Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints! This week, let’s look at the Saints win over the Carolina Panthers.
1st Down: Catching Cam
While the Saints defense is still considered one of the worst defenses in NFL history after allowing over 1,000 yards in two games, Cam Newton was dominated in several different ways. The former Auburn Tiger was sacked four times and was picked off three times for good measure by a Saints defense that really hasn’t done things like that in a long time.
It just seems like NFL teams have figured out how to stop Newton after what happened back at Super Bowl 50. Unless he evolves his playing style, I’d expect it to be more of the same for this team.
2nd Down: Offense Gets Out of Slumber
It seems like the Saints offense found its groove after a couple weeks of being inefficient. Drew Brees did his typical Brees thing and throwing passes to anyone on the field rocking black and gold. That’s to be expected, but no one expected to see the Saints run game finally be an actual thing.
It also showed how lethal Alvin Kamara can be on the field with his touchdown run going for 25 yards. For what it’s worth, the rookie only had two carries. That’s pretty good efficiency.
3rd Down: Good, Not Great on Third Down
While yes, the efficiency on third down improved, it’s still a thing that should draw some concerns going forward. In the victory on Sunday, the Saints converted 50 percent of their third downs.
Having that against a division rival is absolutely huge for this offense that was having a hard time getting down the field.
4th Down: Can They Sustain Momentum?
The biggest question heading into next week is if the Saints can keep this going. With a bye week immediately after the London game against the Dolphins, they will need to get back to .500 if they even want a shot of making the playoffs. Look at the record in the first four games of the season and see what the end result is. It’s been 7-9 after starting out 1-3. Dive even further into the history of the Saints under Payton: the same thing has happened every time.
On the other hand, the one time they have gone 2-2 to start the season ended up with an 8-8 record. The Saints just need to take the momentum they got on Sunday and keep pushing forward against the Dolphins, who look more like a win for the Saints than they did before Tannehill’s injury. However, pertaining to the question of if they can sustain the momentum, it seems likely in the short term. They’ll have to show a lot more when they come back from the bye week to show the fans that they can sustain it in the long term.
-Clint Domingue