Category: Latest Saints News

10 burning questions ahead of Saints-Patriots in Week 3

Saints vs. Patriots: 10 burning questions ahead of Week 3’s matchup, with @Patriots_Wire:

The New Orleans Saints have an opportunity to notch a rare win against the New England Patriots, who have beaten the black and gold in two of their three meetings during the Sean Payton era.

Both teams are in unfamiliar rebuilding phases, with Jameis Winston working to prove last week’s disappointing loss was a fluke while Mac Jones hopes to continue building confidence in his abilities. With the shadows of two Hall of Fame quarterbacks hanging over the game, each passer is feeling some pressure.

Ahead of the game, I linked up with Patriots Wire managing editor Henry McKenna, who shared his insight in a question-and-answer session. He floated five queries my way and I sent mine in kind. Here’s what we learned about both squads:

Two-thirds of NFL experts pick against the Saints in Week 3

NFL Pickwatch: Two-thirds of NFL experts pick against the Saints in Week 3

I mean, it’s tough to blame them, right? The New Orleans Saints just turned in maybe the least inspiring performance in Sean Payton’s 15-year tenure, and only 33% of experts polled at NFL Pickwatch are choosing them to defeat the New England Patriots in Week 3.

On the other hand, the Saints did the same thing to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 (who struggled to shift gears against the Detroit Lions on Monday night until they pulled away in the second half). Their Jekyll and Hyde act makes them tough to forecast.

A vast majority of experts picked against the Saints in Week 1, then backed the black and gold in Week 2 (to their regret). Let’s see if the Saints can prove them wrong again, but for the better this time.

[lawrence-related id=50727]

[listicle id=50685]

Referee John Hussey assigned to Week 3 Saints-Patriots game

Referee John Hussey assigned to Week 3 Saints-Patriots game:

The New Orleans Saints will kick off with the New England Patriots this weekend with veteran referee John Hussey and his crew officiating the game, per Football Zebras. Hussey has worked as a referee since 2015, and the Saints are 6-2 when he’s on the scene in that capacity. The Patriots are 3-2.

But the last time the Saints visited New England, they narrowly lost when an uncalled hold on defensive end Junior Galette by left tackle Nate Solder allowed Tom Brady to connect with wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins on a touchdown strike in the final seconds despite tight coverage by cornerback Jabari Greer. We’ll be hoping for a better result this time around.

Through two weeks, Hussey’s crew has thrown 28 flags (tied for fifth-most) for 258 penalty yards (seventh-most), with an emphasis on false starts (6) and offensive holding (5). Oddly, 18 of those fouls have come against home teams.

Here is how Hussey’s crew’s top tendencies stack up against the Saints, Patriots, and the NFL averages on a per-game basis:

False starts Offensive holding Defensive holding Total penalties
New Orleans 2.00 1.00 0.00 8.50
New England 0.50 2.00 1.00 7.00
John Hussey 3.00 2.50 1.50 14.0
NFL average 2.81 2.53 0.53 13.59

 

Punters are people too, and Blake Gillikin is Week 2’s Saints player of the game

Punters are people too, and Blake Gillikin is Week 2’s Saints player of the game:

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”NiQ67fPxNr-1518994-7498″]

Some readers are going to take this with derision. Others could argue rookie pass rusher Payton Turner should get the nod, and I’d tend to agree with them. But when reviewing the New Orleans Saints’ loss to the Carolina Panthers, only one player consistently stood out from start to finish with a strong case as their best player in the game: Blake Gillikin. The second-year pro joined the Saints with plenty of talent, and a year spent studying behind Thomas Morstead has served him well.

His first punt of the afternoon came from midfield, sending the ball 44 yards from New Orleans’ 49 yard line to be downed by Tony Jones Jr. at the Carolina 7 yard line. That shows both accuracy and hang time to allow his teammates to get downfield. The Panthers were in a tight spot on 2nd-and-7 from their own 10 when Turner drew a personal foul and bailed them out. That kept the drive alive until Carolina chose to punt on 4th-and-2 after crossing into New Orleans territory.

Next, backed up at his own 16-yard line, Gillikin punted a full 60 yards. Panthers return specialist Alex Erickson didn’t anticipate that — he was lined up at their 45, and had to backpedal for 15 yards to catch the ball. He was able to make up for it with a 10-yard return but that still saw Sam Darnold take over at his own 34-yard line. This drive ended 15 plays later in a short field goal.

