Jameis Winston wouldn’t save the Saints from their two-game losing skid
It’s easy to look at the New Orleans Saints’ back-to-back losses and say it wouldn’t have happened if Jameis Winston were healthy, but that’s a tough argument to back up. The offense hasn’t bottomed out without him — they’ve scored 25 points per game since his injury (including most of the Buccaneers win) after posting 22 points per week with Winston at the helm.
Trevor Siemian is averaging 11 more pass attempts per game than Winston did, which has helped result in 235 passing yards per game compared to Winston’s 167. A big part of that is game flow; when Sean Payton had Winston under center, their stifling defense and strong offensive line play set the Saints up to defend big leads. They ran fewer plays and worked to control the time of possession. But now that injuries have depleted both units and led to big deficits, he’s had to step up the pace and work quickly to make up for lost time.
What could Winston do to help Kwon Alexander cover Cordarrelle Patterson or aid Marshon Lattimore in defending a rub route? Is he going to get Brian Johnson to connect on his point-after attempts? Could he keep Deonte Harris from fumbling on a kick return deep in Saints territory? What might he do to prevent Adam Trautman from jumping at the 2-yard line? These are still going to be problems if Winston is still starting for New Orleans.
Sure, Winston is able to do a lot of things that Siemian can’t. He showed a knack for bailing out from under pressure to pick up yards on the run and keep plays alive that Siemian hasn’t. And Winston did make appreciable improvement from his Buccaneers career with significantly fewer turnover-worthy plays and better accuracy on throws deep downfield. He did enough to warrant bringing him back next season for another look with a better supporting cast.
But let’s not mythologize him and suggest the Saints have the top playoff seed right now if he doesn’t get injured. They’ve built up too many flaws in too many phases of the game for any quarterback not named Drew Brees to overcome. Until they (or, worryingly, if) they correct those issues and get back to playing smart football on offense, defense, and special teams, and find some more pass catchers who can justify that job title, they’ll continue to lose games they should have won and frustrate everyone involved. Like it or not, all fans can do at this point is try to enjoy the ride.
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