After Being Home-Schooled by Rookie QB, Saints Need to Win in Carolina

Who Dat Nation, welcome to earth.

Sure the core of the Super Bowl winning team from the 2009 season remains intact. 

Minus the head coach of course.

And this past Sunday proved that Sean Payton was being paid over $7,000,000 a year for his Bill Belichick impersonations.

And a few other players whose presence were sorely missed in what was a brutal reality check for the Black and Gold, which was delivered in part by the defensive unit led by former Saints head coach Jim Haslett.

The New Orleans Saints have struggled against the Washington Redskins during the Sean Payton/Drew Brees era.  Their lone win during that period was during the magical season that was enabled by a miracle play by a wide receiver who currently wears another team’s uniform.

In the regular season opener, the Redskins beat the Saints on both sides of the line of scrimmage.  Rookie quarterback and second overall selection in the 2012 NFL Draft Robert Griffin III carved up the Saints defense while Brees was constantly under pressure.

The Steve Spagnuolo-led defense was embarrassed, coughing up 459 yards to RG3 and Company, surrendering 306 yards in the air and 153 yards on the ground. 

And when number Nine managed to launch the ball, it ended up being dropped by a receiving corps that no longer looks as deep as it did at the beginning of training camp.

Second year wide receiver Joseph Morgan proved to be no successor to speedster Robert Meachem, who remains the Saints best first round pick in the past seven drafts though he now plays for the San Diego Chargers. 

Actually Morgan didn’t even look like a good successor to practice squad favorite Andy Tanner.

This Sunday, the Saints face the 0-1 Carolina Panthers and their own young talented quarterback in an all-important divisional match up in Bank of America Stadium (nee Panther Stadium). 

The good news is that the Cats, which were expected to be the Black and Gold’s main threat for the division, also got off to a sputtering start against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Panthers racked up a pathetic ten rushing yards against the Bucs and scored ten points, both lowest in the league. 

Sophomore quarterback Cam Newton threw for 303 yards and a touchdown and will test the Saints’ lacking secondary.  And though Carolina lost to Tampa Bay, their defense proved to be stingy, giving up 16 points and only 128 passing yards, the second fewest in the NFL.

The Saints would find themselves in a major hole in the NFC South if they end up dropping two in a row. 

In Charlotte, Saints fans are going to learn if the first game was a hiccup or an omen.