The New Orleans Saints: Pretenders or Contenders?
One of the biggest storylines of the early NFL season is the surprising performance of the New Orleans Saints. The Saints rebounded after a 0–2 start and rattled off four straight wins, and are now sitting pretty at 4–2 and first in the NFC South. The Saints play the 3–4 Bears at home this week, and if they take care of business they’ll move to 5–2, which begs the question: Are the Saints for real this season? Let’s examine what the Saints are doing right, and what they need to improve if they want to be a part of the championship conversation come playoff time.
What They’re Doing Right
Offense
Year in and year out, the Saints produce one of the best offenses in the league. Even as Drew Brees ages and the future of his career looks uncertain, he continues to put up the same big numbers he put up in his prime. No matter who the Saints have on offense, they manage to find a playmaker who can give them a big play when they need it. According to NFL.com, the Saints rank 4th in the NFL in points per game at 28.5, yards per game at 391, and passing yards per game at 269.3. They also rank 10th in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 121.7. While on the surface it looks like they need to improve the running game, I don’t see it as a reason to worry since they like to get their running backs involved in the passing game. With Willie Snead coming off of injury, the Saints are getting back another weapon that is going to help boost their offense. Clearly, the Saints are doing something right on offense, and if they keep it up they should find themselves in the playoffs in January.
Marshon Lattimore
Going into the NFL Draft, the Saints were desperate for a defender who could help their atrocious secondary. Their prayers were answered with cornerback Marshon Lattimore. At just 21 years old, Lattimore has already become the Saints’ best player at his position. He covers the opposition’s best wide receiver week in and week out. Even more exciting for the Saints is that he thrives on that responsibility. When asked about being able to cover any receiver in the league, according to Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Observer, Lattimore replied, “Of course. That’s just the confidence I have in myself.” While he is still a rookie and has a small sample size, you have to like the confidence from Lattimore, and his performances this season absolutely back it up. According to Next Gen Stats, Lattimore has been targeted 24 times and given up 14 catches for 126 yards. Lattimore has given up just 2 touchdowns and has one interception (returned for a touchdown) while sporting an 86.0 passer rating against. Clearly, Lattimore has been performing well, especially for a rookie. Only time will tell if he continues to improve, and if he does, he could become one of the best corners in the league in the future.
Where They Need to Improve
The Rest of the Defense
Don’t get me wrong, the Saints defense has looked substantially better this year than they have in any of the last three years. However, they still need to see some improvement on this side of the ball if they truly want to be in the championship conversation. The Saints rank 16th in the league in points per game allowed at 22.2, 23rd in the league in yards allowed per game at 351, 21st in pass yards allowed per game at 236.8, and 20th in rush yards allowed per game at 114.2, according to NFL.com. However, while these stats may look grim, the Saints rank 7th in the league in interceptions with 8. Also, according to ESPN.com, the Saints only have one player on the defensive side of the ball who is at least 30 years old, while they have 16 players who are 25 years old or younger. The Saints have a young defense that has the potential to improve as the season goes on. And if it does, they could become a very dangerous team going forward.
The Verdict
The Saints have been a surprising team to this point in the season. They are currently first in their division, which nobody expected coming into the year. While the offense looks great, and the defense has improved substantially, the Saints still need to clean some things up when it comes to the latter. The young defense looks promising but needs to become more consistent and limit their yards allowed if they want to compete with the teams ahead of them come playoff time.
