The New Orleans Saints are now 2-3 after their loss on Monday Night Football to the Kansas City Chiefs. The loss was more of a beat down than the 26-13 score would suggest.

This was the third loss in a row for New Orleans after a promising 2-0 start. In the first two weeks of the season, the Saints ran through the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys. Scoring 91 total points in the first two weeks.

This of course raised the expectations that fans had for the team. As soon as those expectations were raised the team started to fall.

Saints’ fans went from yelling, “Bless You Boys”, to “Bleep You Boys”.

The question now is, how did the Saints get here? What sins did they commit to put them in this position?

No Plan B

In the first two games of the season, New Orleans was able to move the ball up and down the field with ease behind a punishing rush attack.

In week one against the Panthers, the Saints ran for 180 yards on their way to scoring 47 points. In week two against the Cowboys, they ran for 190 yards on their way to scoring 44 points.

In the next three games, the Saints ran for 89, 133, and 46 yards, respectively. The offensive line has dealt with injuries along with opposing coordinators coming up with a game plan to slow down the run.

Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak received a lot of praise over the first two weeks but what do you do when adversity hits? So far, the going has gotten tough and the Saints offense has disappeared.

Kubiak has yet to find an answer to get the run game going again or substitute that production with the pass game. That challenge has even more obstacles now with Derek Carr set to miss a significant amount of time.

Carr Trouble

New Orleans came into this season with no experience behind Derek Carr. The backups are Spencer Rattler, a rookie, and Jake Haener, a second year player who did not play last season.

Rattler is getting the starting nod this week as the Saints playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs are lead by head coach Todd Bowles who is known for his exotic defensive schemes.

This is a chance for Kubiak to show how good he is as a coordinator. If he can call a game where the Saints offense is able to produce with a rookie quarterback against a Bowles defense, the failure of the last three weeks will be forgotten.

Blessing in Disguise

It is never good to lose your veteran starting quarterback but now the Saints will get to see if there is something there with Spencer Rattler.

Over the next few weeks, New Orleans will play against the Bucs led by defensive mastermind Todd Boyles, the Denver Broncos who are second in the NFL in fewest points allowed, and the Los Angeles Chargers who are first in the NFL in fewest points allowed.

If Klint Kubiak is not able to find an answer soon, the Saints season will be over before Halloween. Now, that’s scary!