The preliminaries are over. The Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions will officially kick off the 2023 NFL season on Thursday night. Are you ready for some football?
The New Orleans Saints are looking to get back into the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. The last time they missed the playoffs for three consecutive years was following the 2014-16 seasons, when the Saints were one of the worst defensive teams in the league.
That has not been their problem the last two years, it’s been the offense. The search for a replacement for Drew Brees failed to yield results as Jameis Winston was unable to stay healthy, Taysom Hill was unable to develop, and Andy Dalton was Andy Dalton.
Is Derek Carr the Answer?
Derek Carr is the franchise quarterback now. Acquired this offseason from the Las Vegas Raiders, Carr is reunited with the coach who drafted him. He’s surrounded by more talent at the skill positions than he ever had with the Raiders and has the most extensive resume of any quarterback in the division.
His first regular season start for the Saints comes against a familiar foe.
Carr played against the Tennessee Titans five times while with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. In those games he had a 102 passer rating with more than 1400 yards, 10 TDs and 2 interceptions. He’s never thrown for fewer than 249 yards against Tennessee, but he did have his worst game against the Titans last season.
He completed less than 60 percent of his 44 attempts and threw a pick in a two-point loss.
It will be imperative that the Saints have a solid running game behind him, but the offensive line is a question mark. Trevor Penning is essentially a rookie, and the rest of the line has injury concerns and consistency problems.
Plenty of Weapons
Alvin Kamara will be serving game one of his three game suspension, Jamaal Williams didn’t get a lot of carries in the preseason and rookie Kendre Hill has been a little banged up. It will be difficult to establish the run against a Titans defense that allowed teams more than 80 yards only five times all of last season.
Meanwhile, the Saints ranked 19th in rushing yards last season and 22nd in yards per attempt.
That could provide Taysom Hill with some opportunities in this game to be a real X-factor in both the running and passing games.
The Saints have their most offensive talent on the outside with the receivers and tight ends. The Titans like their secondary and their pass rush. Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael is under a lot of pressure as a play caller to find an early rhythm for Carr and balance to keep the Titans guessing.
Stopping the Titans
On the defensive side of the ball there are questions about the secondary after the Saints cut Bradley Roby and decided to roll with Alontae Taylor in the slot. Marshon Lattimore is one of the best in the game, and the depth at corner is solid. Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye failed to live up to their reputations as playmakers last season, but expect to improve with a year together under their belts.
Ryan Tannehill has a brand new target in DeAndre Hopkins, one of the very best in the league. In 3 career games against the Saints he’s got 23 catches for 250 yards and two TDs. In his last two games he’s averaged 9 receptions for 107 yards and one touchdown. He had 10 catches for 103 yards last season for the Cardinals as they beat the Saints 42-34.
The Titans like their depth at receiver and tight end as well, and with the running game that they have, can expect them to utilize play action and try to get Hopkins in one-on-one situations where he can take advantage of his size.
Of course if you’re talking about the running game, you start with Derrick Henry. He’s going to be a free agent and we know backs are not getting paid, so he has to ball out this year. He ran for 1500 yards last year, the third time he’s done that in the last four years.
He’s also had a lot of carries. The Titans added Tyjae Spears out of Tulane and he showed that he could run between the tackles and make big plays. The Saints will have to focus on stopping Tennessee on the ground, because Henry and Spears have both been known to get stronger as the game wears on.
Under the Headsets
Let’s talk about the coaches. You’ve got Dennis Allen in year 2 with the Saints, but has never had a winning season as a head coach. His team is the favorite to win the division, are the expectations for this team reasonable and is DA going to make a step forward this season?
On the other sideline, Mike Vrabel had his first losing season as a head coach in five years. His team has been injured a lot over the last two seasons, like the Saints. He wants his defense to lead the way, like the Saints.
The Saints don’t have the toughest schedule in the NFL, but they will get a very difficult test right off the bat. How physical is this team? Is Derek Carr the guy? And with new kickers in place as well, can they handle the moment if the game comes down to the wire.
Plenty of questions to go around, but at least we start to get some answers this Sunday.