Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

3 weeks in a row the Saints have had big game challenges, and they have lost every week. This time to the Chiefs. Seems like the offense sputters down the field with penalties, mistakes and dropped passes. Defense allowed almost 500 yards in this game.


Discuss among yourselves.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

We basically need to put a whole new team together from scratch. That’s about it.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

There are scenarios here where you don't just not buy on Adams, you sell. The last time the Saints had a great offensive line, they built it by trading Jimmy Graham right before he broke down.

Lattimore is also a player who could be traded if healthy. We are fine with Kool Aid and Taylor and even Rico Payton and such are alright. Nobody would trade for Lattimore when his bonus was not paid and he cost $10 million, but now that the bonus is a sunk cost and he would cost $1 million for this year, that rental has some mid round value.

If the Saints could get a good draft pick for Kamara, it could be smart to take it.

With Carr taking big hits and sustaining an injury, although this one does not look like the longest term type of injury, we do need to keep in mind that if Carr could not pass a physical on March 13 or whatever it is, another $30 million of his 2025 salary would guarantee. If Carr continues to struggle, or misses several weeks and his backups perform well, there is a scenario where you shut him down for the rest of the reason to avoid that injury risk. If Carr had torn his ACL today, make no mistake, that was $30 million in his pocket.

I dont think DA is a passionate leader who inspires his players to give 110% but I dont think our coaching is as much a problem as our roster built on too many aging players, not enough depth, and key weaknesses on the oline and interior dline. I would not want to go 'all in' with basically the same roster with a new coach next year, I would rather turn over the roster and if we can't attract a good coaching candidate let DA try his luck with a younger roster this year and maybe get Arch Manning and a new coach if DA fails.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Everything you said. Plus: Dennis Allen is a DUD. PERIOD.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Everything changed when McCoy got hurt.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

This. And Taysom.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Everything changed when we traded up in the draft and blew up cap to sign Carr and decided depth was not important and week 1 paper projected starting lineups win championships.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

It doesn't matter who you got at QB if your OL sucks all of a sudden.

Guess we don't have to worry about Kubiak getting hired away anytime soon .

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

2 weeks don't make a season, but the last 3 probably does.

Your issues start with Loomis. He isn't a genius, he consistently puts the saints in cap he'll.

Your team lacks talent, be honest.

Vegas was right on target

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Need to get the running game back on track some way some how. Chucking it deep to Shaheed repeatedly is part of the game plan. It can't be the whole game plan.


I could honestly see the Chiefs going undefeated if Mahomes keeps playing like this. He's literally dancing around pass rushers.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

I went to bed early before the Saints scored with a TD to Moreau. Looks like it went to down the drain after that.

I’m still confused how a team looks the part of a playoff caliber team to start the season (explosive on offense and dominant and nasty on defense) then completely folds up shop and packs it in.

This team is not getting better every week. They’re getting worse.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

This game was a perfect example of the differences between the 2 teams.

The Chiefs have had some injuries this year, but keep finding a way to win.

The Saints lose an O-lineman and Taysom Hill and it all falls apart.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

O line and D line are not up to par.

As for Taysom Hill, it’s probably time for Plan B.

He’s not going to be healthy from here on out.

10+ injuries & getting beat by the world champs was not a surprise. Gotta get somewhat healthy on a short week before Tampa.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Everybody, and I mean everybody knew our O-line was our major issue entering this season. Then it gets decimated by injury like no other unit on the team.
Typical Saints.

