It’s safe to say Alvin Kamara isn’t pleased with the state of the New Orleans Saints offense. He was watching them struggle to move the ball and put points on the board from home like the rest of us during his three-game suspension, but when he returned they posted their poorest performance yet: 9 points and just 197 total yards, of which he accounted for 84 (42.6%).
The former Pro Bowl running back fielded questions from reporters while packing his bag in the team locker room, and he didn’t have many positives to share about the offense when the topic came up. He said it’s time for “some tough conversations” after a humbling start to the season, in which the once-feared Saints offense averaged just 13.8 points per game going into October.
“It’s been two years since we had that offense that was rolling. Now we’re kind of in this rut of,” Kamara paused, considering his words carefully. “It is what it is right now. What you see. Like I said, we’ve got to have some conversations about something. Because I don’t like losing.”
This team hasn’t been the same since Drew Brees hung up his cleats. For something they knew was coming, they didn’t adequately prepare for life without No. 9: Jameis Winston wasn’t a poor fit in the offense and Sean Payton worked himself into semi-retirement just trying to end the 2021 season with a winning record. When Payton left town, they tried to maintain continuity with Dennis Allen taking his office and Pete Carmichael trying to run an offense with his playbook. The results speak for themselves.
The Saints went 7-10 last year, and they’re barely 2-2 now. If a couple of kicks go differently they would be 0-4 (or, conversely, 3-1). The point is that they haven’t dominated any opponent the way fans or Kamara are used to. Every game is a challenge. Every down is a labor of Hercules. Everything is difficult for this team offensively, which wasn’t the case when they had a Hall of Fame quarterback running things.
And another Hall of Famer isn’t going to walk into the facility and start taking reps under center. That’s not the reality this team is in. As Kamara said, it’s time they have some tough conversations — about who’s calling plays, drawing them up, and putting players in position. If that means job titles are lost and responsibilities change, so be it. What they’re doing right now is not working and they can’t afford to stay the course.
