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The New Orleans Saints offense is in stasis. They’re not necessarily playing scared, but they’re very much keeping a foot off the gas pedal while working with so many absences. It’s no surprise that almost half their plays (78 rushing attempts and 14 targets, accounting for 92 of their 220 plays) have gone to Alvin Kamara, force-feeding their best player opportunities to keep the offense on schedule. So when will this offense start to look like itself?
Hopefully that resolution is right around the corner. New Orleans’ top two receivers aren’t available. While Tre’Quan Smith says he’ll return from injured reserve after the Saints’ bye week, there’s less certainty with Michael Thomas, who is on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list until that Week 6 bye. The hope is that he’ll be ready to practice ahead of Week 7’s game with the Seattle Seahawks, but it’s the kind of thing we have to see to believe given the way his last year has gone.
And the offensive line has been banged up too. The strength of the team, that unit has been without all-star left tackle Terron Armstead and starting center Erik McCoy, putting less-capable backups into prominent spots. Neither of them have gone on injured reserve, but they were both non-participants in Wednesday’s practice session. Barring a change on Thursday, we probably won’t see them until after the bye week either.
So that suggests the Saints are one more game (and then a week of rest) away from fielding an offense that looks like one we’re used to, with Thomas drawing a ton of targets and Smith stretching the field with McCoy and Armstead keeping pass protection sharp. And with a stunningly efficient Jameis Winston under center, maybe those upgrades are enough to get New Orleans back among league leaders on offense. We’ve just got to wait a little longer and hope they can beat the Washington Football Team without their best players this weekend.
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