We are 2-3 because we're getting destroyed in the trenches. No openings for Kamara and no time for Carr to throw.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

-Out coached. Out played. Overmatched all around.
-Too many deep patterns with the replacement OLine.
-Too many wide open TE's and receivers.
-The guys played hard.
-If Carr can't go, Rattler should be the QB.
-Beat Tampa at home and flip the script in the correct direction.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

I don’t care to recap. They need to see what they have in Rattler now so we know what to do in the draft next year.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

When the coach says that he was outcoached, believe him. Allen should be replaced as soon as possible.
Bring in Gruden.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

A big reason that the Saints are suffering worse after oline injuries than other teams is that other than McCoy the Saints are starting with an oline that could be backups on other teams. Plenty of other teams draft oline to sit on the bench, learn the system the first year, and hopefully only be called into action if there is an injury. Then they fill in backup spots with high potential journeymen whose careers have had ups and downs who they hope could look like starter material if forced into action, but there are no guarantees, and they come with some injury baggage. Guys like Patrick, Penning, even Fuaga (a rookie first round pick) and Ruiz (a former late 1st round pick whose performance have been uneven) could be the second string on some other teams. Penning, Patrick, and at first even Fuaga were totally unsure to start and only won their jobs by the end of preseason for us, on many other teams they would have won second string. I know quality oline are scarce, but many other teams have entrenched starters and are trying to find quality second string. When the effort in training camp is to even find first string, its no suprise that when you have injuries, as most teams do, and need to go to the 3rd string quality players because most of your lineup are 2nd string quality, its bad.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Allen as Head Coach should have never happened, just like Raider Curbside Trash as QB (especially at that price) should have never happened. Period.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

As others have already stated .. it starts with the O line.

It's why the Saints have lost 3 straight. Outside of McCoy, not a lot of talent (Fuaga is promising) or players I trust. But mainly injuries and the lack of quality depth have removed all continuity and rhythm we had.

Carr isn't mobile enough & gets happy feet when pressured.

4 centers in 5 weeks ?! You have almost no shot at this level.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Was the OL at fault here?

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

That’s Raider Curbside Trash (Cleanup courtesy of the New Orleans Saints)

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

My guess is it was a major factor. Carr had zero time to throw. His mistake was throwing it up for grabs.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

A competent QB who has zero time, DOES NOT make that mistake.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

This is our QB and coach for rest of year. No chance Allen moves on from Carr with his job on the line. Only way we see Rattler is if mid season coaching change made or Carr and Haener both are injured.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Another thing to consider is that the injuries at center have been so devistating and Carr’s performance before them was so excellent because we took the job of calling protections off of Carr and put them on the center, so he could just focus on playing QB. Oline are more frequently injured or cast away and have shorter careers than QBs and QBs get paid more, so all things being equal having the QB call protections would give more stability and experience, especially a highly paid veteran QB like Carr. But despire a salary that will balloon from $30m this year to $40m next year and $50m in 2026, Carr could not handle it. And thus with any injury to McCoy our offense was vulnerable. But Carr did perform better with McCoy doing his homework for him. But then again, its also possible that having all those coverages on his mind distracted McCoy just enough or took just enough preparation time away from hiw conditioning to instead study film to get him smashed up by Jalen Carter. In the end, if our scheme is designed to require less capability from the QB, why are we paying so much for a QB, and why arent we spending more on a deeper more capable oline?

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

BAD MANAGEMENT. It runs deep here.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Carr is a thoroughbred QB, a nice clean pocket, nice lanes, nice routes he does as well as anyone if not most. Punch him in the nose, pressure up front, uncomfortable, he is way below average. Many other (top tier) QB's can move around, take a punch in the nose, overcome and adapt to the situation are the successful QB's. Unfortunately, he is only a thoroughbred.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

I’ve purposely stayed off for the first 5 weeks because I wanted to give the optimist a chance! Derek Carr and Dennis Allen need to go! They’ve never won together! They’re comfortable with each other, but that doesn’t win games! I really think we’re in for a long season if changes are not made! Leave Kubiak at OC and hire a new HC and DC! We need a field stretching TE and upgrade the offensive line! We could use a couple of above average WR’s and a good RB! We don’t need Adams! He’ll just be comfortable with the coaching staff like Carr and won’t produce! We need a good kicker too! Start Rattler now so we can analyze his production the rest of the year! If he does great then we’re ahead of the game for next season, if not we draft our future QB! We need draft picks! I see us at 7-10 and no playoffs again! I hope I’m wrong, but I’m being realistic here!

