Assessing Jameis Winston through two Saints games somewhat complicated

The discussion was bound to take shape quickly.

After one game, praise was lavished upon Jameis Winston and rightfully so.

After two games, questions about Winston are numerous and rightfully so.

In game one, Winston had great support from his offensive line, his running game and from receivers getting open and making plays.

In game two, he had little to no support.

The offensive line, a bit of a makeshift unit, struggled mightily.

In game one, the injury to Erik McCoy occurred in the first quarter and Cesar Ruiz moved to center with Calvin Throckmorton moving to right guard. Both held up quite well.

That was not the case in game two but the grade for Andrus Peat, per Pro Football Focus, was not good, either.

The elite tackle tandem of Ryan Ramczyk and Terron Armstead was not up to its typically high standard, either.

On one obvious occasion, two linemen each blocked the same defender, allowing another to have a free run at Winston.

The splits between linemen, particularly inside, were a bit wide, at times, allowing gap integrity to be compromised.

Tight ends and running backs missed frequent blitzers.

Wide receivers did not create enough quick separation to allow Winston to find them, under pressure.

On the other hand, there is blame assigned all around, including to Winston.

We may never know exactly how many times Drew Brees got the Saints out of play calls which would not work against defensive alignments shown at the line-of-scrimmage but we know it was a substantive number.

We do know that Brees had amazing recognition and quick recall to process what he was looking at to make line adjustments, to change plays and to know where hit “hot” receiver was.

Those elements were missing Sunday.

In defense of Winston, it was just his second start and it came with his offensive line not at full strength and his receiving corps missing Michael Thomas.

According to ESPN stats, Winston was pressured on 18 of his 28 dropbacks, an alarming 64 percent. That is the third-highest pressure rate on any NFL quarterback since ESPN began tracking the pressure measurable in 2009.

Additionally, it was the highest pressure rate Winston has ever faced in his seven-year NFL career.

Carolina took Alvin Kamara away, focusing on him in the run game and doubling him in pass situations.

There was no Thomas to take attention away from Kamara.

Flipping attention to the Carolina offense and its primary threat, Christian McCaffrey drew single coverage and New Orleans linebackers, for that matter, all linebackers in the NFL are no match for McCaffrey in coverage, in space.

Sean Payton summed up what he saw in game tape on Monday, laying blame for the offensive failure at his own feet for play calls and the game plan.

“That’s as poor as we’ve been in a long time around here, and that starts with me,” Payton said. “We’ve got to do a better job going in. Our protection plan wasn’t good enough. But it had nothing to do with us being short-handed with coaches or us being away or the COVID (with eight coaches missing). All of those would be excuses.”

Then, he scrutinized the failure of the players.

“It’s the group in its entirety,” Payton said. “It’s our offensive line. It’s the quarterback.”

For his part, Winston, who has been a true stand-up guy, accepted blame for the offensive shortcomings.

“I’ve got to get better,” Winston said. “I’ve got to get us in better protections and just communicate better.”

There were the two interceptions to consider as well.

While he was under pressure, the interceptions conjured up the nightmarish memories of “Tampa Bay Jameis,” where his decision-making was often not good.

Both throws were ill-advised, poor decisions and poor throws.

Finding a way to throw the ball away or even take a sack remains part of the process.

Clearly, Winston has soaked up everything imaginable from Brees, as he has stated on many occasions.

Clearly, the coaching of Payton and Pete Carmichael has helped and can make a difference moving forward with how Winston performs.

The 2006 season was the first for Drew Brees in New Orleans.

Brees was coming off a very serious shoulder injury which threatened his career.

Clearly, he had to gain confidence in the shoulder to be able to perform at an optimum level.

Clearly, he had to adjust to a new team, new personnel and a new system.

In his first two games, both victories, Brees completed 42-of-71 for 523 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 82.1.

Through two games, including a win and a loss, Winston has completed 25-of-42 passes (59.5%) for 259 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 78.8.

The five touchdowns came in game one against Green Bay.

No matter what happens, no matter what he does, Winston will be compared to Brees, fairly or unfairly.

Winston will never be Brees. While he may have a bigger arm, he will never achieve what Brees achieved as one of the all-time leaders in NFL history in so many passing categories as a deadly accurate, timely passer.

Succeeding a legend, an all-time great, is never going to be easy.

Winston is handling the task with class, on and off the field.

Now, he has to prove that he can handle the job at a high enough standard on the field to help the Saints win more games than they lose.

If he does that, the Brees’ comparisons will calm down, with criticism simmering down.

The bottom line is that it is a short sample size of two games.

Patience is seldom exhibited but sorely required.

What Winston will be in New Orleans is a book yet to be written.

In a 17-chapter book, we have seen just two completed.

Now, he has to get about the business of completing more passes.

That requires better offensive line play.

That requires receivers getting open and making plays.

That requires a run game, not necessarily the juggernaut of game one but considerably better than game two.

That requires a quarterback making better decisions and better throws.

As Les East stated here at CrescentCitySports.com, the Saints are not as good as they looked against Green Bay and not as bad as they looked against Carolina.

As Ed Daniels stated here at CrescentCitySports.com, the Saints had too many mounting issues to overcome in Charlotte but blame went all around, including to Winston.

As a Saints fan, you wish chapter three was somewhere rather than at Foxboro, rather than against a Bill Belichick defense which just humbled Zach Wilson with four interceptions.

You wish you could get some key players back and some key coaches back.

Here’s wishing Winston receives the patience he and his team deserve while wishing he will make better decisions and wishing he will play better.

The 2021 New Orleans Saints need him to do so.