Saints, Carr aim to get past infighting, mistakes with opportunity to win their division
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Things could be worse for quarterback Derek Carr and his Saints teammates.
Despite stretches of poor play and some visible infighting on offense, New Orleans is coming off a 28-6 victory over woeful Carolina and enters Week 15 tied for first place in the NFC South.
“We won a game in our league by three touchdowns; it obviously wasn’t all bad,” 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.”
The Saints (6-7) are tied with Atlanta and Tampa Bay atop their division and all three teams entered Monday a half-game behind Green Bay (6-6) for the NFC’s final wild card spot.
But New Orleans’ offense is still struggling with bouts of poor execution under Carr, who’s been banged up and visibly frustrated in his first season with the Saints.
Carr and center Erik McCoy could be seen arguing on the field after a third-down sack, with guard James Hurst stepping between them. Allen has since spoken with his players about the flare-up.
“We’ll keep those conversations in-house, but yeah, that whole thing has been addressed,” Allen said. “We’re in a good spot moving forward.”
Carr also was playing one week after being knocked out of a 33-28 loss to Detroit with his second concussion of the season, along with rib and shoulder injuries.
“He certainly wasn’t in my mind 100 percent, but he was more than healthy enough to go out there and play,” Allen said. “It wasn’t his best performance; it wasn’t our best performance offensively. So, we’ve got to make some corrections and fortunately we get to do that off a win.”