National Football League

Saints, Derek Carr still see path to playoffs: 'This is the time to get hot'

Published Dec. 14, 2023 10:33 a.m. ET

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Greg Auman

NFC South Reporter

Derek Carr reached his right hand up above his head Wednesday afternoon.

"All of our expectations were so high," the Saints quarterback said, gesturing to reporters. "And our expectations still should be high. Everything is still in front of us. Again, I keep saying this: This is the time to do it. This is the time to get hot. Right now."

New Orleans is 6-7, and for all the ups and downs of a frustrating season, the Saints are in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC South with four games left, including a final two games against the Bucs and Falcons teams they're tied with. The Saints don't have a winning record, and yet they control their postseason destiny: If they win out, they win a division title and host a playoff game.

Before they can take advantage of those final two games, they need to win Sunday against the suddenly hot Giants, and even next week at the Rams, who have the same 6-7 record and are battling for a playoff spot themselves.

"[The last two] will be extremely, extremely important if we take care of business against the Giants," coach Dennis Allen said Monday. "The margin for error is extremely small right now, and we need to make sure we're taking advantage of every opportunity. So we need to focus in on the Giants and trying to get a win against those guys this week."

New York is an unexpected challenge, going from 2-8 to winning its past three games under backup quarterback Tommy DeVito. The undrafted rookie has five touchdowns and no interceptions in those three wins, and opposing quarterbacks have combined for two touchdowns against seven interceptions in losing to the Giants. That makes this game much more difficult than it might have seemed a month ago, when the Giants were in position to challenge for the top pick in the draft.

It isn't just DeVito — running back Saquon Barkley rushed for two touchdowns in Sunday's win against Green Bay after entering the game with one TD all season. The Giants will ride Barkley against a Saints defense that just let Carolina rush for 204 yards. New Orleans held its first seven opponents this season to 120 rushing yards or fewer, but the Saints, with injuries piling up on defense, have now allowed their last six to all rush for 120 or more.

New Orleans beat Carolina 28-6 on Sunday, but the game was closer than the score indicates. The Panthers were down eight and had the ball inside the Saints' 40 twice in the fourth quarter before Carr pulled the win out with two late touchdown passes. New Orleans had four sacks in that game, after totaling that many in the previous four games combined. Even with those four, the Saints have just 23 sacks on the season, third-lowest in the NFL and not even halfway to the 48 they had last season. The Giants, however, have given up a league-high 69 sacks in 2023, so it's a vulnerability the Saints have a chance to exploit, though the New York offensive line held Green Bay without a sack in Sunday's win.

For the Saints, even Sunday's win was marked by moments when Carr was seen yelling at center Erik McCoy, an internal frustration and in-fighting that has boiled over at times this season. The answer to that lingering unhappiness is winning, and it's never been more important than in these final four games.

"You get frustrated with not coming away with victories. That gets frustrating," Allen said. "This league is hard. I think there's 13 teams that are within one game of .500 in our league, so almost half the league is sitting in that position. That's the way our league is designed. We've got to find a way to create a few more opportunities for ourselves, so that we end up winning some of these games. That's the difference between being a playoff team and not being a playoff team."

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Much of that frustration has been placed at the feet of Carr, who came in on a four-year, $150 million contract with the hopes of getting the Saints back to the playoffs and national relevance. He has pushed through multiple injuries but is on pace for just 17 touchdowns, a career low. He also knows he can still help this team to the playoffs, something he's experienced only once in his first nine years in the NFL.

"It's been frustrating for me. It has. It's been very frustrating," Carr said of his first season in New Orleans. "Every week, it's been something different, dealing with something. I learned a long time ago: At the end of the day, nobody cares. … You're going to have to deal with stuff. You do your best to be out there for your teammates and give it your best shot. 

"I've been trying to do that all year."

Greg Auman is FOX Sports' NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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