NEW ORLEANS — This may sound ridiculous, but after the Thursday night loss to Jacksonville, I actually feel better about the Saints than I did before the game. Because for the first time this season, they showed real offensive promise.
It appears the Saints took a step forward and I think what they did on both sides of the ball was genuinely meaningful because they did it against a really good team.
I think the Jaguars are a playoff team. Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne are having breakout seasons. Etienne, by the way, is now fifth in the league in yards from scrimmage. I think the Jags win the AFC South and the Saints took it to them in the second half.
Look, I know losing stinks. But a 17-game season is a marathon and I think the Saints look like a better team coming out of this game.
Let's start our four takeaways with what's right.
#4: Riding 41...
The Saints are relying on Alvin Kamara so much, but it's working. This week an absurd 29 touches for Kamara. Now the Saints signed Jamal Williams for $12 million over three years to try to take some of the heat off of No. 41. But the fact is, Kamara got 29 touches to Williams' five and that distribution seemed appropriate.
Alvin Kamara's 26 touches the game are by far the most of any player in the NFL right now.
Alvin Kamara is without question, the Saints' best offensive player. Sure., at some point you would like to manage that workload, but for now, that is what's needed.
Alvin Kamara is not part of the offensive problem. He is a big part of the solution.
#3: Defense – OK overall...
At number three, we could talk about the defense which had an OK performance Thursday night, but there's no point. Even after the game the Saints are fifth in the NFL in total "D."
Now the defense did give up that Christian Kirk game-winner in the final minutes, but in the second half, they held the Jaguars to just 104 total yards. The Jags were 0-5 on third down.
If you watch the Saints for the first seven weeks of the season, you know the defense is good enough to get the Saints to the playoffs. I say there's no point talking about the defense, because whether or not the Saints can actually get there is 100-percent dependent on the offense getting going.
#2: The Wake-up call...
They actually did that in the last quarter and a half.
Derek Carr was poor in the first half (65.6). Got a little better in the second half (78.2), but this is his quarterback rating after throwing that pick-six – 93.2.
When forced to go up-tempo and limit the crazy number of personnel groupings, the Saints' offense caught fire. Eight first downs in the first half. Seventeen in the second. 0-2 in the red zone in the first half, 2-3 in the second.
And the simplest stat, the Saints averaged a terrible 3.8 yards per play in the first half – that by the way would be the worst in the NFL – to a respectable 5.4 yards per play in the second half. That would be 12th best in the league.
The offensive line played better, and the hope is what we saw in the second half can translate.
But that's the question.
#1 Using what they've learned...
Really the only thing that matters coming out of this loss, can Dennis Allen and the Saints use what they learned in that second half?
Right now in the post-Sean Payton era, the Saints have been a below average offensive team – 19th In the NFL last year, 17th in the league this year – that's in yards. They're 21st right now in points scored per game.
But right now there is some real offensive momentum and there's opportunity.
The next three games – the last three games before the bye – are not difficult.
The Colts will be playing their backup quarterback. Gardner Minshew will start, and remember he started as a backup for the Eagles last year when the Saints upset them in Philly.
The Saints have a chance to learn from what went right and get on a roll, but that roll has to start right now.
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