The New Orleans Saints go into Week 2 of the NFL season needing more players to step up. Coming off of a huge win against the Green Bay Packers, the Saints find themselves unhealthy with an NFC South game upcoming. The Saints have to travel to Carolina to face a Panthers team also coming off of a week one win. Carolina is an emerging team with dangerous offensive players. Meanwhile, the Saints have several injuries and many new faces on the team. The Saints need players other than the superstars to have a chance on the road in week two.
Marquez Callaway Among New Orleans Saints Players Who Will Decide Week 2 Game
The biggest issue with the Saints this week is injuries. Michael Thomas is still on the PUP list and the Saints lost the starting Center Erik McCoy on offense. Defensively, the Saints are incredibly beat up. In the secondary, the Saints have injuries to Marshon Lattimore, P.J. Williams, Ken Crawley, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are all likely to miss this weeks game. In the front seven, injuries to Marcus Davenport, Tanoh Kpassagnon, and Pete Werner threaten an already thin unit. Young and untested players will have their chances this weekend. The Saints need players on both sides of the ball to step up in week two.
Saints Offensive Players Needing to Emerge
Marquez Callaway is the main offensive player that needs to step up in Week 2. Callaway had his first action of his career as the top receiver for a team. The game did not flow well for Callaway. Jaire Alexander and the Packers defense held Callaway to just one catch on the day.
The Saints defense played so well that the Saints did not need much out of Marquez Callaway but that will likely not be the case this week. With a banged up defense, Callaway and Jameis Winston will need to gel or risk not scoring enough points to keep up with the Panthers.
Saints Defensive Players Who Need to Step Up
Zack Baun and Kaden Ellis at linebacker will have to keep up with Christian McCaffrey on Sunday. This is not an easy task, especially with the Saints defensive line ailing. Baun and Ellis have flashed so far this season but there is really no test quite like McCaffrey in the league. The Panthers are extremely deep at skill positions. The Saints will not be able to simply out-athlete the Panthers. Baun and Ellis will need to play smart to slow down McCaffrey and the rest of this Panthers offense.
Paulson Adebo, Desmond Trufant and Bradley Roby will likely be the only healthy Saints cornerbacks on Sunday. Trufant and Roby are veterans but they are very new to the team. Learning this Saints defense is usually very difficult for new players. It is rare for players on defense to make a quick impact due to the complexity. Adebo is a rookie so he has not had a lot of time in the scheme either. The game could very well be decided by these Saints cornerbacks. They have the difficult task of trying to keep up with a very deep wide receiver unit for the Panthers. Slowing down D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson, and Terrace Marshall Jr will not be easy but the outcome will likely determine the outcome of this week two matchup.
Saints and Panthers Try To Keep Pace in NFC South
One of these teams will most likely leave the week tied for the lead in the NFC South. Starting the season at 2-0 would be encouraging for both of these rebuilding teams. Matchups and young players on both teams will decide this divisional matchup. The Saints need several new or young players to step up in Week 2 to stand a chance.
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