Later, punting from the New Orleans 44, Gillikin booted the football 42 yards to drop it inside Carolina’s 20-yard line but Erickson returned it 14 yards for a modest gain. More penalties on Turner and his fellow rookie Paulson Adebo helped the drive along and the Panthers capped it with a touchdown before the two-minute warning.

Gillikin’s number wasn’t called again until after halftime. He trotted out at the end of a disappointing series to open the second half, sending the ball 52 yards from his own 25-yard line — effectively flipping the field, with Erickson losing a couple yards to a Ty Montgomery tackle. The Panthers took over at their own 23 and had a long field goal try blocked by Carl Granderson in another good special teams play.

He wasn’t done yet, though. Gillikin punted once more in the third quarter from the New Orleans 16, flipping the field again on a 59-yard effort. If you’re keeping track, that’s an average of 51.4 yards per punt so far, all landing deep in Carolina territory. Not too shabby.

But it wasn’t a perfect day in the office. Gillikin’s final punt was his worst, glancing off of his foot to fall out of bounds after just a 37-yard flight. That doomed attempt started at the Saints’ 16 yard line and set up the Panthers for another scoring drive from their own 47, needing just eight plays to hit the end zone.

That kind of speaks to the Saints’ all-around performance on Sunday. Nobody’s perfect, and while some players may have turned in a better game than others, everyone who hit the field left with something they can improve on. They’ve got a week to right the ship before traveling to face the New England Patriots; let’s see what progress Gillikin makes and whether he can settle the position for the next decade like his mentor was able to.

[listicle id=50624]

NFC South standings: Saints take a tumble after Week 2

NFC South standings: New Orleans Saints take a tumble after Week 2

The haves are beginning to separate from the have-nots with most of Week 2’s NFL games in the books, but it isn’t clear just where the New Orleans Saints could fall. But what we do know is how the Saints stack up against their peers in the NFC South — at least at this early juncture. As the season marches on and each team puts more plays on tape, we’ll get a better idea about the hierarchy. For now, here’s your updated standings for the division going into Week 3:

Sean Payton, Jameis Winston point to same problem after Panthers loss

Sean Payton, Jameis Winston point to same problem after Panthers loss:

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”ZBE36QA662-1518173-7498″]

Jameis Winston spent a lot of his Sunday afternoon running for cover against a tenacious Carolina Panthers pass rush, which prevented the New Orleans Saints offense from doing almost anything productive. After the game finished with a disappointing 26-7 final tally, both Winston and Saints coach Sean Payton identified the same problem — miscommunication up front.

“I have to take responsibility for communicating with the offensive line,” Winston said. “Got to get us in better protections. Just communicate better out there.”

The Saints looked sloppy after a year spent playing in front of half-empty stadiums amid the pandemic. They were slow to break the huddle, slow to get in position, and slow to snap the ball. As Winston noted, they were ineffective in making adjustments, too. A number of unblocked Panthers defenders crashed through the offensive line untouched. The blocking assignments weren’t up to snuff, and the offense as a whole suffered for it. New Orleans is built for the big men in the trenches to pave running lanes for Alvin Kamara and buy time for a subpar wide receivers corps to get open downfield. They weren’t able to accomplish either of those goals.

“Our protection plan wasn’t good,” Payton added. “It had nothing to do with us being short-handed.”

Payton wasn’t willing to accept the coaching staff’s absences as an excuse, but it clearly tripped them up. They took a couple of penalties and burnt a few timeouts they shouldn’t have had to with cleaner lines of communication from the sideline to the press box to the field. Eight different position coaches were unable to join the team while in the league’s COVID-19 protocol. Rookie quarterback Ian Book, inactive, did his best in signaling personnel substitutions.

But not all of that blame falls on poor communication. Winston admitted he had to make better decisions, not just in where he put the football (tossing a pair of ill-advised interceptions) but in the pre-snap adjustments he called out along the line. Working with a new center in Cesar Ruiz while Erik McCoy is on the mend, too often he misdiagnosed the defense’s pressure packages, putting himself and his teammates in a tight spot.

The good news is that the entire coaching staff is vaccinated and should be back to full strength sooner rather than later. McCoy avoided a three-game stint on injured reserve, so he should return soon, too. We’ll just have to hope the offense can get back up to speed in the meantime.

[vertical-gallery id=50459]

Saints vs. Panthers game recap: Everything we know

Unprepared, unserious Saints surprised by Panthers: Everything we know

Yikes. A week after beating the Green Bay Packers in every phase, the New Orleans Saints got a taste of their own medicine against the Carolina Panthers. With the exception of their special teams execution, the Saints were outplayed on offense and defense by Carolina. We got the full Jameis Winston experience today.

