The New Orleans Saints are staring down a familiar crossroads: the chance to string together back-to-back wins for the first time in over a year. That opportunity comes this week against the Carolina Panthers-a team that, on paper, the Saints should beat.
But if there's one thing that’s defined New Orleans this season, it’s inconsistency. And until they prove otherwise, every win feels like it’s walking on a tightrope.
Let’s rewind a bit. The Saints haven’t won consecutive games since the middle of last season.
That’s a stat that stings-not just because of what it says about the team’s performance, but because of how often they’ve teased fans with glimpses of promise, only to fall flat the following week. The recent coaching shift from Dennis Allen to Darren Rizzi injected a bit of life into the roster, but that spark was short-lived.
New Orleans has dropped five of its last six games, and most of their wins have come against struggling teams at the bottom of the league.
This week’s matchup against Carolina isn’t just another game-it’s a test of whether the Saints can finally build on something. They’ve already handled Tampa Bay, checking off one half of a tough divisional stretch. Now comes the second part: proving that they can sustain momentum, not just catch lightning in a bottle for a week.
The Pattern That Won’t Break
The Saints have developed a frustrating pattern: win a game, raise expectations, then come crashing back to earth. We saw it after they beat the Giants-only to stumble against the Patriots.
That loss wasn’t a blowout, but it was the kind of game where the defense gave up chunk plays and the offense couldn’t get into gear. It was a step backward when they needed to move forward.
Then came the win over Carolina-the first of the Tyler Shough era. That game felt different.
The offense had a pulse, the energy was there, and for a moment, it looked like New Orleans had turned a corner. But after the bye week, they came out flat against Atlanta in a game that could’ve lifted them out of the NFC South basement.
Instead, it was more of the same: a promising performance followed by a letdown.
And that’s the issue. The win over the Giants felt more like a sigh of relief than a turning point.
The recent victory against the Buccaneers? That one had a bit more juice.
It felt like a spark-something to build on. But Saints fans have seen this movie before.
They’ve seen the team catch fire for a week, only to go cold the next.
Can They Finally Turn the Corner?
There’s a small sign of hope buried in the schedule. The Saints have only three wins this season, but their last two came closer together than the first two. That may not sound like much, but in a season where progress has been measured in inches, it’s something.
Remember, New Orleans started the year 0-4 before finally getting on the board against the Giants. Then came another long stretch of losses before win number two. Now, with the win over Tampa Bay fresh, the Saints have a shot at doing something they haven’t done in a long time: stack wins.
Beating Carolina wouldn’t just be a “nice win.” It would be a statement that this team is capable of more than just surviving the season. It would show that they’re starting to figure things out-on both sides of the ball-and that the flashes of potential we’ve seen aren’t just flukes.
The Saints don’t need to be perfect. They just need to be consistent. And this week, they’ve got a chance to prove they can be.