Celebrating Down on the Bayou

By: Peyton Schultze

A revelation for the New Orleans Saints in 2017, Alvin Kamara has emerged as one of the best running backs in the league with his sensational combination of quickness and elusiveness.

There’s a saying down in New Orleans that goes something like this: “Laissez les bon temps rouler”. A French phrase meaning “let the good time roll”, natives of The Big Easy use it as a common motto in a city known for its wacky and wild celebrations, especially when the hometown Saints are playing in the rocking and electric Superdome on Sundays. And have they ever lately. Over the course of a 13-3 season for the Saints resulting in the #1 seed in the NFC, fans of Who Dat Nation have had lots to cheer for, especially when it comes down to the outstanding offense featuring the likes of the future Hall of Famer in quarterback, Drew Brees. Yet over the past two playoff reaching seasons for New Orleans, it has not just been as about Brees for the reason of the Saints enormous success. No, instead it has largely been about two young and developing newcomers drafted by the franchise who have consistently added a new layer of intrigue and excitement in Sean Payton’s creative offense…

One of the truly elite receivers in the game, Michael Thomas has excelled as Drew Brees’ top target in his 3 seasons in The Crescent City.

Since entering the league as the 47th overall pick by the Saints in the 2016 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, New Orleans superstar wide receiver, Michael Thomas, has dominated since his arrival. With great route running and the best hands in the National Football League, Thomas has developed into a weapon under Payton’s intelligent offense. With so many weapons that have to be reckoned with in the New Orleans offense, Thomas is often left with 1 on 1 situations when teams decide to load the box on the phenomenal running backs of the Saints. With that being said, Brees often tries to get the ball to Thomas is space so he can record huge totals in the YAC department (531 on the season). As a constant trait of electric offenses in the modern age with speedy weapons on the outside, teams are trying more and more by the year to get the ball into hands of their playmakers to make things happen in space. For example, the leading receiver in yards after catch this season happened to be the running back of the Carolina Panthers, Christian McCaffrey. With 107 receptions and 842 yards after catch, Carolina was able to get the ball often to McCaffrey so he could get his tough-to-tackle body into space and get big plays. Compare that to the Saints with their 9th ranked big play offense in the league (receiving plays of over 25 or more yards) and teams have a difficult time covering the weapons of Brees, in particular, Thomas. This enables head coach, Sean Payton, to have a field day offensively while play calling on Sundays as he understands that teams will either commit to stopping the Saints hardcore rushing attack, leaving Thomas in ideal situations, or play back and stop the Saints’ passing offense, leaving the running backs to have open room to run often. With this being said, Thomas was able to record a league-leading 125 receptions to go along with 1,405 receiving yards in the Saints 12th ranked passing offense over the course of the 2018 regular season. Yet while Thomas certainly had a statistical season for the ages that resulted in a 1st team All-Pro for the dynamic 25-year old receiver, it was his catch rate that caught the eyes of many around the NFL (85.0%, 1st among qualified WRs). With steady hands and continuous production on the outside, Thomas has turned into an elite weapon for Brees in the late stages of his Canton-bound career, the best among his WRs at least since the heyday of Marques Colston.

A lightning rod for the Saints’ offense, Kamara is one of the toughest players to tackle and bring down throughout the NFL.

Meanwhile, while Thomas has surely been an All-Pro talent on the outside for the Saints, it has been the resurgent running game of the Saints that has propelled New Orleans back into the yearly Super Bowl conversation. After 3 years of playoff-less football for the franchise that resulted in 3 straight 7-9 seasons, New Orleans faced a make-or-break year for the Drew Brees and Sean Payton era of the franchise. While the defense turned into a solid, yet young, unit in 2017, what made the Saints so dynamic en route to their 11-5, NFC South winning season was the return of their elite run game. After a somewhat up and down start to the 2017 season, the Saints began to feature their third round running back out of Tennessee much more often. Eventually, the running back would help guide the Saints on an 8 game winning streak and into the playoffs, beating the rival Carolina Panthers before losing to the destined Minnesota Vikings in the “Minnesota Miracle” game. Thus, the myth and legend of Alvin Kamara was born. So far in his dynamic career, the running back has averaged an outstanding 5.1 yards per carry (3rd all-time in adjusted YPC behind Jamaal Charles and Jim Brown) and totaled an amazing 31 touchdowns over his first two seasons. What has made Kamara so spectacular for New Orleans is not just his gaudy numbers, but the way he compliments their other back, Mark Ingram. Counteracting Ingram, Kamara’s style of play is much more depended upon elusiveness and agility, compared to Ingram’s power and strength. These two differing styles of play cause issues for opposing defenses as they become worn down by the Saints’ unique skillsets on offense, which is another reason for the Saints recent success. With a running game as eccentric and quirky as the Saints-not even counting for the Taysom Hill runs- one would seem to forget about their passing game with Brees. This makes Payton’s play-action game extremely dangerous if teams begin to lean up towards the line of scrimmage against Brees and Co. In addition, Kamara has also been a legit weapon out of the backfield, recording 81 receptions in each of his first two NFL seasons. Similar to the skills of Thomas, the Saints want to get the ball to Kamara with open room to run and in space so they can ease the burden off Brees so he does not feel forced to have to try to win every game by throwing the ball. With a pure threat like Kamara that is unlike many in the league, the Saints have a weapon that can be used all around the field to create matchup problems with defenses.

Since his lone appearance in Super Bowl XLIV, Brees and Co. have been unable to make another appearance in the biggest game of them all.

Ever since the Saints victory in Super Bowl XLIV over Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, the Saints have been unable to have very much playoff success. Often times, they’ve had to travel to difficult road environments such as Seattle and San Francisco against very good defenses. The Saints, since 2010, have also been unable to find capable running back options, forcing Brees to have to air it out far too often and make their offense seemingly predictable each week. Therefore, this makes the 2018 version of the Saints even more compelling. Indeed, the Saints lost to the exact same 3 opponents (Buccaneers, Cowboys, Panthers) as they did in their singular Super Bowl winning season. Indeed, this Saints’ offense is finally able to run the ball and ease pressure off Brees as they did 9 years ago. And indeed, a once-solid defensive unit has returned to New Orleans after years of being at the cellar of capable NFL defenses. But what makes this Saints team so intriguing and a real Super Bowl threat right now are their extraordinary weapons in Thomas and Kamara. While it is hard to call each player something along the lines of a Hall of Famer such as Brees, each provides their own substantial upside that could lead the Saints to glory once again.

Kamara (41) and Thomas (13) are ready to help lead New Orleans to their 2nd championship in franchise history.

Thus, the time is now for the New Orleans Saints. Their superstars are now entering the prime of their careers, but their awesome quarterback is aging and closer to the end than the beginning. As the Saints play host to the defending Super Bowl champs in the Philadelphia Eagles (9-7) on Sunday afternoon, expect a loud and raucous crowd as the Saints come marching back into the Superdome. The Saints may struggle for a bit after a bye week and time off, but expect them to rise from their struggles and lean on their reinvented offense under Payton to guide them to a win and secure a berth in the NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys/Los Angeles Rams. Brees may have to play great, but he can definitely count on the playmaking duo of Thomas and Kamara to help him pick up another postseason win in his already-illustrious career. Times look sunny and bright down by the Bayou for the New Orleans Saints right now, so as they all say in The Big Easy, “Laissez les bon temps rouler”.