ReutersNot only do the Saints miss suspended coach Sean Payton.
They need to give him a raise when he comes back.
The Saints fell to 0-2 with a 35-27 loss at Carolina, losing steam on offense and looking like a disorganized mess on defense.
An early lead was squandered, and the Saints had a hard time protecting quarterback Drew Brees. He took a number of hard shots throughout the day, and the Panthers aren’t particularly good at rushing the passer.
What they are good at is running the ball, and they got back to that after finishing with just 10 rushing yards and 10 points in last week’s loss to the Buccaneers.
They welcomed Jonathan Stewart back to the lineup, but more than any person, the Panthers got their philosophy back. They ran it 41 times against 20 pass attempts, the kind of ratio they needed to get their season back in balance. When they threw they gained yards in chunks, with Steve Smith catching three passes for 104 yards. Cam Newton threw for 253 yards and a touchdown, and had 13 carries for 71 yards and a score.
But as much as those were welcome numbers for the 1-1 Panthers a red flag for the Saints, who have now given up 75 points in two games.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is a better coach than he’s shown, and may not have the personnel to run his scheme. He wants to generate all his pressure with his front four, but he doesn’t have rushers like he had with the Giants. They also have serious tackling issues in the back seven, and need to get them fixed, quickly.
Channel Finder
I guarantee crickets from the “who dat nation”
Quite the departure from all the yang you guys were popping just a couple short weeks ago.
One word: Karma
The return (temporarily) of Will Smith has really done alot to fireup that Saints* defense…
Boom! Go Panthers!!!
Man…. what’s worse than the Saints?
not much…
Oh man, goodell is going to be pissed when he has to hand over the saints the super b….. sorry, the number one pick. I just was thinking of what saints idiots were spouting all preseason.
No team is more deserving….
Drew Brees demands an explanation.
It’s ok guys, the saints are going to run the score up on everyone
Without the coaches to motivate them with Bounty incentives, they are just Yellow Stains. Peyton will be snorting more than Vicodin if he returns after Benson releases the Freeh Report.
The Saints could have won this game. For example, if a meteor had fallen on the Panthers sideline and injured Cam Newton they likely would have won. The Saints need contacts at NASA.
The Saints players could use some incentive
Dead last in their division and we’ve only played 2 weeks. Beautiful.
and THATS how the Saints perform when they have to actually outplay someone instead of beating them up….
karma is right….
0-2 Saints. I love it. Congrats to the Panthers!
Spagnuolo was the 2nd coming apparently according to Saints fans.
Amazing what happens when you take away Strahan, osi and Tuck.
Bet you wish you had Gregg Williams back now!!!
They scored 59 points in two games and lost both by one score. Spagnuolo’s defenses always take time to start rolling, when he first takes over, which anyone who watches football and has half a brain knows. Once Spag’s defense kicks in we’ll see who has the last laugh.
sdave71
The Saints* lost both games by 8 points and the score really wasn’t as close as that may seem due to late meaningless TD’s.
Spag’s defense in Saint Louis went 2-14 last year. He wasn’t the DC you say… No he was only the head coach and had no say at all about the defense.
Funny… the Redskins lost to the Rams today. Evidently the Rams are a much better team without Spags.
You’re all right the Saints look really bad this season up to now, and it may continue throughout the year but guess what? We have a Super Bowl trophy! how many do the Panthers have?
Sorry I forgot most Saints fans didn’t know New Orleans had a team before 2009.