Tag: Pete Carmichael

Dennis Allen concerned about injuries, but the Saints have bigger problems

Dennis Allen expressed concerns about injuries, but his coaching staff’s decisions have been a bigger problem for the Saints:

You’d be excused for not tuning into the New Orleans Saints’ ugly loss in prime time to the Arizona Cardinals. If watching Andy Dalton melt down and throw three interceptions before halftime didn’t do it for you, Dennis Allen’s blasé response afterwards probably would have. The Saints looked rudderless and overmatched by what’s widely considered to be one of the worst-managed teams in the NFL. It was brutal to watch.

Things didn’t really improve during Allen’s postgame press conference. After first commenting on his defense’s “shoddy tackling” in his opening statement Allen turned his attention to other factors at play in the loss, adding “My biggest concern is we haven’t had the health of our players.”

Now, there’s some merit to that: the Saints were without six of their starters in this game (seven if you count first-round left tackle Trevor Penning, who was not expected to start as a rookie prior to a late-summer injury) including both starting cornerbacks and their top two receivers, as well as last year’s first rounder Payton Turner. Health has been a real problem for New Orleans throughout the season so far. There aren’t many teams managing worse injury situations.

But the bigger problems are on the sidelines. Allen’s coaching staff has made too many baffling decisions to overlook. Two weeks in a row we’ve seen rookie receiver Rashid Shaheed score a long touchdown (going 44 yards on the ground last week and 53 yards through the air this week) only to go the rest of the game without ever touching the ball again. Pete Carmichael Jr. has failed to weaponize a bright young talent.

That extends to other issues with the offense. He’s demonstrated an obvious play calling trend in calling a run play on more than 80% of second downs following an incomplete pass on first downs, setting the offense up to fail with too many third-and-long situations. When they have managed to get downfield and fight and claw their way into scoring position inside the opposing red zone, Carmichael has taken his best players off the field.

He’s failed to score a single touchdown with Alvin Kamara through five games; Kamara started the season poised to take Marques Colston’s career touchdowns record, but the Saints can’t get him the ball inside their opponents’ 20-yard line. Taysom Hill is an automatic score in short-yardage situations but they’ve got Andy Dalton throwing to Tre’Quan Smith in traffic instead. Make it make sense.

And let’s talk about the defense. There was a lot of noise about who would be calling plays defensively, with Allen having named defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen and secondary coach Kris Richard as co-coordinators. And it certainly looks like a unit with too many cooks in the kitchen. The Saints are missing what feels like dozens of tackles per game, allowing coverage busts left and right, and struggling to even hold up at the line of scrimmage, much less break through to disrupt the offense. They’re failing the fundamentals that middle school teams across the country work on every day.

They’ve lost to one team that was actively tanking (the Carolina Panthers, who gave Matt Rhule another week or two in the office with that win) and two others that wouldn’t have shocked anyone by firing their head coaches weeks earlier (the Zac Taylor-led Cincinnati Bengals and Kliff Kingsbury-coached Cardinals). The Saints are who their record says they are: a really bad and poorly-managed 2-5 team that bought their own hype, hired the wrong coach, and set their franchise back at least two years. We’re almost halfway into the season and there’s nothing you can say they do well. Now we wait until they take action to clean up this mess.

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Studs and Duds from Saints’ frustrating loss to Bengals at home

From Demario Davis’ consistency to the coaching staff’s inconsistency, here are the Studs and Duds from the Saints’ frustrating loss to Bengals, via @DillySanders:

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The New Orleans Saints fell at home to the Cincinnati Bengals in an extremely winnable game. Both coaches and players can share blame in this one. There are some important things to figure out as the team is now 2-4. Luckily for them, the division is pretty weak so the season isn’t lost yet.

Here are all of the standout performances from the loss, both good and bad:

Saints OC Pete Carmichael Jr. addresses Jameis Winston practice absence

Saints OC Pete Carmichael Jr. addressed Jameis Winston’s absence at Thursday’s practice session:

Dennis Allen said that New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston would return to practice on Thursday, so it was a bit of a shock to see the team hit the field without No. 2. And Allen wasn’t around to explain his passer’s absence — the Saints head coach doesn’t have regular media availabilities on Thursdays, instead giving his offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. the opportunity to speak with the press after practice, along with co-defensive coordinators Kris Richard and Ryan Nielsen.

