NEW ORLEANS — Only two games in the NFL this weekend featured no playoff teams and no playoff implications.
The Saints and Panthers were one of those games. In the other one, Houston accidentally beat Indianapolis and lost the first pick in the draft.
When it's two teams playing out the string, you don't expect much excitement, and the Saints game delivered almost none.
And many many of the Saints' problems Sunday were problems we've seen all season. But this one we didn't expect...
#4: Kicking and Screaming
Kicking has been a real problem. In 2021, the Saints used four different kickers. It was an issue all season Sean Payton talked about often.
Getting a healthy Will Lutz back was supposed to fix that, but the foursome was actually more accurate on field goals last year than Lutz was this year.
That foursome hit 83% combined. That was the 20th-best in the NFL. Lutz hit 74% this year, that's the worst in the NFL.
Before this season, Lutz has hit better than 86% of his kicks. He has to be closer to that going forward.
#3 D-Line Decisions
The Saints have big decisions to make along the defensive line.
Four key players are all unrestricted free agents and they are four of the first seven rotational pieces on the defensive line.
And they all need to be either replaced or re-signed.
And they won't have a lot of money to spend. Former first-rounder Payton Turner has to be one of them.
But in two seasons so far, Turner has played in 13 games and missed 20.
Other than Cam Jordan, who was great, the D-Line largely disappointed in 2022.
Marcus Davenport had more ejections than sacks this season.
The Saints have to rebuild the room and get better production in 2023.
#2: Cutting Michael Thomas
Before the game, the Saints effectively cut ties with Michael Thomas.
As our Saints analyst Nick Underhill said it, they cut him on paper.
Later, they'll release him in real life, and spread out the salary cap hit.
Look, I know Michael Thomas made a lot of money over the past three seasons for not a lot of production.
But remember, in 2018, Thomas caught 125 passes. That's the 8th best single season in NFL history.
Then in 2019, he caught 149 passes. That's the best single season in league history. He's third in Saints history in receptions, and cutting ties with Thomas is the right move.
The Saints need that cap space to rebuild, but Thomas had four excellent seasons in black and gold.
#1 Offensive Overhaul Needed
It's glaringly obvious the Saints' offense needs a major overhaul. It just takes two simple stats to explain why.
The Saints were 22nd in the league in points scored and they gave it away 25 times. So, they didn't score a lot of points, and committed a ton of turnovers.
Dennis Allen needs to overhaul the offensive staff and draft a quarterback in the first couple rounds.
And just drafting a quarterback high doesn't guarantee anything.
But just about every elite quarterback in football was taken in the first two rounds, and the Saints have to start taking shots, because they're not going to make their next Super Bowl run until they get their guy.
And that's my number one takeaway from the season-ending misery against the Panthers.
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