Don’t blame Trevor Siemian for Saints’ poor offensive showing

The New Orleans Saints lost to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and it was hard to be angry at quarterback Trevor Siemian for the loss.

Siemian stepped in as the starter last week when Jameis Winston went down with an injury and performed admirably considering the circumstances. This week was a similar story, as Siemian played decent enough to get NOLA the win but the rest of the offense let him down.

Now, this doesn’t mean that Siemian was perfect. He lost a fumble after holding onto the football too long but other than that, a lot of what happened was beyond his control. His wide receivers couldn’t hold onto the football and that’s because none of them should be starters.

Trevor Siemian shouldn’t be blamed for Saints loss

Siemian finished his first full game as the Saints starter with a stat line of 25-of-41 for 249 yards and two touchdowns while getting sacked once. Siemian did what he needed to do as a quarterback, putting the ball where it needed to go. His receivers, time and time again, dropped a key reception.

Siemian actually received one of the best PFF grades in Week 9, proving he wasn’t the problem on Sunday.

We saw signs of life from this offense in the fourth quarter and Siemian played a huge part in that. His receivers finally were catching the ball and the team took the lead late in the game as a result. Just imagine how differently this game could have gone if Adam Trautman, Kenny Stills, Tre’Quan Smith, and Deonte Harris all caught the key passes sent their way. The Saints could be first in the NFC South if that happened.

While Siemian is the quarterback and going to receive blame as a result, this loss can’t be pinned on him. He put the ball where it needed to go and did what he could to put this team in a position to win. At the end of the day, it was the receivers who made the offense look lackluster, not Siemian.