So it fell to Carmichael to field questions on Winston’s status. Carmichael said that the team’s training staff met with Allen on Thursday morning and advised that resting Winston would be “the best decision for Jameis today. We’ll see where we stand tomorrow.” When asked if Winston would start in Sunday’s game with the Minnesota Vikings, Carmichael deferred to Allen.

Carmichael did add that Winston has been active everywhere but the practice field — he’s joined the other quarterbacks for regular meetings and film study sessions, working to get the mental reps he’d receive in a normal game week. He just hasn’t thrown a pass with his teammates in practice. The team is managing his reps on a daily basis as he continues to recover from a growing list of injuries; in addition to four fractured vertebrae and an ankle sprain, Winston said Wednesday that he’s also rehabbing a hip flexor issue.

If the team chooses to rest Winston for Week 4, it’ll likely be Andy Dalton getting the start. The veteran backup was signed for this exact purpose and he can be backed up by Taysom Hill and practice squad passer Jake Luton. Stay tuned.

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Poor decisions and a lack of attention to detail are dooming the Saints

Poor decisions and a lack of attention to detail are dooming the Saints. They’ve got a lot to clean up, but little time to work with:

Poor coaching decisions and a lack of attention to detail are dooming the New Orleans Saints. They’ve got a lot to clean up, but little time to work with. Between poor utilization of star talents like Alvin Kamara (who Jameis Winston still struggles to target in stride) and Michael Thomas (who caught just his fifth pass when lining up from the slot in Week 3) and messy pre-snap penalties, what was characterized as an experienced, cohesive coaching staff has fell far beneath expectations.

New Orleans ranks second in the NFL in total penalties (24), which is bad enough, but more alarmingly is that they’re second-worst in special teams fouls (6). And unlike the team ahead of them, (the Kansas City Chiefs, with 7) they don’t have Patrick Mahomes to bail them out of unfortunate field position. No team has more pre-snap penalties on special teams than the Saints (3) through three weeks. They’re sloppy in the game’s third phase.

Something we didn’t appreciate strongly enough about Sean Payton was his eye for detail in the kicking game. His special teams units regularly ranked among the cleaner squads around the league, finishing with 10, 13, 21, and 19 fouls the last four years. Even at its worst, that’s a far cry from the 34 special teams penalties New Orleans is on pace for now. Payton’s diligence in smoothing out those procedural issues was a point of pride for him.

The good news is that these things can be cleaned up. Darren Rizzi has been the Saints special teams coordinator for a long time, and he shouldn’t need Payton hovering over his shoulder to make sure he isn’t sending 12 guys on the field for a critical punt or reminding All-Pro gunner J.T. Gray not to run out of bounds while covering a return. He can and should tighten up that phase of the game.

What’s more concerning are the problems on offense. Winston is looking more and more like a poor fit for what the Saints want to run. He isn’t recognizing pressure before the snap and adjusting protection calls for it. He’s not throwing a catchable football to Kamara, who has only caught 5 passes in two games after averaging 5.4 receptions per game across his first four years in the NFL. He’s putting the ball in harm’s way. The offense doesn’t have any sense of rhythm, finishing more drives with punts (16) than scoring opportunities (11 combined touchdowns and field goal tries).

A lot of that blame shifts directly on Pete Carmichael. He’s an experienced play caller and the longest-tenured offensive coordinator in the NFL. Sure, the team had to convince him into hanging onto that job title, but that’s in the past. He’s got to do a better job dialing up plays to his players’ strengths. That means screens for Kamara, play action shots for Winston, and, yeah, quick slants to Thomas when the defense is rushing eight pass rushers. We aren’t seeing the innovative system that emphasized players’ unique skills that defined this offense for 15 years.

Instead, he’s calling plays that betray a lack of trust in his quarterback. Look at these sequences: first down pass falls incomplete, leading to a running play on second down with 10 yards to go. It’s playing for third down and a likely punt rather than trusting your quarterback to make a play. And, again, the penalties didn’t help. New Orleans was flagged at least once on four of their five drives that went three-and-out in Carolina. Four of their offensive penalties on the day were due to poor pre-snap execution like false starts (twice), an illegal shift, and the rare offensive offsides foul (which has only been called five times in the last three seasons).

