New Orleans Saints

Jameis Winston's shaky outing for Saints a far cry from his Week 1 brilliance

Updated Sep. 19, 2021 7:28 p.m. ET

The honeymoon was short-lived.

After plastering the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 behind a career day from new starting quarterback Jameis Winston, the New Orleans Saints (1-1) fell to division foe Carolina (2-0) 26-7 on Sunday.

For as great as Winston was in Week 1, he was the opposite in Week 2.

He completed 11 of 22 passes for 111 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. He was sacked four times and finished with a 26.9 passer rating, worse than the abysmal 36.8 rating that Aaron Rodgers put up last week against New Orleans.

Winston's subpar performance was exacerbated by the fact that against Green Bay, he completed 14 of 20 passes for 148 yards and tied a career high with five passing TDs. In addition, his 130.8 passer rating in Week 1 was the third-best of his career.

His 26.9 rating in Week 2? You guessed it: the worst of his career.

The two picks Winston threw Sunday amounted to the 26th time in 71 career starts that he has thrown two or more interceptions.

What happened?

After the game, Saints head coach Sean Payton took the blame for Sunday's performance.

"We're not assigning responsibility or blame," he said. "It starts with me right now. … It starts with our plan and us as coaches. And that's just the truth."

To be clear: The Saints didn't have all their coaches this week.

A COVID-19 outbreak held eight New Orleans assistant coaches off the sideline in Week 2, including assistant head coach and defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen.

Payton, however, refused to blame Sunday's loss on the absence of a chunk of his coaching staff.

"After a full day [of practice] tomorrow, we've gotta refocus and get on to the next game," Payton said. "It's that simple."

Winston, in his postgame news conference, reiterated his coach's comments.

"None at all," he said when asked how much missing several offensive coaches affected New Orleans on Sunday. "We just have to push forward and put this one behind us. Build on the positives and eliminate the negatives, and come back next week ready to fight."

Then, also following the lead of his coach, Winston took the blame for the Saints' offensive struggles.

"I just gotta get better," he said. "Get us in better protections and just communicate better out there."

After racking up 151 yards through the air and 171 yards on the ground in Week 1, the Saints were a different team offensively in Week 2, passing for just 111 yards and rushing for a mere 48, compared to 305 passing yards and 89 rushing yards for Carolina.

There's also a chance that the Panthers' defense is simply legit.

Carolina allowed 252 total yards in Week 1 against the New York Jets, sacking Zach Wilson six times and picking him off once.

The Panthers allowed New York just 48 rushing yards, and through two games, Carolina is giving up 10.5 points per game.

But in the end — as with everything in football — all eyes found their way back to the quarterback in New Orleans, and the numbers say that coming off a monster individual performance, Winston seems to struggle to maintain excellence.

With Sunday's loss, he is 5-10 following outings in which he throws three or more TDs. Furthermore, he's 2-6 after he throws four or more TDs, and he has 10 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in those contests.

Winston completed 70% of his passes last week and 50% this week. Only six times in his career has he completed 65% of his passes in back-to-back games.

Apparently, for Winston, the challenge isn't being great on any single day — it's staying great for weeks at a time.

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