It was the worst-coached game of Sean Payton’s career. It’s not like there was a Hall of Fame defender creating havoc and spiking his game plan, like J.J. Watt did in 2015’s 24-6 loss to the Texans. There wasn’t a specific mismatch like Robert Quinn against Charles Brown as in 2013’s 27-16 loss to the Rams. And they didn’t overlook their opponent as they did in 2019 coming out of their bye week, as the Atlanta Falcons got away with in 2019’s devastating 26-9 upset.

The Saints didn’t have a good plan to start with, and they compounded it with too many mistakes and too little ambition to correct them. Here’s everything we know:

Marshon Lattimore, C.J. Gardner-Johnson inactive vs. Panthers

Saints’ Marshon Lattimore, C.J. Gardner-Johnson inactive vs. Panthers

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”sEWBCzWYiI-1515401-7498″]

Well that’s not good. The New Orleans Saints ruled out starting defensive backs Marshon Lattimore and C.J. Gardner-Johnson for their Week 2 game with the Carolina Panthers. Lattimore chipped a bone in his hand last week and underwent surgery, and has a chance to play next week. Gardner-Johnson was limited in practice throughout the week with a knee injury.

Additionally, the Saints will be without defensive end Tanoh Kpassagnon, who is managing a calf injury. That opens more snaps in the rotation for rookie draft pick Payton Turner to make a splash after Marcus Davenport was sent to injured reserve for a few weeks.

And it’ll be interesting to see how the Saints approach the situation at center with Erik McCoy out due to a calf strain; recently-signed free agent Austin Reiter was called up from the practice squad, and he’s active, though Cesar Ruiz did well on short notice in Week 1. The full inactive lists from both teams:

Report: Saints targeted Kyle Fuller, Stephon Gilmore before Bradley Roby trade

Report: Saints targeted Kyle Fuller, Stephon Gilmore before Bradley Roby trade

[mm-video type=video id=01fft8bqn4ydargzet5e playlist_id=01eqbyahgz6p2j3xp7 player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fft8bqn4ydargzet5e/01fft8bqn4ydargzet5e-184f9238868996ff039f6de139cc8bff.jpg]

It’s no secret that the New Orleans Saints worked around the clock to find an upgrade at cornerback this summer. Their efforts started in free agency, when Richard Sherman wouldn’t settle for their offered price. It continued into the 2021 NFL draft, when New Orleans attempted to trade into the top-10. And talks continued into training camp, where NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports the Saints made overtures for several proven veterans before ultimately landing Bradley Roby.

Rapoport clarified that the Saints offered the Denver Broncos “a really solid draft pick” for Kyle Fuller, though general manager George Paton decided to hang onto his big free agent acquisition. He adds that the Saints also called after New England Patriots No. 1 corner Stephon Gilmore, but to no avail.

In the end, it’s more-or-less worked out for everyone. The Saints landed Roby, who is expected to make his first start for New Orleans on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Fuller is stepping up for Denver after starter Ronald Darby was sent to injured reserve for a few weeks. And Gilmore is out of action on the physically unable to perform list with an offseason injury.

Maybe Fuller is a better player than Roby, but the Saints may have needed to give up more than they spent to acquire Roby (a 2022 third rounder and conditional sixth rounder in 2023) to pry him away. Maybe everyone is just where they’re supposed to be.

[listicle id=50468]

Aaron Rodgers auctions off jersey worn vs. Saints for Hurricane Ida relief

Aaron Rodgers auctions off jersey worn vs. Saints for Hurricane Ida relief

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbyahgz6p2j3xp7 player_id=none image=https://saintswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

This is cool: Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers donated the jersey he wore when the New Orleans Saints throttled his team in a shocking 38-3 Week 1 victory, putting it up for auction to benefit the Gulf Coast Renewal Fund. Started by Saints owner Gayle Benson and flush with donations from around the NFL community, the fund has worked to support organizations working to help Louisiana recover from the impacts of Hurricane Ida.

Rodgers was probably eager to part with the jersey after wearing it during the worst game of his pro career, but it’s good to see the it go to good use. If there’s any justice, some enterprising Saints fan will frame it and put it up as a trophy. Preferably after getting the players who intercepted and sacked Rodgers to sign it.

[lawrence-related id=50427,50307]

[listicle id=50389]