To be fair to Carmichael, and as WWL Radio analyst Deuce McAllister noted, there have been situations where he called a play to send a receiver streaking open downfield or with yards available after the catch, only to be undercut by a bad throw. Winston missed touchdown opportunities to Kamara and Adam Trautman in the red zone on Sunday because he didn’t look their way. Jarvis Landry was injured adjusting to an off-target pass that twisted his leg as he worked his way back to the ball. But at the end of the day, the play caller and the player most singularly responsible for executing those plays are not in sync.

So what’s to be done? Practice, practice, and more practice. This isn’t going to get better without more reps. Winston has to get more comfortable working under center and reading the defense so he can react to it before the snap. The young guys surrounding him need to ease into their roles and clean up the penalties and procedural issues. And that all starts with the coaches making it a point of emphasis.

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New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons game recap: Everything we know

New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons game recap: Everything we know after Week 1

The wouldn’t be the New Orleans Saints or the Atlanta Falcons if they couldn’t kick off a new season in the most dramatic, at times ridiculous fashion imaginable. Let’s dig in to the Saints’ Week 1 win:

Alvin Kamara confident in ‘Sneaky Pete’ Carmichael calling plays for Saints

Alvin Kamara says he’s confident in ‘Sneaky Pete’ Carmichael calling plays for the Saints offense this year:

There aren’t many people around the NFL who know the New Orleans Saints offense better than Alvin Kamara. The five-time Pro Bowl running back was often picked out by Drew Brees and Sean Payton as one of the sharpest minds on the team, credited for his high football IQ and comprehension of the playbook.

But one of the few people who might have him beat is his play caller. When asked about Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. after Thursday’s practice session, Kamara was all smiles. Carmichael is the NFL’s longest-tenured offensive coordinator, and his star player is understandably amped to see him receiving a brighter spotlight.

“Sneaky Pete, man, he’s been the one. I don’t think a lot of people know, he was up — he’s a mastermind. I’ll say that,” Kamara grinned, pausing to reflect on Payton’s departure and Carmichael’s stepping into the role as a play caller, which was a change that Kamara embraced. “It’s not a better or worse thing (comparing Carmichael to Payton on the headset), but I like Pete. He seems kind of quiet and relaxed and reserved, but he’s crazy. He takes pride in how he calls the plays, with tempo, he’s like a graceful play caller. He always knows what he wants to do to set up something else.”

Now that’s an interesting take. Carmichael’s last full-season stint as a play caller came in 2012, when Payton was suspended, and he lit up the scoreboard by fully weaponizing Brees and versatile pass-catchers like Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles. That high-octane offense saw both players draw 100-plus targets, as did wide receivers Marques Colston and Lance Moore. Carmichael was eager to air it out with Brees in his prime, though some of that may have been due to the historically-poor defense the team was shackled with at the time.

Will he take a similarly aggressive approach with Jameis Winston? Maybe. Carmichael has to know that things are different now than the situation he stepped into a decade ago, but one key lesson he may have learned from that experience could be how much easier his job is when trusting his star talent. Getting Kamara on track quickly with Winston (he’s coming off career-low numbers as a receiver in 2021) makes for more effective looks for all their teammates, including the finally-deep receiving corps. If Carmichael can get Kamara and Winston on the same page early this season, watch out. Kamara’s enthusiasm for the situation seems to suggest they’re already in lockstep.

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CBS Sports ranks Saints offense as third-tier across the NFL

CBS Sports ranks New Orleans Saints offense as third-tier across the NFL, via @DillySanders:

The caution that the national media has had with examining the New Orleans Saints offense is easy to understand. A majority of observers still aren’t convinced Jameis Winston is the guy for the franchise, Sean Payton is gone, and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael is left with the most responsibility he has ever had in his 22-year career in the NFL.

Those worries are conveyed in the recent CBS sports offensive rankings, where the Saints were placed in the third tier among NFL offenses. They are placed as the 16th best offense overall in the league, placing them directly in the middle.

About the teams in that third tier, Jared Dubin of CBS Sports said this:

“We can consider this tier the ‘above-average, but not quite great’ group. With one exception, they all have quarterbacks who are somewhere between pretty good and very good. They all have above-average or better offensive lines, play-callers, and pass-catchers. None of them has a hole at running back. But these teams also don’t necessarily have elite units, with the exception of the Colts (Jonathan Taylor), Vikings (Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison), and 49ers (Kyle Shanahan).”

