3 Saints to blame for Jaguars loss featuring still-frozen Carr-led offense
By Josh Wilson
Pete Carmichael
Pete Carmichael's offense has years of goodwill built up in New Orleans. With the team since 2008, he has helped architect years of the dynamic, pass-heavy scheme the team rolled out under Drew Brees. He is part of the reason Brees, despite physical limitations, is a future Hall of Fame, Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
Working with Sean Payton helped his reputation, no doubt, but Carmichael had over a decade of trust from Payton. That means something, and Payton is not the kind of coach to let someone ride his coattails or take undue credit.
His offense even made Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill look like serviceable starters for short periods of time in previous years. So why isn't it working for Derek Carr, a thought-to-be far better quarterback than those two?
For what it's worth, this week's play-calling was much better. But in a game where you don't score a touchdown, the offensive coordinator must bear some brunt of the blame. Carr and Carmichael were engaged in a fiery discussion on the sideline during the game. Clearly, they are out of sync. Regardless of whether it's Carr's fault or Carmichael's, it's the coordinator's job to keep things calm and build a positive working relationship with his QB.
That, clearly, isn't happening.
Though receivers were more open this week than in prior weeks, red zone play calling still felt curious at times. A pitch backward to Kamara on a third-and-goal in the fourth quarter down by 15? Was that really going to work? We can claw away at the minutae of it all forever, but a quick glance should show you this offense just isn't working. That's on Pete.