Saints Redemption Run: A 3-5 Start Hasn’t Taken the NFC South Off the Table

A week ago, the New Orleans Saints were coming out of their bye at 2-5, and I was wondering when they’d give the Superdome a win to celebrate. Now they can leave that same building in first place. Sunday’s 23-22 overtime win over Cleveland, combined with losses by the other three NFC South teams, set up a Week 10 game between the 3-5 Saints and the 3-5 Carolina Panthers. I’m still waiting for New Orleans to put two good Sundays together. This is a heck of a week to start. 

Atlanta and Tampa Bay are both 3-6. Carolina won this division at 8-9 last season, so Saints fans don’t have to reach far for an example of how long an NFC South race can stay open. Sunday’s winner will have four victories and a head-to-head win over the other team that entered the week at 3-5. With nine games remaining for New Orleans, that’s a chance to put some distance between itself and the pack. 

What interests me is how quickly the Saints can make the rest of the division react to them. A win against Carolina would mean back-to-back victories coming out of the bye and a division result the Panthers would have to answer later. Lose, and the Saints give away the chance to build on their first home win of the season while they’re still in their own building.

The Saints held Cleveland to 95 rushing yards on 34 attempts. Linebacker Kaden Elliss finished with 11 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. That’s a strong afternoon up front, but the Browns still scored two touchdowns on passes of at least 39 yards. Carolina is coming off a 26-21 loss to Denver, and I’d expect the Panthers to test whether New Orleans can tackle in space as well as it defended the run against Cleveland. 

On Sunday, I’ll be watching the first time a Carolina receiver catches the ball underneath on third down. Does the nearest Saint get him down short of the sticks? Does the next defender arrive in time to help? It’s an ordinary play until somebody misses and the whole defense has to turn and run. If Elliss and the front can keep winning early downs, finishing those tackles would give New Orleans more chances to get Tyler Shough back on the field with decent field position.

The Saints take on the Panthers at noon Central on Sunday, Nov. 15, in the Superdome. That gives the Saints two straight home games coming out of the bye, and this one carries a little more weight because the team across the field is trying to take the same spot in the standings. If they pull off this win, we will have a different conversation.

I’d love for the Superdome to get loud in the fourth quarter because the defense is protecting a lead it built earlier in the afternoon. Give me a clean tackle on third down, a short field for Shough and a touchdown before anybody starts doing overtime math. Beat Carolina that way and I’ll spend a little more time looking at the standings next Monday. Especially if this is the start of season redemption run.