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Is this bad call the result of the aforementioned above ?
https://x.com/theoddsbreakers/status...76448004452433

And what about the one below ?
https://x.com/_ethanlowrey_/status/1843483322351268250

Both are game changing bad calls. If we had a better OL, would it have made a difference for those two plays?

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

REALISM ^^^

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Then there is the small matter of that helmet with the tiny FDL. Saints are 0-4 in that uniform. Should we consider this a jinxer uniform?

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Going to an undrafted WR (Tipton) in that key moment, against a disciplined defense was wild to me.

Need a first down, I'm targeting Olave or Kamara.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

I was on a cruise ship last week, so internet was spotty. Without further ado, here are my two shekels from MNF:

The Good
- Our punter is decent.
- Khalen Sanders. Dude had HS flashback when he played RB and it brought a smile to my face on an otherwise humorless night. (Saunders reached a top speed of 15.79 mph, the third-fastest speed by a ball carrier who weighs over 320 pounds since 2016, per Next Gen Stats. The two fastest plays by ball carriers over 320 pounds in the past nine seasons were Linval Joseph (18.16 mph at 329 pounds) on a 64-yard fumble return TD in Week 5, 2018, and George Fant (16.28 mph at 322 pounds) on a 9-yard reception in Week 14, 2018.) :p

The Bad
- Another bad game against the rush. Keeping in mind that we had 2/3 of our starting LB corps out, it should have been a priority to stack the box.
Nope.
- Would it be too much to ask that we put ANYONE on Kelce's back for the entire game. Maybe Lattimore since we knew the ball was going his way early and often?
Nope.
- Our deficiency at OL was clear before the game. Still did nothing different to slow their pass rush down from last game's tape that I coculd see.
- Big Play Giveaway... again! This time due to a slip on the turf on YET ANOTHER crossing route? Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
- TE's were slightly more active than previous games. Slightly. (Moreau saved us with a wide open TD, thank God!)
- Gruppe. Second missed PAT this season. Why?

The Ugly
- Fall Away, Hail Mary's should NEVER be in your play repertoire. I believe I saw this no less than 4 times last night... once resulting in an INT! I understand you're under pressure, but if you know it's coming, make the decision about .5 sec sooner and give yourself a shooters chance.
- Center Field was a graveyard. The opposing DB's just hung out on the sidelines because it's now known that Carr is NOT throwing across the middle and everyone knows it. Timing routes? What's that? Never heard of her.
- Pass Rush. Chase Young is a one trick pony guys. He can speed rush and that's it. If the opposing OL knows how to handle it, he's a non-factor on the sack stat line. He often overruns rush contain coverage, so he's not even there to assist with that.
- DA's love affair with Man Cover is keeping the D on the field and wearing them out by the 4th quarter! 2nd and 34. Should be an easy 3 and out, right?
DA says, "Hey y'all! Watch this!"
This man is NOT a Defensive Mastermind by any stretch!

Once again, this team had it's chances to stay competitive. But this team is NOT designed to play from behind. Let's hope they figure it out or find an answer for having zero help in the slot WR position.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

It seems like the more Derek Carr is praised and believed in the worse he plays and the more he is ridiculed and doubted the better he plays. Maybe we could still win a Super Bowl with Carr this year if the team publicly declares that the starting QB job will be week to week even when Carr returns, elevates Haener and Rattler to 1b and 1c on the depth chart, publicly discusses trading for Jared Stidham, pulls Carr for at least a series whenever he commits a turnover even if he is having a great game, signs an additional QB to the practice squad, demands Carr accept a pay cut and waive his March injury guarantee, requires Carr to also practice with special teams as a holder, makes Haener and Rattler co-captains, and embraces fans criticism of Carr even when he is performing well.

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

How bad is his oblique injury? Haven't seen yet just how long he may be out. Will he go on IR if bad enough?

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

Re: Observations from Saints loss to Chiefs
 

There's always next year.
:couch: