Saints trying to figure out early offensive troubles

METAIRIE, La. – For the opening five weeks of the 2009 NFL season, New Orleans was unstoppable early, outscoring opponents 48-13.

Since? Well, that’s another story.

In the next eight games, the Saints have trailed by 11, 7, 14, 4, 10, 3 and 14 as well as being tied in two games. Add it up and the Saints have been down after the opening 15 minutes in six of the past eight games by 61 points.

What you’re thinking is right. That’s not good thing.

But where does the problem stem from.

“I don’t know that there’s one specific thing,” Head Coach Sean Payton said. “Collectively, it’s us doing a better job of coaching those early downs and doing a better job of executing and getting back to the things that have been successful for us.”

Balance, lately, has been an issue.

Quarterback Drew Brees never threw more than 38 passes in a game until the Saints played Washington on Dec. 6. Since then, he has thrown passes 49, 41 and 45 times.

In those games, the Saints have rushed the ball 24, 26 and 13 times, totaling 55, 95 and 65 yards on the ground.

Those, however, are end-of-game statistics and don’t necessarily tell the story of first-quarter issues.

According to running back Reggie Bush, the Saints just aren’t executing what’s called.

“We’re digging holes for ourselves early in the game,” Bush said. “It makes it tough.”

There’s one other factor playing against the Saints.

The NFL is entering Week 16, meaning opponents have at least 14 weeks worth of film to cull from.

Against Dallas, it was obvious the Cowboys were aware of what was coming early on. On the first play from scrimmage, the Saints went to the well, calling a screen pass to the right.

Only, cornerback Terrance Newman sniffed it out, tackling Bush for only a one-yard gain. Two more plays gained only eight more yards and the Saints were forced to punt.

“Teams are going to know what plays you run out of what formation X amount of times,” Bush said. “They’re going to know percentages of what you like to run and don’t like to run and what looks you look for.”

But, he added, “We’ve still got to execute.”

And lest you think there’s a formula out there for shutting down New Orleans, Bush says think again.

Dallas didn’t stop the Saints – New Orleans had 182 of its 336 yards in the fourth quarter. But the Cowboys slowed down the Saints just enough to give them their first loss of the season.

“I don’t think there’s a formula to stop us,” Bush said. “I think there’s a formula to slow us down and even with that, I think you can only slow us down so much because we have so many weapons.”

Now the Saints just need to figure out a way to get that going early again.