Saints having successes despite obvious shortcomings

Let’s assess your New Orleans Saints after five games.

Cam Jordan doesn’t have a sack.

Alvin Kamara has one rushing touchdown in five games.

Wide receiver Michael Thomas hasn’t played a down all season, and neither has the club’s best interior pass rusher, David Onyemata.

Two of the Saints’ five starting linemen, center Erik McCoy and left tackle Terron Armstead, have missed multiple games.

Wil Lutz hasn’t kicked one football all season, and his replacements have missed three of four field goals and a pair of extra points.

Yet, the Saints are 3-2 as they hit the bye week. And, if not for an unexpected snooze in the final nine minutes of the fourth quarter against the Giants, the Saints should be 4-1. In a very even league, the Saints have a neck in front.

And, suddenly, the second part of the schedule doesn’t look so imposing.

The next game is on a Monday night at Seattle. The Seahawks won’t have their star quarterback Russell Wilson, who is shelved after finger surgery.

The Saints then come home to play the 4-1 Bucs, followed by Atlanta, Tennessee and Philadelphia.

The Saints’ first five opponents have a combined record of 12-13. The Saints’ next five opponents, after five weeks, had a combined record of 13-12.

Of the five teams with at least four wins in the NFC, the Saints have played one, Green Bay, and don’t play either the Los Angeles Rams or the Arizona Cardinals.

So, what does it all mean?

Well, after five weeks, you can make an argument that the Saints are pretty good. And, you can make an argument that the Saints are just a little above average, that they are a team with just one win over a club with a winning record.

On social media (the bane of our existence), a Saints fan took a reporter to task when that individual tweeted out that the NFL is a week-to-week league.

Sorry, but it is. In last Sunday’s Week 5 games, four underdogs won, all on the road. And, Cincinnati missed two field goals late, one with 21 seconds to play in regulation, and another in overtime, that would have beaten the Packers.

In Minnesota, the Vikings needed a 54-yard field goal on the final play to subdue the 0-5 Detroit Lions.

So, the Saints will be in plenty of close games all season. After the bye, they’ll hopefully get some key additions back and be right in the hunt for a playoff spot in the NFC.

For a team that had its franchise quarterback retire and was $100 million over the salary cap, that ain’t half bad.

Ed Daniels is sports director at ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].