New Orleans Saints Not Bothered with Offensive Woes

Paul Mueller

Sep 23, 2010

Two weeks into the 2010 NFL season, there are a lot of surprises.

The Buccaneers are 2-0, the Vikings are 0-2. The Texans have the top offense, the Titans have the best defense.

And the Saints are 21st in the NFL in total offense.

One of the most prolific scoring offenses in NFL history, coming off their first-ever Super Bowl championship, has scored just 39 points in two games. For some teams, that would be a dream come true. For the Saints, it’s practically an embarrassment.

Either way, they’re still 2-0.

“I don’t think there has been offensive frustration,” head coach Sean Payton said. “I think the key for us is to win and to understand how that’s going to happen in each game. In both cases, we feel like we’ve played two real good defenses…"

“I point to the goal-line sequence there where 2nd-and-1 there was a missed opportunity there. More than anything else, those are the specifics. We look closely at all of the things, graded plays, how we’re grading out efficiency-wise. We look closely at that and all areas and will continue to do that.”

The Saints’ Week 1 14-9 win over the Vikings was the lowest points total in a win in Payton’s tenure as head coach. Despite putting up 25 points on the 49ers in Week 2, Payton still knows there is room for improvement.

“I think more than anything, the goal line 2nd-and-1 was one where you leave the game and you say, ‘We were down there and we had an opportunity to go up by more than a touchdown,”’ said Payton. “Those are just a few of the things when the game is over—although it was a win—that you’re trying to evaluate and a couple of things that you point out."

"When you get down as close as we were in that goal-line situation, that’s something that specifically we feel like we have to be better at and be able to convert that into a touchdown.”

The Saints look to get the offense back on track when they host the Falcons at the Superdome Sunday at 12:00PM CDT.