New Orleans Saints struggling secondary is team’s primary problem
The New Orleans Saints are making it easy for enemy quarterbacks in 2020.
What exactly is the issue these days when it comes to Sean Payton’s club? Yes, the New Orleans Saints have now won two straight games after consecutive losses to the Las Vegas Raiders and Green Bay Packers, respectively. On Monday night, the Saints rallied from a 20-3 second-quarter deficit to get a 30-27 overtime victory over the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.
It marked the second consecutive game that Drew Brees and company rallied from a double-digit deficit to win. Eight days earlier, Payton’s team trailed the Detroit Lions 14-0 during the first quarter inside Ford Field. New Orleans then went on to score 35-straight points to hold on for a 35-29 triumph over the Lions.
It would be easy to point to the league’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdown throws as a reason for the Saints’ sluggish starts and 3-2 record this season. This is a franchise that has won three straight NFC South titles and finished with a 13-3 mark each of the previous years. But the much bigger issue as of late has been the ease in which opposing quarterbacks have been able to have their way with Dennis Allen’s defensive unit.
New Orleans Saints secondary preventing the team from being great
This season, New Orleans allowed at least two touchdown passes in each of their five outings and a total of 15 scores through the air this year. On Monday night, Chargers rookie signal-caller Justin Herbert lit up the Superdome with four aerial scores.
So what has gone wrong after a promising start just one year ago? During the Saints’ last 14 outings – their final eight regular-season contests in 2019, the playoff loss to the Vikings, and five games this year – the club has allowed their opponents to throw for an incredible total of 33 touchdown passes.
Veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins, back with the organization that originally drafted him, ranks second among New Orleans defenders this season with 32 tackles and four passes breakups. But Saints defenders have just three interceptions in five games this year and no picks in three of their last four matchups.
After five weeks of play this season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, and New Orleans are all 3-2 and tied for first place in the NFC South. Payton’s team has Week 6 off and no doubt, Allen and the Saints defensive staff have some things to work on before their next contest.
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New Orleans still has 11 games to play this year and when they return to action in Week 7, they will host old teammate Teddy Bridgewater and the Panthers. It’s certainly a different NFC South these days.