Proponents for change won’t like this commentary from Mickey Loomis. The New Orleans Saints general manager made his regular appearance on the Saints Hour with WWL radio and was asked about the state of the New Orleans offense — a unit that ranks 18th in points scored this season.
But to hear Loomis tell it, the Saints are right up there with the elite offenses of the world. After prefacing his statement with the importance of focusing on the positives (not the negatives, Loomis emphasized) in reviewing performance, Loomis pointed to the team’s yardage stats as proof of their success.
“There’s too many other things that are good signs. We’re 12th in the league in offense,” Loomis said, referring to their average of 347.1 yards per game. “We just had a game where we had 444 yards. We had five trips into the red zone. We’re top-10 in our league in trips into the red zone. So it’s hard to score if you’re not getting into the scoring area. We’re getting into the scoring area, and historically we’ve done a good job in that area for lots of different reasons, lots of different variables. We’re not doing that as well this year and yet I think we can.”
The problem is that success hasn’t materialized on the scoreboard. As Loomis said, the Saints are getting inside the opposing 20-yard line often (their 40 trips rank 8th-best around the league). But they’re stalling out with just 17 of those drives ending in touchdowns. That’s a conversion rate of 42.5%. Only three teams are worse. They went 0-for-5 on those trips into the red zone last week.
Much of the blame falls on Derek Carr’s shoulders. The nine-year veteran has been the least effective quarterback in the NFL in the red zone this season. 18 different quarterbacks have thrown 40 or more passes in the red zone this season, and Carr (47 attempts) ranks 17th in completion percentage (44.7%) and 18th in touchdown passes (8). He’s a liability.
Of course there are others at fault here. Pete Carmichael has been ineffective when his offense has gotten in scoring position. Penalties on normally-reliable players like right tackle Ryan Ramczyk and dropped passes by receivers known for good hands like tight end Foster Moreau have cost the team points.
But Loomis isn’t worried, or at least he isn’t expressing that publicly. Maybe Carr can just flip a switch and suddenly learn how to hit those tight-window passes in the red zone that he’s struggled with throughout his career.
Still, pointing at the box score instead of the scoreboard rings hollow. The Saints must end drives with touchdowns, not field goals. Otherwise they’re just going to keep getting outscored and keep losing games. If that’s the future Loomis is determined to see through, well: it’s his legacy on the line for guiding the Saints here.
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