The Time For New Orleans Saints Changes Is Now

Lafayette, LA (103.3 The Goat) A couple of weeks ago I suggested it was now or never for the New Orleans Saints.  They went into Foxboro and destroyed a beleaguered New England Patriots team 34-0.

The Saints defense was outstanding and the even the Saints offense showed up for basically the first time this season.  But there were lingering thoughts.  Had the Saints offense turned a corner or was it the Patriots with no offensive weapons and missing their two best defensive players, Matthew Judon and Christian Gonzalez?

Turns out, it appears it was the former.

Despite numerous opportunities against the Houston Texans, the Saints offense could only manage one touchdown and two field goals.  Yes, rookie kicker Blake Grupe missed a pair of field goals, including a chippy, but he’s been one of the more consistent players for New Orleans this season.

If you look at his numbers, Derek Carr (32-50, 353 yards, TD, INT) wasn't too bad against Houston, but Red Zone Derek showed up time and time again, and he couldn’t finish drives off with touchdowns.

Now, heading into tonight’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Saints offensive line is a mess.  Both starting tackles, James Hurst and Ryan Ramczyk are out.

Jaguars starting QB Trevor Lawrence is banged up, but expected to play.

When Derek Carr was injured with his sprained AC joint, I thought the Saints would rest him because his the next two opponents were the Buccaneers and Patriots.  Not exactly two offensive juggernauts.

Including Jacksonville the Saints next four opponents all have injury issues.  The Colts Anthony Richardson is out for the season after having shoulder surgery, the Bears Justin Fields has an injured hand and former LSU and Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a bad hamstring.

So it probably won’t take many points for the Saints to beat these teams.  But aren’t those teams thinking the same thing to beat the Saints?

The Saints offense doesn’t scare anyone and if teams don’t turn the ball over they’ll have an excellent opportunity to beat New Orleans.

Here’s the thing, the Saints have great opportunity to move their season in the right direction over the next month.  After last week’s dismal offensive performance, I would’ve replaced Pete Carmichael with Ronald Curry as coordinator this, but understand why the Saints didn’t on a short week.

What happens if the Saints win 13-10 tonight?  I’m all about 'win and move on', but if the same issues persist, they should absolutely make a change.

I think Carmichael is going to get the next four weeks to figure things out. Unfortunately by the time the Saints brass realizes what all of us already know, it’s going to be too late.