3 New Orleans Saints to blame for crucial division loss against Buccaneers

New Orleans Saints to blame: Pete Carmichael

Perhaps even worse than Carr's decision to play, or Allen's choice to let his quarterback make that call, was the offensive play-calling from coordinator Pete Carmichael. Alvin Kamara came back this week from his four-game suspension, meaning he had fresh legs when the Saints needed him most. It was the perfect combination, and Kamara averaged over four yards per carry. The only problem? Well, Kamara only go 11 touches on the ground.

New Orleans is averaging just 13.8 points per game through Week 4. Against Tampa Bay, those flaws were exposed once again. The Saints relied too heavily on the arm of Carr, and threw the ball 37 times. Carr's injured shoulder was obvious, and it limited New Orleans' opportunities to move the football.

As John Sigler of Saints Wire wrote, it may be time for the team to consider a change in offensive play-calling:

"A team with so many weapons like this one shouldn’t struggle to score points. A receiving corps boasting Chris Olave, Michael Thomas, and Rashid Shaheed with Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau in the mix shouldn’t be struggling to score twice per game. Carmichael’s latest version of the offense has lost more turnovers (5) than they’ve scored touchdowns (4)."

Expect Saints fans to call for change as long as Carmichael is employed.