Saints Have Lost Their ‘Old Magic’ And Found Trouble

Lack Of Offensive Weapons

Sep 20, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers free safety Bradley McDougald (30) intercepts a hail mary over New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks (10) to end the game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Buccaneers defeated the Saints 26-19. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The Saints entered the 2015 season with only four receivers(Marques Colston, Brandin Cooks, Brandon Coleman, and Willie Snead) and after last week ended up adding a fifth, Joe Morgan, to create more depth.

There are currently still only two tight ends on the depth chart, Benjamin Watson and Josh Hill, with no signs pointing to the team planning on adding to that number.

Snead was the only receiver to catch a touchdown pass today with Colston being the leading receiver in yardage with a paltry 69 yards with both Watson and Hill combining for three receptions and 14 receiving yards.

Gone are the days it seems of the dominant offensive weapons at Drew Brees disposal and instead you can welcome the arrival of a receiving corps that can’t seem to get separation from even the most average of defensive units.

Also gone are the days of a certified threat from any pass catcher in the redzone as Snead and Coleman have been the lone recipients of a score in that area.

Some may not want to admit it, but former Saints tight end Jimmy Graham would have been nice to have on a few plays the past two weeks, one of those being the last play of the game where Brees tossed a prayer to the endzone.

Sep 13, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New Orleans Saints tight end Josh Hill (89) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Watson even said recently that those are the type of plays that Graham was known for which called upon his basketball skills to box out defenders and either get the catch or draw a pass interference call.

So far neither Watson or Hill are coming close to filling the gap left by Graham as a redzone threat or much less a threat at all anywhere on the field.

There was the argument coming out of training camp of who would be the #3 and #4 receivers behind Colston and Cooks…well it’s really unclear who’s even the #1 right now.

As far as my previous theory on Morgan being able to take the top off a defense to open things up for players like Cooks?

It’s not looking so great now.

Next: No Thrills on This Ride