The New Orleans Saints have reached their bye week at 4-9. No one, certainly not local media, saw such a disappointing season coming three months ago.
The Saints are still mathematically alive in the NFC playoff race, but their chances of making the postseason are microscopic. Regardless, they are assured of their first losing record in six years and are one loss away from assuring themselves of their worst finish since 2005, the Katrina season.
Our Saints coverage team huddled this week to discuss what’s gone wrong, who’s to blame and how the Saints can fix things in the future. Our discussion:
Question: OK it's safe to say the season hasn’t turned out like anyone expected. How did we get here? In your opinion, what are the one or two biggest reasons for the fall-off?
Luke Johnson: I firmly believe this season would’ve been drastically different had the Saints figured out a way to not be so bad at this turnover thing. Through 13 weeks, they were tied for the fewest takeaways (nine) and had the second most giveaways (21). Turnover margin is the most important statistic in the game, and the Saints are at the worst end of both poles. They would have had to be a world-beater to overcome that.
Terrin Waack: The lack of takeaways is concerning, but it’s not my biggest concern. What truly boggles my mind are all the penalties. The Saints have committed 86 penalties through Week 13, tying for second-most in the NFL. They’ve had two games with a double-digit count: 10 each in losses to Minnesota in October and Pittsburgh in November. It’d seem like the Saints turned a corner — they had just four in a loss to Cincinnati Bengals in October; only two in a win over Los Angeles Rams in November. But then the count went right back up — eight in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals (after the Bengals game); six in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers (after the Rams game). This is a team full of veterans. You’d think they’d know better.
Rod Walker: I really don’t think this team is 4-9 if Sean Payton were still in charge. On paper, they are better than that. So I think you have to start with Dennis Allen. When a team goes from being pretty disciplined, in terms of penalties, to undisciplined, as they are now, you have to put that on coaching. However, I’m not putting the rarities, such as dropped passes and Alvin Kamara’s fumbles, on Allen. That’s on the players. So it’s a mix of both, but mostly Allen.
Jeff Duncan: This is a difficult question to answer because a lot of factors contributed to the cause. I think it’s fair to say the front office overrated the overall quality of the roster, and then when adversity struck early in the season, the coaching staff and team leaders did not adjust adequately to the circumstances. In my opinion, what has gone wrong with this team is rooted in intangibles like leadership, confidence and buy-in more than tangibles. This team is better than 4-9.