The Saints left Paris with a familiar-looking problem and a bright spot that keeps getting harder to ignore.
Their pass rush gave them a chance, but the offense around it couldn’t cash in. Chase Young and Carl Granderson kept Aaron Rodgers under siege all afternoon, and the two combined for three sacks.
That kind of production has turned them into one of the NFL’s best edge duos, with a league-leading 12.5 sacks between them. That total puts them just ahead of the Texans’ Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, who have 11.5, and Granderson has done it despite missing a game.
He’s now logged 1.5 sacks in each of the last three games and is on track for his first career double-digit sack season. Young, meanwhile, looks every bit like the former second overall pick the Saints bet on, with 17 sacks over his last 19 games.
The problems were much louder on the ground. New low might actually undersell it.
The Saints ran the ball 17 times for only 18 yards, and their leading rusher was Tyler Shough with 3 carries for 7 yards. Alvin Kamara is sitting at 3.0 yards per carry, while Kendre Miller is at 2.8, which leaves them 37th and 39th among the 41 NFL running backs with at least 40 carries.
Travis Etienne Jr., who was out since Week 3 and had been averaging 4.3 yards per carry before he went down, is eligible to return from IR after the bye week. But even that won’t solve what’s broken here.
The Saints simply are not blocking well enough up front, and the offensive line is both banged up and ineffective in the run game. This was the fourth time this season their top rusher finished with 30 yards or fewer, and as a team they’ve gone over 100 rushing yards only twice.
A better back would help some, but it won’t fix the main issue. The offseason fix has to start there.
Then came the killer: the long drives that went nowhere.
New Orleans put together four possessions of 11 plays or more and came away with points on just one of them. The first of those marches reached the Steelers’ 43 before penalties stalled it out and forced a punt.
The Saints responded by scoring on their next two drives to tie the game at 10, but the second half told the real story. One 14-play drive ended with a red zone interception, and another 11-play possession finished with a missed 52-yard field goal.
Convert those two series and the Saints are at least tied with 7:04 left in the fourth quarter, and possibly sitting on a four-point lead that forces Pittsburgh to finish in the end zone on its last drive. That red zone mistake was also the first of Shough’s career.
Before Sunday, the Saints had been strong in that area, so the hope is this was just a one-game blip and not something bigger.
In Other News...
Steelers Fans Had One Big Problem With Jason Kelce In Paris
Jason Kelces first run through the NFLs international broadcast circuit has not been especially smooth, and the rough edges were on display again during the Steelers game in Paris. The retired guard has already drawn scrutiny from viewers for his work in the booth, and this one only added to the chatter as fans picked apart the small mistakes that can stand out in a big showcase setting.
One of the more noticeable misses came when Kelce referred to Steelers running back Jaylen Warren by the wrong name, a slip that quickly made the rounds among viewers. Kurt Warner made a similar mistake, but Kelce took most of the heat, another reminder that even in a game being played overseas, the microscope on the broadcast can be just as sharp as the one on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Loss In Paris Put One Offensive Problem Front And Center
The Saints trip to Paris ended with another loss, but the film offered a familiar split screen: a defense that kept fighting and an offense still struggling to find enough consistency to cash in on it. New Orleans got strong work from Tyler Shough and Barion Brown, and Chase Youngs second-half push helped keep the game within reach, yet the larger story was how hard the offense had to work just to stay afloat against the pressure around it.
Shoughs performance stood out because of the circumstances he was dealing with, and Brown gave the Saints a needed spark both in the passing game and on special teams. Still, the result put one offensive issue back in the spotlight, because even with those bright spots, New Orleans never fully solved the problem that has been dragging its attack down and leaving little margin for a defense that did enough to win. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Suddenly Face A Tyler Shough Problem They Couldnt Afford
Tyler Shoughs arrival in Saints camp already carried extra weight because of how much pressure has been building on the passing game, and that burden only grew as the run game continued to sputter. The offense has needed more from the quarterback room to keep things moving, and Shough has been right in the middle of that conversation while dealing with injury concerns that have followed him.
The latest setback came after a sack during training camp, when his right hand was examined and the offense reportedly felt the impact. Shough has already shown a willingness to play through hand issues, and with a bye week now ahead, the Saints have at least a brief window to let him recover before the next stretch of camp and preseason work. [Read more 🡒]