The Saints seemed out of sorts, more missed field goals, more defensive turnovers putting the offense in good positions to score, and more red zone struggles. Despite a near comeback late, and some promising offensive poise near the end, the finger pointing is still at an all time high by fans.... Let's get into the recap.

Team Stats

(Saints/Jaguars)

Final Score: 24-31

First downs: 25 - 18

3rd down efficiency: 3/18 - 2/11

Total yards: 407 - 330

Red Zone Efficiency: 2/5 - 2/2

Penalties: 3 for 34 Yards - 5 for 42 yards 

Turnovers: 1 - 2

Time of possession: 36:10 - 23:50

Takeaways

Offense

        It has been said over and over again, the Saints offense is too talented to look this out of sorts. You can cite play calling issues, miscues, and bad reads all the same. The consistent issues are week after week and they were still present tonight against the Jaguars. Derek Carr has a lot of on his plate trying to make miracles happen while the running game still seems to not be living up to the hype.

        Offensive lines struggles didn't look as bad as expected. A few times we saw Penning come in on some jumbo packages which gives hope that the Saints coaching staff have not completely given up on the former first round pick. It was also pretty fun to see big #99 Saunders out there taking a break from defensive snaps and playing fullback. The desire to mix things up is there, but the execution has still fell short. I was also presently surprised by the newest member of the offensive line, Cameron Erving, staying available and he came with a certain bounce in his step that was nice to see.

        A few plays it looked like Carr was seeing a read a step too late which led to passes looking forced or making Jaguars secondary players look like pro bowlers. Aside from the misreads, miscommunication also bled through into yet another week. The Saints offense has been around each other enough, and Saints fans have had enough of the same issues. The "boo birds" were loud and present, and the Saints offense has to get it together in order to pull way in a currently crowded NFC South. The short passing game was a little more exercised this week, and it was nice to see that but the offense still lacks a certain rhythm that we saw start to groove at the end, I feel if they carry that over into next week, we may be on to something.

Defense

        When I write "The defense found a way to give the offense the push it needed" most people may think it was turnovers, good field position, and other things like that. Nope, it was big #99 Khalen Saunders bouncing around and running into guys playing fullback. It was a glorious drive full of the energy we have come so use to seeing around the defense near the goal line, and the Saints finally punched it in with Taysom Hill on 4th down with Saunders as the lead blocker.

        Now on to the actual defense, secondary play was good, defensive line was good, line backers were good. We are spoiled by this defense and despite giving up two early touchdowns to Etienne, the Saints defense buckled down after that not allowing another. The only other score came on a pick 6 that I am willing to bet if Saunders was out there, he would have found a way to get a fumble after the interception and run it for 99 yards and score a touchdown (not really, but we need to find the light).

        I still remain incredibly impressed with the young guys on the line. Cameron Jordan is likely smiling every time he gets less protection in his face with the dominance spread across the line. In general, the Saints defense feels very young with a few potential HOFers in the veteran roles. They have their share of penalties that seem to extend drives, but as many stats will tell you that is a tell tale sign of an aggressive defense. Unfortunately, when the Saints needed it the most the defense gave up what looked like a very easy touchdown to Kirk to seal the game after a short punt. I don't put a lot of this loss on them, but still dropped one when it mattered the most.

Saints Stock Exchange (Sponsored By… Nobody)
Just a quick hit section each week to highlight which Saints players have their stock value increasing and decreasing after each game, 3 up and 3 down:

Stock Up

Khalen Saunders

Foster Moreau/Taysom Hill

Offensive Line

        Did you really think we would have anyone else but Saunders here? Come on, the guy was responsible for a much needed touchdown in a position he doesn't get paid for.

FOOTBALL. PLAYER. No further questions.

        Juwan Johnson misses another game, as expected on a short week. Moreau has stepped up and made himself available a lot where you want him. On the other hand, our other tight end/football player did A LOT that a winning player does. I could not choose because Hill provided that explosiveness you needed, but Moreau provided that constant you need from a backup TE. I know he had a late game drop that someone might argue "cost us the game" but there is a lot more plays you can point out, and I can't let that take away from everything else he did tonight filling in yet again for our TE1.

        After seeing all the news the last week and some change about the offensive line, I am shocked they are up for me but they are. They seemed to be a lot more in sync and while the run game left something to be desired they still played well considering all the changes and new faces in new places. To add, I don't think all the run game can be put on the line, when you quit on the run early it is hard to get anything going later.

Stock Down
Blake Grupe

Lou Hedley 

Chris Olave

        Just going to lump Grupe/Hedley into one. They are both rookies, one a just little younger than the next. They have time to grow, and while I want to still have faith at least Grupe will turn it around, but he is making that harder week after week. Grupe has too many misses to be trusted, and Hedley's punts feel to be right into into a running lane or short too often. The crucial down for Hedley is obviously the punt that set up the Jaguars with short field position which resulted in the score that sealed it.

        I don't love putting Olave here, but I have to. While the passes to him were not perfect, it feels like Derek Carr still wants him as a main target and he seems to quit too often. He is still very young and has a huge career ahead of him, I expect him to be on the up list more often than the down. He is clearly extremely talented, he just needs to mentally lock in.

Make sure to follow me on The Kneaux everywhere @BeInTheKneaux.