Mickles: Saints’ midseason grades from great to mediocre
 

Not that we haven’t seen it before, but it’s still amazing to watch how quickly things can change — and often do — in the NFL.

Less than a month ago, on the morning of Oct. 13, the New Orleans Saints were 5-0 going into a big matchup with the New England Patriots. At that point, the Saints looked for all the world that they would clinch the NFC South title by the time they sat down for Thanksgiving dinner.

Not so much now as two losses in the past three games, coupled with four wins in a row by the Carolina Panthers — yes, the Panthers — have made it a race again. Now, the Saints’ seemingly insurmountable lead in the division has dwindled to just one game.

On top of that, there’s still a lot of football to be played as the Saints just reached the season’s midway point with Sunday’s 26-20 loss to the New York Jets.

Eight games down. Eight games to go. It’s the perfect time to see just how the Saints have fared position-by-position so far:

Offense

Quarterback: It’s always a good place to start for the Saints, who have gotten solid play from Drew Brees for the most part. He’s among the league leaders in yards (second, 2,672), touchdowns (second, 21), completion percentage (fourth, 66.1) and passer rating (fourth, 104.5). On top of that, Brees has thrown just seven interceptions after getting picked 19 times in 2012 when he tied for the league lead. Grade: A

Offensive line: This is where things get sticky for the offense, which continues to put up yards and points on a pretty consistent basis. The unit of Charles Brown, Ben Grubbs, Brian de la Puente, Jahri Evans and Zach Strief has allowed Brees to take way too many hits, and he’s been sacked 20 times — just below his average of 20.3 sacks per season since coming to the Saints in 2006. The offensive line has also been plagued by penalties with 21 — including 15 holding calls, even tough three were declined. Grade: C

Running backs: Speaking of problems, there’s the running game. On his return this spring, Sean Payton vowed to put an emphasis on running the ball like they did in 2009 and 2011, when they averaged more than 130 yards a game. But they haven’t overwhelmed anyone in averaging 79.8 yards per game, which ranked 26th in the league as of Monday. They’re 29th with 3.3 yards per attempt and are tied for 24th with three rushing touchdowns. Veterans Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles and Mark Ingram, who missed five games with a toe injury, have combined for 445 yards, and their long run this season is just 21 yards. Grade: D-minus.

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