7 takeaways from the Saints’ tough loss vs. Steelers
Yet another tough loss for the New Orleans Saints, this time on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Saints will drop to 3-7 and therefore their postseason outlook, even in a hapless NFC South division, appears all the more bleak. New Orleans was again out-possessed on offense by more than fifteen minutes for the second week in a row and the same old tune can be sung about their struggles. Penalties, inefficiency on offense, coaching and injuries all share their part of the blame in the team’s seventh loss, leaving them just one loss away from last year’s total.
This is a team that was supposed to be better than last season’s/ A revamped roster, a familiar face at head coach and a schedule packed with inexperienced quarterbacks with their opponent’s teams. Instead, the Saints and head coach Dennis Allen look to be on a crash course to finish well beneath their expectations. What can save their season? A unified approach is a good place to start, but it all starts and ends with coaching and quarterback play. Two areas where the Saints have struggled and that open up our seven takeaways from Sunday’s 20-10 loss to the Steelers.
If Andy Dalton was supposed to save the season, he hasn't and it's hard to see how he will
One week after tossing three-straight interceptions to close the first half against the Arizona Cardinals, Dalton was named the starter. Allen said that the choice was an “offensive decision”, one based on the team’s offensive output since Dalton took over for the injured Jameis Winston Week 4 in London. New Orleans during that time were fielding a top-10 passing offense and their total offensive numbers were up as well. But, perhaps more importantly and most overlooked, turnovers were still a massive concern. Oh, and the Saints still weren’t winning games.
Those two points of emphasis have not changed since the announcement. Dalton has won just one game since then against a struggling Las Vegas Raiders team that may have made the Saints offensive success nothing more than a mirage. For the second week in a row, it’s hard to find any arguments to make in favor of Dalton being the starter moving forward. Though Winston has said that he’s not fully healthy, he does believe that he could go out and perform if called upon. One way or another, it’s time for something new.
There is no more solace to be had in an abysmal NFC South
Speaking with veteran wide receiver Jarvis Landry after the game about the mentality of the team and locker room moving forward, he highlighted the need for the players to not get ahead of themselves. A “game-to-game” approach is one that Landry stresses. Sure, the team started this week just one game out of the top spot in the division, but that cannot matter anymore. Not while the team continues to lose games.
If veteran leadership is going to be left to shoulder the burden of the team’s overall performance, this mindset is a smart one. What’s the alternative, anyway? Should a losing team even consider its weekly playoff chances? The Saints can’t afford to get ahead of themselves and leaders like Landry are keeping things in perspective.
Dennis Allen, at least publicly, lacks the fire a struggling team could benefit from
When teams are struggling, it is not out of the ordinary to see a head coach light a fire on the roster, staff and organization one way or another. Sometimes they do so with impassioned speeches, sometimes they do it with animated responses on the sidelines. Every coach goes about it differently. But Allen has maintained a calm and cool demeanor that doesn’t look to challenge his team. Even going so far as to put the onus on his veteran players.
“When you get in situations like these, you have to fight your way out of it,” Allen said in his postgame presser. “There’s no other way to get out of it than to fight your way out of it. This is where you got to lean on the leadership of the group and they got to pull us through.” That’s a lot of responsibility to put on those players while simultaneously challenging yourself nothing a need for better coaching.
Saints players are working their tails off
There has been a lot of condemnation here and there from fans about the team not showing up or giving up. More indirectly the comments about Allen “losing the locker room” continue to prevail. Such an insinuation is to say that the roster, the players who have trained and worked their entire lives to take the field on a weekly basis don’t care enough to play to their maximum potential. Any such blame is nothing short of preposterous.
Defensive end Cameron Jordan took a shot to the eye early in the game. The gouge resulted in his eye being swollen shut for what he estimates to be about 95% of the game. That means the veteran lineman played (and came up with a half-sack) with one eye. In the locker room, a player stood right beside me as he spit blood into a trash can following the game. Knowing what these guys do each week, putting their well-being on the line, it is not hard to see that they are far from giving up. They may be losing, they may be struggling, they may even be bad. But one thing they absolutely are not are quitters.
Kaden Elliss shined as one of the team's lone bright spots
Elliss was thrust into an expanded role with second-year standout linebacker Pete Werner out for the Week 10 showdown. Werner was carted from the injury tent to the locker room last week against the Baltimore Ravens. Elliss took the field in his stead, and assumed the opportunity again this week and made good on it. He forced a fumble that unfortunately the defense couldn’t come up with, defended a pass in the back of the endzone on a touchdown shot from Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett to running back Najee Harris and he added a sack to his ledger as well with a big blindside hit on Pittsburgh’s rookie passer. On top of all of that, he also added 7 combined tackles including one for a loss.
When Elliss was drafted back in 2018, he was immediately taught every linebacker spot in the Saints defense. His versatility as a run stopper and pass rusher have always shone. But his development in coverage was something that stood out all offseason and he channeled his best in all three areas on Sunday.
Offensive line injuries continue to pile up
With rookie tackle Trevor Penning still working his way back from injured reserve and starting interior linemen Andrus Peat and Erik McCoy out, the Saints came into Sunday’s matchup with several missing pieces on the offensive line. They started practice squad elevation Josh Andrews at center and gave Lewis Kidd (who impressed throughout the offseason) his first career start. But as the game went along James Hurst, the season-opening starter at left tackle and Kidd each ended up missing time.
Though Kidd returned after being spelled at left guard by Calvin Throckmorton, Hurst was ruled out with a concussion. In Hurst’s place, Landon Young filled in on the blindside. The constant shuffling and inherent drop off that comes with reaching down the depth chart was enough to stifle the Saints offensive ability, especially the run game. Running back Alvin Kamara had 8 rushes for just 26 yards, the multi-faceted Taysom Hill also saw 3 carries for just 1 yard. All told, the Saints rushed just 15 times and averaged an abysmal 1.9 yards per carry. If the offensive line injuries continue to be an issue, things won’t get better in terms of rushing production any time soon.
Rashid Shaheed was inches away from finally breaking big returns
Though one was erased by penalty, (where the Saints outnumbered the Steelers 10 flags to 3) it was clear that things are getting more comfortable for Shaheed in the return game. “Coaches told me eventually things would start to slow down,” Shaheed told me after the game. And it certainly looked like this was the contest where everything started to click. Pittsburgh had an injury at the kicker spot which led to them relying on someone they had signed just the week, Matthew Wright. The fill-in for usual starter Chris Boswell missed one field goal attempt and consistently left some kickoffs short, which Shaheed was just inches away from breaking. It will be fun to watch him moving forward if things continue to fall into place as he gains more experience with the NFL’s speed.
