Saints Proving Struggles Are More Than Just Road Woes

Something is definitely wrong with the 2014 New Orleans Saints.

A team that many predicted could contend for a Super Bowl has fallen to 4-6 on the season. A defense that ranked fourth overall a season ago (305.7 yards, 19 points per game allowed) is currently allowing 25.2 points per contest.

Drew Brees and that mighty Saints offense have still been putting up points (26.1 of them per game on average), but New Orleans is a troubling minus-nine in turnover differential. 

Even in the underwhelming NFC South, the Saints just haven't been good enough.

The truly troubling aspect of the Saints' 2014 struggles is the fact that they aren't just occurring on the road.

Year	At Home	Away	Overall	Result
2014	3-2	1-4	4-6	???
2013	8-0	3-5	11-5	2nd in NFC South
2012	4-4	3-5	7-9	3rd in NFC South
2011	8-0	5-3	13-3	1st in NFC South
2010	5-3	6-2	11-5	2nd in NFC South

When the Saints dropped their first two games of the season and three of their first four, it was definitely cause for some concern. However, it wasn't drastically surprising.

The Saints have never been the best road team in the NFL (12-19 since 2011), but they have been able to take advantage of home success under head coach Sean Payton (11 straight home wins heading into Week 10 of this season). 

Shellackings of the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers helped the Saints overcome a 2-4 start and take first place in the division. It appeared that things would be fine in New Orleans and that the Saints would still have a good shot at earning a home playoff game via the NFC South crown.

Then something unfamiliar happened. 

The Saints lost back-to-back home games for the first time since the start of 2012. That was the year Payton was suspended from the team for his team's bounty scandal.

Losing to the San Francisco 49ers in overtime a week ago hurt. It snapped that 11-game home winning streak and dropped the Saints back to the depths of losing teams. Yet the Saints were still in possession of the division lead with two consecutive home games upcoming.

Sunday's 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals was much, much worse, both on the field and in the standings.

The defense was woefully inept (Cincinnati produced 405 net yards of offense), the offense couldn't produce points and the crowd rarely really got behind the home team.

Even worse, the loss dropped New Orleans to 4-6 and in second place behind the Atlanta Falcons (Atlanta won the head-to-head matchup to open the season).

There are plenty of reasons why the Saints need to worry about their playoff chances at this point. There might even be reason to think about some serious offseason changes as well (defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is looking less and less appealing as the season wears on).

However, the biggest concern right now may be the team's inability to take advantage of having so many tough matchups at home. New Orleans has three of them remaining, with the final two coming against divisional opponents.

Up next, however, the team faces a 6-4 Baltimore Ravens team coming off a bye. The way the year has gone—even when playing at home—this next game is shaping up to be as difficult a test as New Orleans has faced all season. 

If the team cannot find a way to get back to its home-winning ways in a hurry, it may be time to start thinking about next year for the Saints.