Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints are looking to get their first win of the season. After dropping the first two games by one score, the Saints are hoping to get back on track against the 1-1 Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks have had a sloppy start to the season and have yet to see the payoff for signing quarterback Sam Darnold to a three-year $100.5 million contract.
Despite New Orleans being winless, they have kept it close in their two losses. While many outlets see the Saints as one of the worst teams in the league, they could surprise many with a win on Sunday by taking advantage of these key matchups.
The Saints have been eager to get wide receiver Chris Olave involved. Through two games, Olave has 23 targets for an inefficient 13 receptions for 108 yards. Despite the lack of numbers, the fourth-year wide receiver has been a misplaced ball away from big plays on multiple occasions.
The Seahawks’ defense has been stingy to start the season. They’re only allowing 17 points per game, and their secondary has come away with four interceptions in two games. Unfortunately for Seattle, they’ve been without their two best defensive backs through two practices, Star safety Julian Love and cornerback Devon Witherspoon, and there’s a real chance they won’t be available for Sunday.
With Seattle missing key pieces to their secondary, Week 3 may be the best chance for New Orleans to get Olave back on track. Even when healthy, the Seahawks’ defense had several missed assignments in their Week 1 loss, allowing Rickey Pearsall to bring in 4 receptions for 108 yards.
It has been no secret that the Saints’ interior defensive line has struggled. Despite having a Pro Bowler at center in Erik McCoy, right guard Cesar Ruiz has been awarded a 35.8 from PFF for his early-season struggles, ranking him 86th out of 88 guards this season, and left guard Dillon Radunz went down with an injury in their Week 2 loss that will keep him out for Week 3. Trevor Penning is working his way back from injury and will likely resume his training camp role of left guard, but the former first-round pick has yet to play on the interior in the NFL.
With question marks in the interior, the Saints will be facing a Seahawks defense with two solid defensive tackles. Second-year defensive tackle Byron Murphy II has had a strong start to the season, logging 2 sacks, which has earned him a 69.6 grade from PFF, 32nd out of 160 DTs. To Murphy’s side is veteran Jarran Reed. Reed has made a career out of rushing the passer from the interior and has accumulated 39.5 sacks over his 10-year career.
With poor play from the interior for the Saints and going against a strong Seahawks’ pass rush, New Orleans will have to come up with ways to...
