New Orleans Saints: 3 takeaways from Sunday's win over Tampa Bay

New Orleans Saints: 3 takeaways from Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay

TAMPA, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 17: Michael Thomas #13 of the New Orleans Saints runs the ball during the third quarter of a football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on November 17, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

For the second week in a row, the run game was nonexistent.

Against the Atlanta Falcons last week, Sean Payton ran Alvin Kamara four times for 24 yards. He ran Latavius Murray five times for 12 yards. To put that together, the Saints ran a total of nine times for 36 yards between their running backs.

They stepped up the number of carries a little bit in the win over the Buccaneers as Kamara rushed 13 times and Murray 10 times.

However, the production from them was far from something to be proud of. Kamara totaled 75 yards on his 13 carries and Murray totaled 27 yards on his 10 carries. Together they ran for 23 carries and 102 yards.

While the run game saw an increase of 14 carries and 66 yards. It is still nothing compared to weeks prior to these. In week 7, without Brees and Kamara, Murray rushed for 119 yards on 27 carries. In week 8 against the Cardinals, Murray ran for 102 yards on 21 carries.

Kamara is still yet to rush for over 100 yards in a game which, in my opinion despite how many receptions he gets, is severely underusing one of the best running backs in the NFL. Last year Kamara only ran for an average of 55 yards over 16 games but totaled 14 touchdowns.

This year, he has averaged 59 yards over eight weeks with only one touchdown.