The New Orleans Saints offense entered the 2024 season with many questions, especially around quarterback Derek Carr. They clearly answered these questions in the first two weeks. A 47-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 was followed by a 44-19 win over the Cowboys in Dallas in Week 2. They gained 432 yards of offense and impressed none other than the GOAT himself, Tom Brady.
“I think that’s a sign of what New Orleans’ offense is going to do,” Brady said. “Now the question is, can they do that consistently well?”
Tom Brady: ‘super impressed’ by Derek Carr, Saints’ dominant win over Cowboys | NFL on FOX
(Read more: Tom Brady’s LFG! Player of the Game of Week 2: Saints RB Alvin Kamara)
Brady was particularly impressed with the Saints’ new offensive coordinator, Klint Kubiak, whom he described as a “hot playmaker.”
“They shuffled the personnel, they shuffled the lineups, they had these challenging moves and then they made these chunk plays early in the game out of play action,” Brady said. “Derek Carr, we’ve had a lot of questions about him. He made some A-plus throws down the field today and hit guys on the run. When you play up front in that scheme, the defense has to deal with every bootleg, every gimmick play and then the high-percentage passes they have on offense. That’s very hard to stop.
“We were wondering at halftime what (Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike) Zimmer was telling (his players). Guys, what are you trying to stop? You’ve got to stop the long passes. But then there’s the inside run game, the outside run game, the reverses, the bootlegs. It was a real challenge for Dallas to actually get them on third down and use their strength, which is their pass rush.”
(Read more: NFL Highlights: Saints score 6 touchdowns in first six possessions and crush Cowboys)
Brady also said Saints fans should be encouraged by Carr’s performance after the veteran quarterback disappointed in his first year in New Orleans last season.
“He looks so comfortable in this offense,” Brady explained. “One of the criticisms of his career is that he throws the ball under pressure. And I think Kubiak has done a good job of not allowing the defenses to start their pass rush. The last two games, Derek has just been standing back there looking for open players, and nobody has criticized Derek’s arm or his arm strength, his ability to get the ball down the field. He just has to do it consistently well all season. There are games like this. There are games like last week. Can you do that all season?
“Those are the types of questions Derek can answer for himself. If he can do that, they’ll certainly be a team to contend with in the postseason.”
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