Few teams struggled to sustain drives or end them with touchdowns like the New Orleans Saints did last year. You’d be hard pressed to find more offenses that had as many run-run-pass-punt sequences or short field goal tries. So it’s reassuring to hear new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak share a great plan for fixing what’s broken:
Kubiak spoke with WWL Radio on Thursday evening in a wide-ranging interview, ostensibly for previewing the 2024 draft (which we transcribed here). But this was Kubiak’s first exposure to local media, and so he ended up revealing more than may have been expected. And when asked how he plans to improve the Saints offense on third downs and inside the red zone, he gave a perfect answer.
“Speaking first to the red zone, it’s not one thing, it’s being able to run the ball down there,” Kubiak began, “That’s having an identity in running the ball and having success on base downs in the red zone so you’re not getting into 3rd-and-6 from the 6 or 3rd-and-10 from the 10. That’s something Coach (Kyle) Shanahan really harped on with those guys.”
That’s the antithesis of Pete Carmichael’s strategy. Carmichael’s entire play calling approach was designed around playing for third downs in manageable situations: 3rd-and-4, 3rd-and-6, that sort of thing. A couple of short runs into the teeth of the defense and then a quick pass to (hopefully) move the change. But that’s a tough sell when runs are getting stuffed, passes are falling incomplete, and fans are seeing more of the kicking specialists than they ever planned for.
Avoiding third downs altogether with more success on early downs is key. And that’s where Kubiak wants the offense to go. He envisions a run-heavy offense that will set up Derek Carr for big gains off of play action passes, much like the one that his mentor Shanahan has spread around the league. But even the best-designed game plan will run into some snags.
Kubiak continued: “As far as third downs, you know, that’s a whole other set of deals. Its’ a team game and we had a lot of great players on offense. It all started with them. Having great protection up front. Good decision maker at quarterback, and weapons on the outside. It’s all about players and coaches having an organized plan for them.”
So that means the Saints will be leaning hard on their personnel to win their matchups on critical downs. But as Kubiak said, it’s also on coaching to put them in a position to succeed. Finding the right route combinations for Chris Olave and getting favorable mismatches for Alvin Kamara is on him and his staff. It’s a good plan. Now they need to execute it.
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