"Tyrann owes me a pick, Cam owes me a sack, Mike owes me a catch, Chris owes me a catch…"
34-point shutout, but Alvin is still taking notes on how we can be better 😂 pic.twitter.com/qqScvLaEnx
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 8, 2023
Drew Brees and Sean Payton always talked about Alvin Kamara as one of the most intelligent football players they had been around, and it’s easy to see why when the New Orleans Saints star running back breaks down a game like this. Kamara took the initiative to hold himself and his teammates accountable after their 34-0 walloping of the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Kamara was taking notes during the game, keeping track of every dropped pass and almost-sack. He’s determined to maintain high standards that made the Saints one of the NFL’s winningest teams to start his career.
“I just want to address, because I was thinking about it, Tyrann Mathieu owes me a pick,” Kamara recalled. “I think Cam (Jordan) owes me like a sack or two. Mike (Thomas) owes me a catch so I’m putting Mike and Derek (Carr) in the same bracket. I don’t know what it was, the throw or the catch, but Mike owes me a catch. Chris (Olave) owes me a catch because I’ve seen him make those catches before on the sideline. What else? I’m just going to blame someone else just because, D.A., just because.”
But it wasn’t just the negatives he was keeping track of. Kamara shared how he was speaking with Carr, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, passing game coordinator Ronald Curry and running backs coach Joel Thomas during the game, adding his input to different situations and pointing out play calls that worked well to his teammates’ strengths. The results speak for themselves with 34 unanswered points on the afternoon.
Kamara added that having coaches receptive to that kind of feedback from players helps everyone by fostering a collaborative approach. It develops a comfort level that helps everyone feel like they’re involved in the offense, and he says this win was a good example of what that cohesiveness can accomplish.
It wasn’t all perfect. Kamara is aware of the penalties, too, and he’s not going to let his teammates with dirty hands get off scot-free: “We still had some penalties. Foster (Moreau) owes me one. (Cesar Ruiz) owes me one, (Rashid) Shaheed owes me one. I’m just recalling everything that hindered us, kept the score from going any higher.”
But we’re focusing on the positives, and Kamara saw a lot to like from the team in this game. They played a style of complimentary football that we haven’t seen often enough in recent years with an opportunistic defense, a tight special teams unit, and an offense that picked up first downs and ended drives with touchdowns. Having leaders like Kamara taking charge like this can help them go far.