I do agree that right now we cannot call the Saints a great offense, on paper they have the potential, but it has to play out before anyone can say definitively. I would also agree with not calling the running back room elite. Alvin Kamara is there, and he himself is an elite running back, but outside of him it is questionable. Mark Ingram will always be a fan favorite, but he will be 33 years old before the playoffs begin. The Saints could need another player near the bottom of the depth chart to show out this season.

Along the rest of the NFC South, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are listed as the best offense in the league while the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta falcons are placed in tier five. The Falcons have the slight edge, though, being ranked 28th while the Panthers are ranked 30th. Uncertain as things may seem in New Orleans, it’s better to be underrated than ruled out altogether.

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2022 NFL coaching changes: New Orleans Saints

Continuity in mind, Dennis Allen returns to the sidelines in his second stint as a head coach.

Sean Payton recently stepped down after 16 years as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints, paving the way for his longtime defensive coordinator to be promoted as the successor. Dennis Allen earned his second opportunity to call the shots coming eight years after he lasted served as the head coach of the then-Oakland Raiders.

Allen, 49, entered the NFL coaching ranks in 2002 under Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Reeves. He has since coached exclusively on the defensive side of the ball, although it is unclear if Allen will continue to call plays as the head man. Saints defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen and secondary coach Kris Richard have been promoted to operate as co-defensive coordinators for the Saints, also keeping their respective roles.

His offensive coordinator will be Pete Carmichael, a retaining a position he has held for 13 straight seasons with the Saints.

No Payton, no worries? Not quite, but it isn’t all gloom and doom. Having three seasons as a head coach under Allen’s belt will help ease the transition, and the “Carmichael continuity” factor should not be underestimated.

Coaching tendencies

There’s not really too much that will change in terms of the system itself, but the newest aspect will be Carmichael as the full-time play-caller. He handled those chores at times in 2011, 2012 and 2016 to varying degrees.

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A great deal of how Carmichael opts to call plays in 2022 comes down to the players at his disposal. Look at how Payton shifted to lean more on Alvin Kamara in 2021 without Drew Brees under center as an example of adaptation. It’s a prime example of how this could work under Carmichael, too, because figuring out the identity of his eventual starting quarterback is the No. 1 task at hand.

Should the Saints settle on the gadgety-gimmick named Taysom Hill, we can expect to see a system that is tailored to his strengths (more running, less passing, forced decisions). However, if Jameis Winston returns in free agency, Carmichael has much more latitude with what he can do to open up the playbook in what would be the quarterback’s second year in the system.

Personnel changes

The Saints have the least cap space in the NFL at this time, and only three rosters are older, on average. There are several ways to restructure and gain serious financial freedom, so it may seem damning to be $48 million over the cap. It’s not the best spot to be in for a team that claims to be retooling and not tearing it down to rebuild from the ground up.

Achieving cap space can be done by restructuring or terminating burdensome deals belonging to CB Marshon Lattimore, DE Cameron Jordan, RB Alvin Kamara, QB Taysom Hill, CB Bradley Roby, DT David Onyemata, DE Marcus Davenport, RB Mark Ingram, LB Demario Davis, PK Wil Lutz and FS Malcolm Jenkins.

Aside from quarterback desperately needing to be resolved, a second running back is a must as Ingram just isn’t getting the job done at his age, and Kamara could be suspended multiple games for his alleged role in a felony battery.

Depth at wide receiver is paramount, and tight end could be addressed as the two promising youngsters on roster struggled to get it going in 2021. Wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith is an impending free agent, and it’s doubtful he returns.

Starting left tackle Terron Armstead figures to walk, too. On defense, free safety Marcus Williams avoided the franchise tag for what would have been the second straight season, and he will hit the open market. Linebacker Kwon Alexander and cornerback P.J. Williams also are set to hit free agency.

Fantasy football takeaway

This area will remain unsettled until we have an answer at quarterback and know more about Kamara’s legal situation. His utility directly relies on the QB under center, and the same can be said for Thomas at wideout.

At this point, there’s no single player who has a 100 percent defined role also presents a clear-cut fantasy valuation. There are more than enough “ifs” and “buts” to be thrown around, so we’ll spare you for now … check back after the upcoming draft for an in-depth update.

