Saints post Week 3 power rankings

NFL.com – 10 (-2)
“It’s hard to blame Sunday’s offensive dud on one injury, but New Orleans just didn’t look right after center Erik McCoy (groin) was sidelined in the first series of the game. The offensive line went from a major question in the offseason to an undoubted success over the first two games, but McCoy’s injury has the unit back in the question-mark column again. It should worry the Saints a bit that they force-fed Alvin Kamara early but really stalled after the opening field goal drive, all the way through the fourth quarter. Four of the next six games are on the road, including the first two: at Atlanta and at Kansas City. This next spate of games will give us a better idea of which team we’ll get: the one that set the league on fire for two weeks, or the one that sputtered out offensively at home for most of four quarters Sunday.”

USA Today – 10 (-5)
“The Saints’ offense that generated 91 points in the first two games was stuffed by Philly. Derek Carr was reduced to ordinary by the Eagles.”

Bleacher Report – 10 (-6)

“No team in the NFL was more surprising over the first two weeks of the 2024 season than the New Orleans Saints. The Saints had been an offensive buzzsaw, piling up 91 points in two games. New Orleans quarterback Derek Carr was averaging over 11 yards per pass attempt.

That buzzsaw came to a screeching halt Sunday in a home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

After averaging over 400 yards of offense the first two weeks of the season, the Saints managed just 218 yards in Week 3. A Saints defense that had allowed less than 275 yards per game was gouged for 460 yards by an Eagles offense ravaged by injuries.

For John Sigler of Saints Wire, Derek Carr is mostly to blame for the team’s offensive woes Sunday.

“The honeymoon phase is over,” Sigler said. “The New Orleans Saints didn’t look anything like the team that became the talk of the NFL through the first two weeks in Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Klint Kubiak can’t hide Derek Carr forever, and even if they had some key injuries, the offense just looked completely out of sorts. No wonder they lost 15-12. Kubiak did a great job limiting Carr’s responsibilities through the first two weeks by leaning on play action and sliding his release point around in the pocket. But the Eagles defensive line played with a lot of discipline and didn’t give Carr any time to move and read the field. Not every defense can do that. Those that can have proven Carr can’t carry this team to a win.”

Maybe ranking the Saints inside the top five last week was a tad rash.”

CBS Sports – 12 (-6)
“​​They blew a game they should have won against the Eagles. Derek Carr and the offense sure didn’t look as good as they did the first two weeks.”

Sports Illustrated – 16 (-8)
“OK, so the Saints now had a game where they surrendered upfield interior penetration and didn’t stretch out the defense with a deep shot. In fact, the Saints were the first team of 2024 to not get a first down on a first-and-10. So, clearly there were some difficulties in getting ahead of this Eagles defense. What does that mean for New Orleans? Well, we’ve seen Dallas shellacked in two of their three games defensively. We’ve seen Carolina pummeled in two of their three games as well. So, did New Orleans get a fortuitous schedule or can they nip a team we’re positive will be a factor in January?”