Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints racked up 444 total yards and 22 first downs in last week’s ugly loss to the division-rival Atlanta Falcons. The primary culprit? Red-zone struggles. New Orleans scored five field goals in the 24-15 loss.
It’s been a continuing theme for the Saints in Carr’s first season with the team. They head into Week 13 ranked 29th in the NFL in red-zone success, converting a mere 42.5% of those opportunities into touchdowns. It has been a major talking point in the Bayou with New Orleans at a pedestrian 5-6 on the season.
Giving his weekly press conference ahead of Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions, Carr was asked about these struggles multiple times. His response shouldn’t give Saints fans much confidence that they can turn it around.
“You’re going to keep asking the same question and I’m going to give a lot of words and no answer because I’m not gonna tell ya,” Derek Carr told reporters on Wednesday.
Prior to that quote, Carr brought up schematics and play-calling from longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. But he did not get into specifics. The veteran quarterback did not talk about his own struggles inside the opponent’s 20-yard-line. That includes staring down wide receivers and struggling to get beyond his initial read.
The pick-six he threw into the hands of Falcons safety Jessie Bates last week is an example of that. Counter that play with Carr’s explanation after the fact, and it has to be seen as concerning.
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Don’t expect Derek Carr to change New Orleans’ Saints red-zone struggles
Among regular starters, Carr ranks second-to-last in the NFL in red-zone completion percentage at 44.7%. To put this into perspective, Lamar Jackson (70.7%), Brock Purdy (68.2%) and Russell Wilson (68%) head the pack.
When your quarterback is hitting on far less than 50% of his passes inside the opponent’s 20, it is going to lead to dramatic failure across the board. Despite this, Saints head coach Dennis Allen opted to deflect the blame in talking to the media on Wednesday.
“It’s a team game and there’s a lot of factors involved in it,” Allen told reporters. “There’s different factors, whether it be protection or routes or concepts or execution. That’s an area that we’ve not been as good as we need to be, and that’s an area that we’re going to spend a little bit more time working on.”
Going to bat for your quarterback is one thing. Not seeing what everyone else is clearly noticing is a completely different thing.
New Orleans ranks 12th in the NFL in total offense, but is also a mere 18th in the league in scoring. The fact that Carr ranks behind heralded quarterbacks such as Bryce Young, Zach Wilson and Kenny Pickett in the red zone is not an accident when looking at those aforementioned stats.
- Derek Carr red zone stats (2023): 44.8% completion, 84.0 QB rating
At 5-6 on the season, New Orleans finds itself tied with the Atlanta Falcons for first place in the pedestrian NFC South heading into Week 13. There is still time to turn this thing around.
After going up against Detroit this coming week, the schedule is easy for Carr and the Saints. They must contend with the Panthers (1-10), Giants (4-8), Rams (5-6), Buccaneers (4-7) and Falcons (5-6) to close up shop.
But until Carr looks himself in the mirror and realizes he’s the common component to these failures, nothing is going to change. That’s as clear as day.