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The New Orleans Saints came away from Baltimore with their first win of the season, but the 24-17 victory did not erase every concern surrounding Kellen Moore’s team.
While Tyler Shough and the passing game have helped New Orleans emerge as one of the NFL’s more productive offenses through two weeks, there are still areas trending in the wrong direction. The Saints remain near the bottom of the league in rushing, have surrendered eight sacks and now must move forward without starting left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. for an extended period.
With New Orleans turning its attention toward its Week 3 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, here are two areas whose stock is falling despite the Saints’ encouraging start on offense.
RB Travis Etienne
Although the Saints’ offense has generally performed well, Travis Etienne has struggled to make an impact during his debut season in New Orleans.
Averaging a mere 78.0 rushing yards per game, the Saints rank 28th in the league, and Etienne’s addition has yet to revitalize their ground attack as anticipated.
Etienne’s early inefficiencies were particularly evident in Sunday’s 24-17 win against the Baltimore Ravens.
He and Alvin Kamara were held to just 40 yards on 17 carries combined; however, Etienne’s lack of production is especially concerning given that Kamara is still returning from injury rehabilitation.
In the game against Baltimore, Etienne ran for only 25 yards on eight carries, bringing his two-game total to 71 yards on 17 attempts.
Despite signing a four-year, $52 million contract during the offseason to bolster the Saints’ running game, Etienne has yet to deliver the expected results through two weeks.
The Offensive Line
Starting left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. sustained a severe high ankle sprain in Sunday’s 24-17 victory over the Baltimore Ravens and will need surgery soon. Banks is sidelined indefinitely, with the earliest return projected around 10 weeks, keeping him out until late in the regular season.
While the offensive line hasn’t played poorly overall, it suffers a major blow with the loss of its key anchor. That’s a huge injury for an offensive line that has already struggled in pass protection, having allowed eight sacks on the year—the second most in the NFL only after the Dolphins.
Head coach Kellen Moore noted on Monday that the team will clarify Banks’ recovery schedule following surgery, while holding out hope that he might return before the end of the season.
“We’ll just kind of see what the timeline looks like after that,” Moore said. “Unfortunate thing for Kelvin, but we’ll just take this thing step by step and then figure out the timeline after that.”
The fourth-year lineman Asim Richards stepped in for Banks at left tackle against Baltimore and is set to take on significant playing time during his absence.
“Asim was asked to play a number of snaps last year, and he’ll be asked to play a number of snaps this year,” Moore said. “I think he’s gotten better through the offseason. I thought he hopped in there and battled.”
Richards faced an immediate test upon entering the game, facing off against Trey Hendrickson in obvious passing situations. Moore expressed satisfaction with Richards’ performance under pressure.
“He’s going against Trey (Hendrickson) in a couple of passing situations. I thought he held his own,” Moore said. “We’ll prepare with him, getting as many reps as he possibly can, and so then he’ll be ready to go.”
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