Saints set up inevitable tanking accusations in dismal loss to Panthers

The New Orleans Saints are a bad football team. That was clear entering Sunday’s Week 9 game against the Carolina Panthers, and it’s undeniable after New Orleans lost 23-22 to Carolina. However, for as bad as the Saints are, they looked like a team trying to lose on Sunday.

Again, New Orleans is genuinely bad from top to bottom; the team doesn’t have to try to lose games, it’ll just happen. Still, there were some mind-boggling decisions in Sunday’s game that left people questioning how much the team really wanted to win.

The biggest example of that came in the final few plays of the game. The Saints had the ball, trailing by one with one minute left in the game. Only needing to get in field-goal range, the offense faced a 4th & 4 from their own 46-yard line.

With the game on the line, Derek Carr threw a deep go ball to Cedrick Wilson Jr. Wilson got his hands on the ball, but was unable to complete the catch, and the game was effectively over.

The Saints only needed four yards. If they would’ve picked up the first down, they would’ve had plenty of time to run a few more plays and get in field-goal range. Simply put, the decision to throw the deep ball in that situation didn’t make any sense.

Saints made several mind-boggling decisions in Week 9 loss to Panthers

At first, this seemed like a poor decision from Derek Carr. It appeared as if he was being unnecessarily aggressive and attempting a low-percentage pass with the game on the line. However, the replay showed the problem started far before Carr decided who he’d be throwing to.

New Orleans had three receivers for the play. Both outside receivers ran go routes, and the slot receiver ran a skinny post. Alvin Kamara was in pass protection, and leaked out late as a check-down option.

That's not the play call for a 4th & 4. So either the Saints were trying to lose this game, or Klint Kubiak and the offensive staff just had horrible decision making.

While that was last example in Sunday’s game, it wasn’t the first. Going back to New Orleans’ first offensive series of the game, the Saints moved right down the field behind a strong run game. In the first seven plays, New Orleans ran the ball five times. The offense averaged 8.8 yards a carry on those runs.

For some reason, facing a 2nd & 4 with the ball 11 yards away from the end zone, the Saints threw two straight passes. Both were incomplete, and the offense settled for three points.

Again, this indefensible decision either points to New Orleans trying to lose, or just the worst decision making possible. Either way, it’s clear the Saints season is over.

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