New Orleans Saints: Three areas that must improve after three weeks

1. Penalties

The most frustrating thing in the world for any football fan, coach or player is penalties. And through three games this year, the New Orleans Saints have shown a big need for improvement when it comes to not making those useless mistakes and playing a clean game.

I know, I know, every Saints fan in America is still upset about the NFC Championship Game and rightfully so. As bad as that was, it still does not mean that the officials have some sort of agenda against the Saints. This is the Saints playing sloppy football and that will hurt the team if it continues at this level.

The Saints committed 11 penalties on Sunday for 70 total yards. There was more than one instance in which the offense was way backed up because of a penalty, which made it even harder for Teddy Bridgewater.

The Saints also had 11 penalties in Week 2 against the Rams, this time for 87 total yards. Week 1 was better as the Saints had seven penalties for 48 yards, which was fewer than the Texans.

However, the team still does not want to be trending in this direction and instead needs to turn it around. I know there are backups on the field and that changes things, but they are still professional football players.

Right now, the Saints average the third-most penalties per game at 9.7. The two teams ahead of them, the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons, both have losing records and have disappointed. The penalties definitely play a big reason why.