NEW ORLEANS — We're no longer in the beginning of the season, we're seven games in that's 41% of the season done. And it has not been pretty.
Dennis Allen said after the thursday night game “I'm fully confident that this team will put together a string of wins and turn things around."
To be fair, there is some reason for optimism it's just been lost under a sea of turnovers and missed tackles.
Let's start our four takeaways with this:
#4 The Offense…Is Good?
This is almost hard to believe, but the Saints statistically have one of the NFL’s best offenses. The 53 yard bomb to Rashid Shaheed was a thing of beauty.
Shaheed is an undrafted rookie from Weber State, that's in Utah.
And Kevin White, a top ten pick in the NFL draft eight years ago, ripped off 64 yards and almost scored his first NFL touchdown..
The Saints rang up almost 500 yards in the desert. Buffalo is number one in total offense, then Kansas City, then the saints.. But the Saints are 2-5. The primary reason for that is…
#3: Turnovers, Turnovers, Turnovers
At number three, the Saints are giving it away. A lot.
-3 in turnovers in Arizona gave them almost no chance to win..
They're now -10 on the season, which is worst in the NFL.
You know who has the NFL’s best turnover margin this season?
CJ Gardner-Johnson and the Philadelphia Eagles at +12... They also happen to be the NFL’s only unbeaten team.
All the yards just didn't matter in Arizona…because the Saints gave the Cardinals three turnovers, and got none.
That's part one of the problem…The defense is part two.
#2 Defense Withering
The Cardinals had nine offensive possessions Thursday night. They scored five times. That's 55%.
On the season, opponents are scoring on 44% of their possessions against the Saints…that's 30th in the NFL.
Here's a few other defense numbers to chew on…
They're near the bottom of the NFL in creating turnovers.
Near the bottom in getting pressure and knockdowns on the opposing Quarterbacks, and tied for second in most defensive penalties.
People love talking about who's playing quarterback, but the fact is, if the defense doesn't suddenly start playing a whole lot better, it really doesn't matter.
#1: Season On The Brink, But Not All Hope Is Lost
So now the prevailing feeling you get from watching this team is that this season is on the brink.
They have used up just about all of their mulligans before the halfway point in the season.
Here's another Dennis Allen quote from Thursday night..."Everything that we want to accomplish is still right there -- out in front of us."
That is undeniably true.
The NFC South is a train wreck…nobody has a winning record.
As a group, they're eight games under .500. By far the worst division in the NFL.
As bad as the first seven games have been…the Saints are one game back with 10 to go.
I certainly understand the skepticism, but I don't think it's time to throw in the towel yet.
And that's my four takeaways from the misery in the desert.