Are the Saints ready to make a playoff push?

The Saints are 4-4 at the trade deadline and haven’t traded any players or made any acquisitions so the coaching staff obviously believe that this team is a contender and capable of making a deep run into the playoffs. However, despite a seemingly solid start to the season many Saints fans are wondering what to make of this team.

Coming into the season there were many questions about this team, the main one being: ‘Is Derek Carr really the quarterback to lead you to success?’ This question is yet to be answered, fans are under no illusions that Derek Carr isn’t Drew Brees, but Carr has something Brees never had. A good defence. The Saints are conceding an average on 19.3 points per game (9th in the NFL) and scoring 21.4 points per game (17th in the NFL).

So statistically at least the offense appears to be doing ok but the inconsistency of the offense is driving fans crazy. Scoring 34 points and 38 points to beat the Patriots and Colts respectively has created a sense of optimism. However only scoring 9 points against the Bucs and 13 against the Texans isn’t a winning formula no matter how elite your defence is. Carr isn’t entirely to blame for this of course, the offensive line is one of the worst in the league when it comes to pass blocking which means Carr is throwing under pressure a lot. Pair this with Pete Carmicheal’s play calling which has been suspect at times especially on the final drive in Houston, and the offense has consistently spluttered in the red zone leading to 7 field goals attempts under 30 yards. Blake Grupe missed a game winner against Green Bay and two field goals against the Texans which didn’t make the offense’s job any easier. Had a more experienced kicker been kicking (Will Lutz maybe?!) the Saints may be 5-3 or even 6-2.

On the other hand, it isn’t all doom and gloom. 4-4 is a respectable start to the season and looking at the Saints run in, they only have to play one team currently over .500 which is the Detroit Lions who are 6-2. Jared Goff is also comfortably the best quarterback they will come up against in this run in so the Saints DBs should be looking forward to the run in and turnovers should be in their sights. One of those DBs, Marshon Lattimore has started to remind the league of his talent, if they ever doubted it! He has been lockdown this year only allowing 2.5 receptions per game and not giving up a touchdown. However, the Saints pass rush will need to be more ferocious as they have only sacked the quarterback 15 times and 5.5 of those sacks belong to Carl Granderson who bagged himself a four-year, $52 million extension at the start of the season.

Offensively there have been positives, Chris Olave leads the team in receiving yards with 517 although he doesn’t seem to have the chemistry with his quarterback yet, but initial signs are promising. Micheal Thomas also seems to be back to somewhere near his best and has been very consistent and Rashid Shaheed has become a serious deep threat which should give defensive coordinators some sleepless nights. The run game was poor in the first few weeks, but the return of AK has helped both the ground and passing game. The increasing use of Taysom Hill with Khalen Saunders at full back has proved successful on the ground also with Taysom scoring 3 rushing TDs this year.

So, will the Saints make the playoffs? The answer should be yes as the team is more than capable of doing so, however coaching could hold the team to a third consecutive season out of the playoffs. Ultimately should the Saints beat the Bears this weekend and get a win against a Minnesota team with Josh Dobbs now at quarterback, the playoffs should be on the horizon. If every piece on the offense can click and the defence keeps playing to a high level, the Saints can definitely achieve playoff football. A division win could be possible although the NFC South appears to be more competitive than most predicted, the Saints are currently 1-1 in the division and would probably need to beat the Buccaneers in Tampa and beat the Falcons at least once. Even without the division crown, a wildcard spot is a real possibility especially if the Saints are around the 10 win mark which is where they should be looking at their schedule and the schedule of teams competing for the wildcard spots.