Underhill article on why the Saints O is so bleh
The lack of motion hasn't bothered me much, I barely noticed it, but the lack of play action had bugged me and has been quite noticeable. Of course, it helps to have an effective run game, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it anyway, You absolutely should so as to try to get the LB's and any safety in the box out of position in coverage and give your receivers more time and space in the middle of the field behind the backers.
I literally just asked that question to our resident FB Guru and he denied that the scheme wasn't behind the times.
IMHO The offense is still built like an elite QB is at the helm running the show in a league where the elite QB is archaic at the moment. Most of these guys are under 10 years in the league, so offense have adapted w/ schemes that make the reads easier. Were expecting Carr(an elder, but never elite) to see the field like Drew and he's not...not even close. The offense needs to make things easier on the QB
We are running the Drew Brees 2017-2020 offense which relies on high efficiency and a defecto “coach on the field” type at QB to pick apart defenses while limiting errors.
We never evolved out of that, and it shows. We weren’t always like this, but it’s like we have been doing it for so long now that it’s become PC’s identity as an “offensive coordinator.”
I don't want to say if we are running an archaic offense. I don't think that is the problem. A simple offense with an "I" formation will do if we have a great offensive line, a great full back, a great running back, two competent receiver and a tight end that can block and catch.
The biggest problem that I have is that besides motions, the basic concept of this offense was to run a west-coast style with multiple pass catchers. This offense was running best when we have 7-8 different players catching passes during the first half. That was the main way we were opening the run game.
Now, we seems to concentrate on pushing the ball to only one receiver. We have forgotten Thomas one game, Olave last game, Shaheed the game before, and the tight ends? I don't know what they are doing.
This can be a Carmichael or a Carr problem, but it is the responsibility of Carmichael to point out to Carr that he has to distribute the ball.
And that brings me to the second problem: reading protections. We know McCoy was taking care of the protections the last couple of years. Before that, of course, it was Drew. When we brought Carr, I read he will be taking this responsibility. I don't know if this is the case, but certainly we do have a problem of diagnostic and communication on the offensive line, and that might as well may come from reading protections.
Now, who has to solve this problem? Is it Marrone? I don't know but again, it is Carmichael's responsibility to see it fixed.