One of the things that frustrates me the most is, despite Drew's ability, there seem to be a ton of of passes that are predetermined. I am aware that on every play there is a primary receiver, but I'm talking about deciding before the play that he's going to throw to that receiver, no matter what.

Drew is too good to just bail out and check down for a 1 yard gain or 3 yard loss like he kept doing tonight. Our offense has done a ton of that during this three year run of losing.

There are times when he has to get rid of it, and then there are times where he isn't under pressure but he just dumps it off without even looking downfield.

Then there are those quick slant routes that have been mentioned in this thread that lead too much trouble to keep running it as often as they do. All that predictability is killing drives. With this defense, the offense can't afford to stop itself.

36/54, 354 yards 3 touchdowns, 7-11 on third down. The Saints only punted twice. If that kinda performance frustrates you, you're gonna be disappointed a lot.

So you have decided that this one game is all the sample size I'm using after back to back losing seasons and an 0-3 start this year? Try again.

54 passes to get to 354 yards proves my point, however. That is horribly inefficient, and that happens too often. We had two punts, a turnover on downs and an interception which came on one of those predictable plays. That throw simply should never have been made but he tried to force it in, anyway.

That's four stops. How many times did we stop the Falcons? Is their offense better than ours? If so, that's embarrassing.

But how about last week's performance? Where was this vaunted offense when we needed them then? The offensive line is light years away from where it used to be in the glory days, but just as big of a problem has been this check down passing game and all the predictability. The aggressive play calling shows up sporadically and then disappears for long stretches.

In 2014 the Saints had the #1 offense in the league.
In 2015 the Saints had the #2 offense in the league.

No offense but that stat is a load of rubbish. Gaining yards doesnt win games. In 2014 the Saints offense was 9th and in 15 8th by points scored. That is all a offense should be judge on

In 2014 the Saints had the #1 offense in the league.
In 2015 the Saints had the #2 offense in the league.
How "inefficient" are they if they're a top 2 offense in the league?
And you're saying if the top offense in the league is better than ours, it's "embarrassing"?

And as for the offensive line, they has allowed only 4 sacks so far this season. Only five teams have fewer. 10 teams have already doubled that or more. And the Saints, as a team, are averaging 4.2 yards per carry. Only 8 teams are averaging more than that. The teams passer rating (Drew) is 105.1 4th best in the league. The offensive line is a lot closer to being great than it is to being bad by any realistic definition.

Again, if you're "frustrated" or "embarrassed" by what the offense is doing, you're in for a lot of disappointment in your NFL expectations.

This isn't fantasy football. Offensive rank is based on yards alone. We threw the ball 54 times last night.... You find me a team that throws the ball 50 plus times and doesn't put up at least 400 yards. Defenses are going to give up yards in this league, with the the rules, especially when the ball is being thrown that much. That extends the game tremendously. Running the ball runs clock.

And yeah, I know what the team is averaging in yards per rush. So why do we abandon it when it is actually working, and go back to dumping the ball off to guys who are being swarmed over? Frustrating, is it not?

We have not been elite in scoring points for a few years now. Above average, yes, but with the amount of money invested in Drew and his toys it's really not near what it should be.

And yes, anytime you have the Falcons ranking ahead of you, it's embarrassing. They have a QB known for choking, and a coaching staff that isn't exactly known for it's offensive prowess.

You make is sound like throwing for 400 yards is some easy thing to do. Peyton Manning averaged it once per season, Drew's done it about the same. Dan Marino did it 15 times in his career and after that no quarterback has double digits. If teams could plan on 400 yards in the air, they'd do it.

Drew Brees 17
Peyton Manning 17
Dan Marino 15
Carson Palmer 8
Philip Rivers 8
Ben Roethlisberger 8
Dan Fouts 7
Joe Montana 7
Warren Moon 7
Eli Manning 7
Matthew Stafford 7
Tom Brady 7

As far as time of possession goes, we won the time of possession last night. We killed the Giants at time of possession, and the Raiders beat us at time of possession by less than a minute. For the season, we're up in time of possession by over 9 minutes. TOP is not an issue with this team.

Where "Drew and his toys" are concerned, did you see the stat they put up during the game last night? No quarterback has achieved what Drew has done in any ten year span in the history of the NFL and really, nobody was even close. In his entire time with the Saints, Drew has never had a pro-bowl wide receiver. And how much are we paying for his "toys"? Cooks, Snead and Thomas's salary's are just a little north of $2million a year COMBINED. Throw in Fleener's salary and the team is still paying less than $4 million a year. The Saints have $7 million available in cap space so it's not like "Drew and his toys" are keeping the Saints from picking up a stud free agent, if there were any available.

And finally, yes, the Falcons are known for their offensive prowess. They came into this game leading the league. And they've been very good for years now. As a matter of fact, the Falcons haven't had a below average offense since 2007 when Bobby Petrino bailed out on them mid season.

400 total yards, Utah. Not passing yards. When you throw it that much, you will have yards. It's all about efficiency.

And I don't if we "won" time of possession. If you are throwing the ball 50 plus times you are extending the game, and you are usually losing. We were having success running the ball. I'm not saying to reverse things and run it 50 times, but try to make it a little more even. With as bad as this defense is right now (whether or not you want to blame that on injuries) you have to take advantage of every possession to not only score, but run as much time off that clock as possible.

Payton failed in his game plan from that perspective. You'd think I were blaming this whole mess on drew by reading your comments. I didn't say one thing about his ability not being there. I said he's TOO GOOD for us to be running this predictable offense. And yes, I saw the stats on Drew over the last decade. We're talking about recent history with this team, not Drew's career accomplishments. Plus you gave me a bunch of QB's who played a long time ago in a different era.

And I disagree about the Falcons. That offense has been known for Julio Jones and Roddy White. It has never been an elite offense. You are telling what they are ranked after 4 whole games. They have a defensive minded head coach and a coordinator who hasn't previously shown to be all that great. Yet they looked a million times more creative than the Saints last night. And that, again, is a bit of an embarrassment.

As far as the cost of Drew and his "toys", he's making around 25 million a year alone, by himself. But the cost isn't simply dollars. They spent a first round pick on Cooks and Ingram, a second round choice on Thomas, plus the over pay for Fleener. They spent good money on Spiller, only to cut him a year later. There has been a significant investment in offense. And at some point they'll have to pay Cooks and Snead if they keep performing. But they haven't done enough to fix the offensive line and the play calling is not taking full advantage of what we have.