New Orleans Saints: Reasons to be concerned moving forward
By Jason Reed
3. The defense is yet to prove it against a great offense and quarterback
The New Orleans Saints defense was not bad against the Atlanta Falcons and did what they could to keep the offense in the game. That loss cannot be pinned on the Saints defense, however, it did show that perhaps some overestimated how good it really is.
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The Saints have a great defense and one that I think is in the top-10 in the league. However, heading into their bye week, there was a lot of buzz of the Saints having one of, if not the, best defenses in the league. That is something I cannot get my head around.
The fact of the matter is that the Saints have gotten away with beating some poor quarterbacks, although to be fair, most of the quarterbacks in the league nowadays are poor.
The Saints have faced three quarterbacks that most would consider above average: DeShaun Watson, Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan. In those three games, the Saints allowed 28, 27 and 26 passing yards, respectively. Those three have combined for 856 passing yards and seven touchdowns.
Aside from them, the Saints have beaten up on quarterbacks such as Jared Goff, Dak Prescott, Gardner Minshew, Kyler Murray, Jameis Winston and Mitchell Trubisky. Minshew and Trubsiky might not be starters next year, Murray is exciting but is a rookie and Goff and Prescott are the figureheads for mediocre quarterbacks.
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Luckily for the New Orleans Saints, they only really have to face one great quarterback (Jimmy Garoppolo) and two good quarterbacks (Matt Ryan, Jacoby Brissett) for the rest of the season. However, once the playoffs hit, we might see a defense that is not as advertised.