspects of the D has been poor (TOs and sacks).

i’m beginning to wonder why we expected anything different. Look at some facts. We’re using a quarterback that’s coming off a major knee injury and currently has a back injury. Were using a wide receiver that’s coming off a major leg injury and is still working his way back. Our other two top WRs are new to the team. Kamara is hurt and missed a game. He did not play a lot in preseason. The Online has had injuries and poor play and was counting on recovering/new players.

I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I’m guessing that the starting offensive unit rolled out in week 1 played less than one quarter together in preseason. Which means less than a quarter together EVER! In retrospect, it seems kinda naïve to think an offensive unit that had practically no experience playing together could step onto a field and take on NFL defenses (a really good one in Tampa’s case) and expect to do well. That kind of cohesion doesn't come naturally. It takes repetition and practice; things Winston, Kamara, Thomas, Landry, Olave, and the Oline have not had together based upon who played in preseason.

Just a thought.