NEW ORLEANS -- They revamped their scheme and overhauled the roster in the offseason. Then they fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan last month.
But none of it has made a lick of difference for a New Orleans Saints defense that keeps snowballing toward NFL infamy.
New Orleans (4-8) is on pace to shatter the league records for most TD passes allowed in a season (35 and counting) and highest opponents’ passer rating (116.6). The current records are held by the 1963 Denver Broncos (40) and the 2008 Detroit Lions (110.9).
The Saints only accelerated their pace in Sunday’s 41-38 loss to the Carolina Panthers as they allowed Cam Newton to throw for a season-high 331 yards and five touchdown passes. Newton now has his only two 300-yard passing games of the season against the Saints, who have been the most generous donors to his growing MVP campaign.
The Saints did have one valid excuse Sunday. Their secondary has been besieged by injuries. Top cornerback Keenan Lewis is on injured reserve. Rookie backup Damian Swann has missed more than a month with a concussion. And their new No. 1 cornerback, Delvin Breaux, left Sunday’s game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury after he was off to a terrific start, including an interception.
But the Saints have been having the same problems all season, even with most of those guys in the lineup. Gaping holes in coverage. Obvious blown assignments. And way too many penalties (the Saints also lead the NFL with 53 defensive penalties this year).
“Listen, this needed to get fixed five weeks ago,” said safety Jairus Byrd, who continued to blame communication errors and plain old fundamental assignment issues.
“I can’t really tell you how to fix it. Everyone to a man has to know what you’re doing,” Byrd said. “We’re making mistakes that shouldn’t be made. It comes down to us as players. You can’t say it’s scheme. Us as players, we gotta make sure we’re all locked in, doing our responsibility and knowing what we gotta do.”
Often, the Saints’ pass rush deserves its share of the blame, but it actually seemed to do a decent job of containing Newton in the pocket and putting some hits on him Sunday -- including a sack by Cameron Jordan and a huge hit by linebacker Michael Mauti that eventually forced Newton to get checked out for a possible concussion.
It was a particular shame that things turned so ugly Sunday, because the Saints' defense got off to a spectacular start.
The unit created three turnovers in the first half, including a forced fumble and 31-yard touchdown return by rookie linebacker Stephone Anthony, which spotted New Orleans a 14-0 lead.
Then the wheels came off, especially after Breaux left. And it really should have been worse. Carolina receiver Ted Ginn Jr. dropped two passes when he broke wide open behind the defense, and Newton missed at least two wide-open receivers.
“[Breaux’s injury] hurt, hurt a lot,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “He’d been playing well, and obviously you’re already short one corner. But that’s how it is. [Brian] Dixon did a good job going in there, but there’s a lot of matchup things that change.”
The Saints were so thin by the end of the game that Newton’s go-ahead TD pass with 1 minute, 5 seconds remaining came against cornerback Chris Owens, who was just signed off the street a week ago.
But nobody was victimized more Sunday than the Saints’ top free-agent target from back in March, veteran Brandon Browner.
Browner’s woeful season continued with three more penalties and a handful of blown coverages. He was flagged for face mask, unnecessary roughness and defensive holding and now leads the NFL with 21 penalties, the most by any player in a season since guard Chester Pitts in 2001, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
After one of the touchdowns on which a receiver broke wide open between Browner and Byrd, Browner was spotted by the TV cameras getting right in the face of defensive coordinator Dennis Allen while Allen was yelling.
Payton shot down a question asking about all of those issues after the game.
“Listen, go write a blog about it,” Payton said. “Browner played well, these guys played hard. You know, it’s gonna be a competitive game. And Dennis and he have a great relationship the same way. So next question.”
In Browner’s defense, he should never be matched up against speedy receivers like Ginn down the field. He’s a big, physical press corner who is much better suited to jamming a receiver at the line with help over the top. Browner played perhaps his best game a week ago when that was the game plan against dangerous Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
That was Allen’s first game as Ryan’s replacement, and the Saints showed signs of progress. But Allen will be back to the drawing board after this one.
Maybe this defense would look a lot better if it had Lewis and Breaux and Browner and Swann all healthy at the same time.
Instead, it has been just plain hard to watch.