Saints @ Rams Thursday Night Football

While we have been disappointing on multiple fronts this year (QB play, play-calling, defensive consistency, critical kicking/punting errors), I think it should be pointed out how awful we've been on OL & DL this year. The OL has had significant issues with identifying and blocking blitzers, and has been absolutely awful at creating any creases for our RBs. It is a line that has had injury issues, yes, but just has flatout underperformed compared to the investment. We've missed on our draft picks there and have overpaid when they have been simply average. We have little-to-no depth (to the point of signing street FAs who had to play snaps) but then the guys who let go elsewhere last year we let go for the fact they were bad, too. We have not developed OL at the necessary rate to be successful.

The DL has been just as bad: overinvestment in DEs that have disappointed with constant injury issues, and underinvestment at DL (no DL draft pick outside of this year's first is on our roster) to the point we had to pick up castoffs and expect them to perform. Our run-stopping issues aren't remarkable; they should have been expected.

As bad as our play-calling & coaching appear to have been, our inability to control the line of scrimmage has affected everything else. I believe our FO and coaches overestimated the OL & DL talent and ability to play effectively this offseason (Penning started ... and is now banished for poor play, our downfield passing attack has faltered with no time to drop back and make reads, Cam has fallen off a cliff, and our "press" coverage has struggled with little ability to produce pressure with 4) and this is hugely to blame for our inconsistency across the board. THIS, to me, is the cardinal sin: if you have coached in the NFL for this long you cannot afford to overestimate your own players.