Saints Vs. Bucs: SI.com's Peter King on the Saints Biggest Problems

Sports Illustrated's Pete King says he can not help but think of Bill Parcells as he watches Sean Payton attempt to navigate the New Orleans Saints through a potential "crisis of confidence."

"I covered the Bill Parcells Giants for four years in the '80s, and I remember thinking how odd it was to be around the team after a big win and see Parcells growling and unhappy about all the little things they were doing wrong; or sometimes when the team was in a tailspin, he'd be Dale Carnegie, convincing them they were on the cusp of something great if they'd only clean up this or that," wrote King today on SI.com.

King says that the Saints offense looks so out of whack these days it's hardly surprising to find the defending Super Bowl champs in the bottom half of the NFC South after five weeks.

After all, this division has a last-to-first and first-to-last reputation.

King sees the Saints woes as one of those four-headed Bayou monsters.

• The Saints are averaging twelve points less a game this season.
• The Saints interior offensive line, namely All-Pro Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks, are caving in on a regular basis. Evans is the highest-paid O-lineman in the NFL.
• Drew Brees is not throwing the ball effectively downfield and King says this may be a result of the knee brace on his strained left knee.
• The absence of Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas is devastating to their offense (a feeling Jon Gruden stated as well this week on ESPN Radio).

"The Saints were sixth in the league in rushing last year, creating lots of favorable second-down situations (second-and-four, second-and-three) that allowed play-calling Payton the luxury of doing whatever he wanted on a quasi-free down several times a game," writes King on SI.com.

"But when you're last in the league on the ground, and averaging an awful 3.26 yards per rush, all of a sudden the pressure to do everything on offense falls squarely on Brees. And you can see the pressure is taking a toll."

And who said the NFL is nothing but a passing fancy these days?

Also, King notes the dropoff in Brees 2010 production. In the yards per-passing-attempt, Brees ranks 15th in the league at 7.09 yards, trailing Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman. One year ago, Brees averaged 8.54 yards per-attempt as he led Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in that all-important category.

After last weeks disappointing loss to Arizona and their novice QB Max Hall, Sean Payton did what his mentor Parcells used to do—accentuate the positive—according to Peter King.

"You guys might look at me cross-eyed but there are the things we're actually doing better than last year." Payton told his team.

Payton proceeded to point out that the Saints much maligned run defense is actually stopping the run a whole lot better this year, 0.4 yards per carry better to be exact. Payton also let his team know that they are surrendering 51 yards less per game in 2010 than they were one year ago.

"In some big-play categories, they're improved," writes King.

Says King: "But in terms of opportunity, they're not better. The Saints had 38 takeaways last year. This year they have eight. They gave the ball twice to Arizona deep in the red zone last week. Some fluky things killed them—like Hall fumbling at the Saints two yard-line and it bouncing fortuitously into the hands of an offensive lineman for a Cardinals touchdown—and stats show that there's no rhyme or reason to fumble recoveries. But it's just one way now that 2010 is different than 2009."

"When you win the Super Bowl,'' Payton told King, "the next year it's either crisis or a carnival. We're taking on a little water right now. But I like this team—not a little, a lot. I have to do a better job as a playcaller. We've got to do a better job protecting Drew, and we've got to give him a consistent pocket. The two greatest allies for a quarterback are a good defense and a running game, and we've obviously got to run it better with who we have."

Yet Payton tells King he sees the glass as half-full.

Hey, things can change quickly in this league. Look at the Giants. Weren't they running Tom Coughlin out of town a couple of weeks ago? One of the biggest challenges that has come into the game in the last five years or so is all the outside influences on trying to do this job well—the media, the influence of the agents and the families. But like I say, I really like this team. We'll be fine.''

However, Peter King writes that Sean Payton may be just sporting a  brave face.

"Payton said all the right things, and he said it's early," writes King. " But he has to wonder deep down whether defenses have found a way, without the threat of Bush in space and in motion, and without the interior presence of a strong back like Thomas, to win more than they lose now against the artful Brees. All you have to do to wonder the same thing is to watch the Saints for a few series. They haven't been the same as last year all season -- even when Thomas and Bush were together in the lineup in the first two games."

With late season games against Dallas, Baltimore and Atlanta, the Saints can't afford to surrender much more ground.