Growing up, children hated this time of the year. They counted down the days until they were given their mid-year report card. The good thing about those grades was that there was still plenty of time to bring those sub-par marks up before the end of the year. An NFL season, though, is not as forgiving.
With the 2016 New Orleans Saints holding a mid-season record of 4-4, the easy letter to award them would be a ‘C’ since the knee-jerk reaction is to give the average record an average grade. The USA Today power rankings have them in the middle of the pack, but a closer examination of the campaign makes giving an evaluation more difficult.
New Orleans Saints Mid-Season Report Card
Offense: A
Sean Payton, the maestro of the high-powered offense, is conducting another masterpiece here in 2016. His NFL top-ranked offense, led by Drew Brees, is firing on all cylinders. The off-season losses of Benjamin Watson and Marques Colston have been addressed with the signing of Coby Fleener and the emergence of rookie phenom Michael Thomas. Willie Snead and Brandin Cooks have produced as expected while the offense has discovered some sorely-missed balance in Mark Ingram and Tim Hightower. The offensive line, led by Max Unger, have blocked well and kept Brees upright and on pace for a jaw-dropping fifth 5,000-yard passing season. To put that in perspective, there have only been eight such passing campaigns, and Brees has four of them.
Defense: D
The New Orleans Saints defense was the big concern headed into their 2016 campaign and for good reason. The defense, which ranked 30 of 32 in 2015, received much attention in the off-season leading into the season. The underwhelming defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was replaced by Dennis Allen while the defensive personnel was overhauled, leaving over half the jersey names on the defensive side of the ball replaced by new ones.
Aside from the new leadership and fresh faces on defense, the Saints have also seen their share of injuries, none of which having more impact than the loss of Delvin Breaux, who just returned from a week one abdomen injury. Also, the investment on Jairus Byrd hasn’t panned out the way the team hoped. Each of those factors has played roles into the struggles thus far. The hope is that with a steadier lineup and an increase of familiarity with the coaches and players, matters will improve.
Special Teams: B-
With regard to the return game, statistics suggest that the Saints are run-of-the-mill. Placing 18th and 17th in kick returning and punt returning, respectively, the units don’t jump off the page, but the rankings are a bit misleading. The new rule changes on kick returns have limited Saints kick returner Travaris Cadet to only 10 opportunities thus far in 2016. Listed at 5’7” and 168 pounds, undrafted rookie punt returner Tommylee Lewis has been an exciting player to watch on both special teams and as a wide receiver.
In the kicking game, rookie Wil Lutz had a bumpy start to his 2016 season but has really settled into his role. As for the punting, who doesn’t love Thomas Morstead? With all the turnover on the team, Morstead has been a reliable mainstay in special teams.
Overall: C+
As aforementioned, the record says ‘C’, but considering the 0-3 start to the season and how competitive those three contests were, the eight-game stretch becomes more impressive. Winning four of their last five games, led by their top-ranked offense, has that grade slightly above average and trending toward a ‘B’.
So what’s to come for the 4-4 New Orleans Saints in the second half of the season? No one knows for sure, but their strength of schedule the rest of the way out is, you guessed it, 16 of 32.
