Derek Carr and Klint Kubiak are looking for bounce-back performances versus the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The New Orleans Saints’ offense was one of the biggest stories through the first two weeks of the season, but they fell flat against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3.
Rashid Shaheed was catching career-long touchdowns. Alvin Kamara was rejuvenated. The offense looked better than it ever had in the Dennis Allen era. But all of that stopped against the Eagles. Many of the Saints’ struggles could be tied to Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy leaving with an injury. Pressure from the interior disrupted the Saints’ entire plan, and they had a tough time making adjustments at the line without him.
That’s where Kubiak comes into focus. His play calling felt stagnant, and he didn’t appear to adjust to the Eagles’ defensive strategy. Philly took advantage of their unique personnel to match up with the Saints at the line of scrimmage, effectively fielding a 6-1 front that didn’t allow New Orleans’ blockers to get to their spots on run plays. When Carr dropped back to pass there were too many unblocked rushers.
It wouldn’t be shocking to see Atlanta attempt to implement a similar strategy. If the offense is stopped by it again, Kubiak has to display the ability to alter his play calling. That Eagles game is going to give every opponent on their schedule some valuable tape to study. The Saints had a ton of success off working off play-action early on but they can’t rely on plays that take so long to develop with so many backups starting along the offensive line.
And Carr just needs to get the ball out faster. The pressure clearly affected him. He was well-protected the first two weeks, but he also remained unphased by closing defenders. He lost that cool in Week 3.
He will see more pressure than first pair of games but hopefully less than last week. Will he continue to step into throws or loft them? The latter got him in trouble versus the Eagles. If that happens again with the Falcons the Saints will fall to 2-2.
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