It’s tough to win football games when you can’t put points on the board, and it’s past time the New Orleans Saints address it. It’s time offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael step down into a lesser role, which is what he’s wanted all along. Dennis Allen’s failure to recruit a new play caller led to Carmichael taking a job he wasn’t prepared for, and the results speak for themselves.
The Saints haven’t scored more than 21 points in 10 straight games, going back to last season. Whether it’s Derek Carr, Andy Dalton, or Jameis Winston at quarterback Carmichael has not been able to get the offense moving and driving into the end zone. Carmichael is the common factor.
They’re averaging just 13.8 points points per game this season (not including Rashid Shaheed’s punt returned for a touchdown, and the ensuing extra point kick) which is the lowest since their 14.7 per-game average in 2005. That happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and led to sweeping organizational changes.
A team with so many weapons like this one shouldn’t struggle to score points. A receiving corps boasting Chris Olave, Michael Thomas, and Rashid Shaheed with Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau in the mix shouldn’t be struggling to score twice per game. Carmichael’s latest version of the offense has lost more turnovers (5) than they’ve scored touchdowns (4).
Dennis Allen deserves a lot of the blame. He may have a defensive background, but he’s the head coach, and he’s responsible for putting all of these people in their positions. He couldn’t replace Carmichael (assuming he even tried) in the offseason. He got the quarterback he wanted. Most of those skills position talents we just rattled off have been acquired during his tenure. This is his vision of the team, and it’s a squad that can’t even average 14 points per game, much less 23 points each week (which is league-average).
There’s a tough conversation centering on Allen’s own job security and future with the team. But don’t count on a change in-season. The Saints haven’t fired a head coach during the season since 1980, which was a long time and an ownership change ago. The only realistic “major” change would be demoting Carmichael and giving someone else the opportunity to call plays.
But who? The team has gushed about passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry at every opportunity. He’s called plays in two preseasons now. He may not be a better choice than Carmichael in that role, but he can’t be much worse. And there’s also the specter of Jon Gruden lurking around the team. Carr’s former head coach got more out of him than anyone else in the NFL, and we can’t rule out the possibility that the Saints would add him to the staff if they get truly desperate. Gruden comes with a lot of baggage, but so did Deshaun Watson, and Allen did everything in his power to go get him when he had the chance.
Change is inevitable. The only questions about it are when it will happen, and how it will manifest. Allen is running out of time to come up with an answer.
