The New Orleans Saints fall to 3-7 on the season after a 20-10 on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers. New Orleans offensive woes continue as they have fallen in their last two meetings against AFC North opponents. The Saints are now 0-3 against AFC North competition this year. Here are three takeaways from the Saints loss against the Steelers:
Alvin Kamara Held in Check By Steelers Defense:
For the second consecutive week, the Saints running game wasn’t able to get on track as the Steelers defense was able to control the line of scrimmage. The Steelers defensive line was able to seal off open holes for Alvin Kamara and the Saints running game.
It was another week that Kamara had to take on the full workload as Mark Ingram continues to be sidelined with an injury. The Saints were only able to pick up 29 rushing yards on the day. Kamara had the majority of those yards as he finished the day with 8 carries for 26 yards.
The Saints Offensive Woes Continue:
The Saints offense has been on a standstill during a rough year for New Orleans in 2022. There was a lot of hope going into the season for this offense, especially with the additions of Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave. Those expectations were put to bed early on in the season as Landry missed most of the beginning of the season with an injury.
Landry returned in week ten against the Steelers. The former LSU product in his return hauled in three receptions for 37 yards. Without the presence of Michael Thomas on the field the Saints have been having to rely on Olave to be their go-to-target.
The offense for the Saints have shown their inconsistencies as of late as their last two losses the offense has only generated 13 points against the Ravens and now 10 points against the Steelers.
Without the offensive mindset under Sean Payton combined with the help of Pete Carmichael this Saints offense looks lost. The offense for New Orleans was only able to rack up 186 yards of total offense as the Saints continue to have no rhythm. The Saints only found the endzone once on a 15-yard passing touchdown to Juwan Johnson.
New Orleans is Heading in the Wrong Direction:
New Orleans was picked to be the main contender to compete against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. It was a long offseason for the Saints in 2021 as they missed out on the playoffs with a 9-8 record. After the season Sean Payton decided to step away from the team and the Saints decided to promote Dennis Allen to head coach.
The Saints lost key players in the secondary in the offseason with Marcus Williams heading to Baltimore and Malcolm Jenkins retiring. New Orleans was able to fill in the needs in the secondary with the additions of Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye. They were also able to select Alontae Taylor in the NFL Draft to add some depth to that position.
Injuries have derailed the Saints this season as key players have seen missed time this season. Michael Thomas was ruled out for the year and Marshon Lattimore has missed the last several games. New Orleans’ injury report filled the screen today as key players had to sit out against the Steelers.
It was a disappointing loss for the Saints against a Pittsburgh team that has struggled out of the gates with a 2-6 record entering today’s matchup. New Orleans can’t even look at tanking as they traded their first round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in the deal to trade-up to get Olave in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. The Saints will return home in week 11 against the Los Angeles Rams.