The New Orleans Saints' defense has rightfully taken its share of blame. Steve Spagnuolo's unit is the biggest reason the team is one of six squads stuck on zero in the win column. It's worth noting the offense has had its share of struggles, too.
Pass protection
Drew Brees has been hurried or hit too much. This was especially true in the game against the Carolina Panthers.
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Interceptions
Brees has thrown four interceptions, which is third worst in the NFL. One of those picks was returned for a touchdown.
"I'm not going to change my mentality, my aggressiveness, my approach, my preparation, but I do understand how important it is to take care of the football," Brees said this week, via the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Inefficiency
The Saints have put up 664 yards passing in two games, which sounds good. But they haven't necessarily been that effective through the air. New Orleans is only 20th in net yards per attempt thus far. The running game has been more effective to this point, but the Saints have trailed too often to use it.
The Times-Picayune points out that the Saints only have one play over 30 yards and two plays over 25 yards. This is an offense that excelled in going deep the last few years.
"As we talked with the offense today and this week, the games come down to a couple of plays and they do every week," Saints interim coach Aaron Kromer said Wednesday. "Is it close enough, is the play good enough to not hurt you? Or, is it a play that hurts you in the game?
"The momentum-breaker, the interception, the dropped ball in the end zone, the missed block, there are a lot of things that can change the momentum of a game."
Receiver crew
Robert Meachem is in San Diego. Devery Henderson suffered a concussion in Week 1. Lance Moore and Jimmy Graham have had costly drops. Kromer said that Marques Colston wasn't fully healthy last week. The wide receivers only have 18 of the team's 55 catches.
Brees knows that the offense has a number of issues. He says they are fixable. They have the right matchup this week (the Kansas City Chiefs) to fix them all.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
