Saints quarterback Derek Carr cooked the Carolina and Dallas defenses like crawfish etouffee. Then, he met Vic Fangio in Week 3 and fell painfully back to earth.
During Weeks 1-2, Carr threw five touchdown passes and posted a league-best 142.4 passer rating. In last week’s loss to the Eagles, his 69.1 passer rating was fourth-worst in the league.
Former NFL safety Ryan Clark said Thursday on ESPN’s NFL Live that fantasy owners should expect something in between when New Orleans (2-1) visits Atlanta (1-2) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX).
“He won’t be as bad as he was against the Eagles but he sure as hell ain’t going to be this dude that was super human in the first two weeks of the season,” Clark said, “especially as much as he likes to throw the ball in between the numbers. The two dudes between those numbers for the Atlanta Falcons are Justin Simmons and Jessie Bates. I believe he plays better but let’s not expect Derek Carr to be on super-human mode the way he was early on in the season.”
Early on in the season, Carr also had a healthy backfield and a healthy offensive line. And while Taysom Hill (chest) returned to practice for the first time since his Week 2 injury, Alvin Kamara (hip/ankle) did not practice on Wednesday and was limited on Thursday. And, more significantly, Pro Bowl center Erik McCoy (groin) went on injured reserve and is reportedly out 6-8 weeks.
To make matters worse, McCoy’s injury during last week’s loss forced New Orleans to move left guard Lucas Patrick to center and Oli Udoh – who’s started two games in the last two years – to fill Patrick’s void. Now, starting right guard Cesar Ruiz has not practiced for two straight days with a knee injury. If Ruiz can’t go, the Saints might move Patrick back to guard, bring in Landon Young to replace Ruiz and start Shane Lemieux, who said Wednesday he’s in his first year playing center.
Regardless of who snaps to Carr, head coach Dennis Allen said Wednesday he expects Raheem Morris and the Falcons to follow the Eagles’ defensive blueprint.
“Part of the way Philly did it, those big guys inside make a huge difference when they’re playing like they did in our game,” Allen said via NewOrleansSaints.com. “Because they create a lot of one-on-one blocks doing stuff like that.”