The Carolina Panthers are in a tough spot and they know it. They are three games behind the division-leading New Orleans Saints and will need a lot of luck-in addition to their own successes—to catch up. That makes Sunday’s game a must win. To help you understand how that could happen, I spoke with Chris Dunnells of Canal Street Chronicles to get the inside scoop on the Saints season so far. That means you’ll get answers to why Drew Brees is healthy, why that isn’t fair, why Drew Brees is old, and also why is Drew Brees old, but healthy, and how is that fair?
For all that and more (actually relevant questions), please read on. I promise it isn’t all sad.
Drew Brees is old. How has that affected the Saints passing game in his injury-limited playing time this season? Has Ted Ginn completely disappeared as a downfield threat with the fading of Brees’ arm strength?
He might be old, but he’s surprisingly resilient and cares deeply about this team and taking them to the postseason. If you recall, he busted his shoulder out in San Diego diving for a loose fumble, so he’s always been willing to put his body on the line if he thinks it’ll help his team win. (Could you imagine a quarterback NOT diving for a fumble, especially in a playoff game or Super Bowl? Doubt that would ever happen.)
That being said, he admittedly rushed back to the field. It’s unclear then if the play-calling and lack of deadly accuracy on deep balls is related to lingering issues with the thumb and the brace he’s forced to wear, or if it’s all due to simply age and wearing down. In any event, Ted Ginn Jr. is still utilized in this offense, even if only as a player opposing defenses have to respect downfield. Because he finally has an accurate quarterback throwing him the ball, he can be used not just on deep bombs, but on more precising/timing routes in the intermediary. When he runs the deep post, that can only help, though, to help clear things out for players like Michael Thomas underneath.
The injury to Andrus Peat did damage to what was already a middling running game in the context of the NFC South. Lacking supreme talent like Christian McCaffrey, do the Saints have enough depth up front to keep exaggerating the talents of Alvin Kamara? How does Peat’s injury affect Brees’ pass protection?
Peat was honestly the weak link of the offensive line. When Max Unger retired this past offseason, the Saints quickly signed Nick Easton, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, to be his replacement. When the Saints then saw the opportunity to draft Erick McCoy, McCoy became the Week 1 starter and Easton was bumped to the bench. The injury to Peat has pushed Easton into duty, and he played well last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Saints offensive line can withstand one injury, so the injury to Peat qualifies. For the Saints, Peat was also the primary backup at tackle with someone like Easton potentially asked to fill in at guard. With Peat down, the big thing for the Saints would be to keep Terron Armstead healthy.
I think the overall talent and depth on the line can help someone like Alvin Kamara, a lowly third round pick if you recall, play at an NFL-replacement level. In Brees’s pass protection, the offensive line should do just fine. Players like Kamara and Michael Thomas (1,141 receiving yards and 5 TDs in 2019) thrive in the short and intermediate passing game, so they don’t have to hold up too long. The Saints lack the supreme talent at receiver outside like DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel (1,246 yards and 5 TDs combined in 2019).
What is it like getting your quarterback back from injury and having him actually be healthy and capable of playing? Did you trust the Saints front office to provide information about his injury appropriately and accurately and not at all in a dissembling and misleading manner?
The Saints said his timetable was approximately 6 weeks. Drew said he wanted to beat it, and he came back only 5 weeks later. Wait, is there some other scenario out there where a quarterback’s injury is downplayed until simply being placed on IR? The horror.
The Saints have one of the top rushing defenses in the league and a middling passing defense, as ranked by total yardage allowed. How confident are you in their ability to hold McCaffrey in check? How competent is their secondary at picking off under thrown deep balls?
For what it’s worth, I don’t put a lot of stock in the total yardage stat as big chunks of yards come in garbage time and don’t really speak to the level of play this defense is capable of achieving (two weeks ago notwithstanding).
I’m fairly confident in Sean Payton and Dennis Allen’s ability to create a game plan to handle Christian McCaffrey. You can’t stop him; you can only hope to contain a player of his caliber (playing at an MVP level right now even). I imagine some combination of Safety Von Bell and Linebacker Demario Davis will cover McCaffrey and the Saints will do what they can to not let Carolina’s best (only?) player beat them.
To your second question, the Saints picked off four such passes from Jameis Winston last week. My confidence is growing in this defense’s ability to capitalize on turnovers. Granted, those four picks speak more to Jameis’s ineptitude than the Saints’ playmaking, but in years past those “gimme” INTs would have bounce off our defenders’ hands and helmets.
The Saints lost a game two weeks ago to the then 1-7 Atlanta Falcons. How embarrassing was that for a supposedly successful team that has a stranglehold on the NFC South lead? Do you think they might put forth a similar effort this week against another team, the Panthers, that do not belong at the top of the division?
It was hurtful. You have a 7-1 record and have a chance to beat the only team in the division who actually consistently presents a threat to your current dominance in the division, and you put up a stinker. Bad games happen, you just hate that it happens for the Saints against the Falcons.
I think (read: hope) they learned their lesson and won’t let another bad team catch them sleeping.