7 teams that could sign pending free agent QB Jameis Winston

Jameis Winston shouldn’t lack for suitors in free agency. Quarterback upheaval is taking place across the league, and these 7 teams could try to recruit him:

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The New Orleans Saints chose to retain offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael after spending a week or two searching for his replacement, and his return to that job should make it more likely that Jameis Winston re-signs with the team. But he’s still a pending free agent, and after playing for two years on a fraction of a starter’s salary (and suffering a season-ending knee injury in the process) Winston owes it to himself and his family to go looking for the best offer on the market.

Maybe the best offer comes from the Saints. But there are isn’t a dearth of quarterback-needy teams — far from it. Half a dozen or more squads may be starting new passers in 2022, and enough of them have enough money to throw around to where we shouldn’t assume Winston stays in New Orleans. If he’s at all open to leaving (or if the Saints instead choose to go in a different direction), he should have other options. Let’s explore:

What does Pete Carmichael’s return mean for Jameis Winston, Taysom Hill?

The Saints retained Pete Carmichael as offensive coordinator, which carries big implications for both Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill:

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The New Orleans Saints didn’t retain Pete Carmichael just for the sake of it. Keeping an established offensive coordinator on the roster speaks volumes about their vision for 2022 — and the move carries serious implications for both of their top two quarterbacks, including free agent-to-be Jameis Winston and banged-up dynamo Taysom Hill.

Let’s start with Winston. He first signed with the Saints (on a contract well beneath his market value) explicitly for the experience of being coached up by Sean Payton while working with Drew Brees. Neither Payton nor Brees are around anymore, but Carmichael is. He’s put in extensive time with Carmichael in mastering the offense and ironing out the flaws in his game, and that familiarity should go a long way in convincing Winston to stay.

But let’s not kid ourselves: he’ll have options. There will be a plethora of quarterback-needy teams across the league moving on from underperforming starters, ranging from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts to the Denver Broncos and Washington Commanders. Maybe teams in less-certain conditions like the Houston Texans and Carolina Panthers give Winston a call. How unrealistic is it for him to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, by the way?

The point is that Winston is going to be in a better spot to get paid starter’s money with a stronger supporting cast than the Saints can offer him. If they do want to re-sign him, they can pitch him on a familiar play caller in Carmichael and a willingness to invest in better weapons and protection for him. It’s a more compelling argument than it would be if the Saints were starting over fresh with a new offensive coordinator installing their own system. And maybe it’s exactly what Winston is looking for.

Now let’s talk about Hill. One of Payton’s last acts as Saints head coach was to make sure his favorite player got paid, signing Hill to a multiyear contract extension. He’s got a $12.3 million cap hit this season. If the Saints had brought in a new coordinator who didn’t want Hill to be part of their plans, the Saints could designate him a post-June 1 cut and get $10.1 million back in savings later this summer.

But it doesn’t feel like that will be the case with Carmichael. He’s been part of the process with Hill every step of the way. When Payton first began rolling out Hill-heavy personnel packages, Carmichael was working with them behind the scenes to see why the player enticed Payton so strongly. And when Hill worked his way into the training camp quarterback competition with Winston, he helped coach them both up. After Hill was named the starter late in the 2021 season, Carmichael was there crafting game plans and even calling plays in Hill’s road win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (a game Payton missed while in COVID-19 protocol).

So it stands to reason that Hill will remain in the plans for New Orleans now that Carmichael is calling plays full-time, and his contract is readymade for a restructure that would save more than $7.2 million against the cap. But Hill’s specific role is a mystery. Will Carmichael be as eager to throw him in a quarterback competition as Payton was? Or does he view Hill as more of a position-flexible player who can run routes and throw blocks, which is where his Saints career really took off?

Either way, Hill’s immediate future with the team feels safe. He’s just got to remain healthy. The list of injuries he racked up in 2021 are alarming: he’s currently recovering from Lisfranc foot surgery, having dealt with a torn ligament in his throwing hand, plantar fascia in his other foot, plus a month-long absence managing symptoms from a serious concussion. He’s a warrior, but his style of play has a cost. What is Carmichael’s vision for getting the most out of Hill while not jeopardizing his health? Would he be better protected as a quarterback? And if so, would he be a candidate to start or just an expensive backup?

It’s absolutely a trope to say this, but there are more questions than answers right now. As would be the case with any other coach, though, we won’t get many answers until players hit the practice field in the spring. At least with the Saints hiring a known quantity we know exactly which questions to ask about Carmichael and his quarterbacks. That helps illustrate a road map for what comes next. Let’s see where it takes us.

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