The return of defender Pete Werner must strengthen the Floundering Saints defense

The once formidable New Orleans Saints defense has fallen to abysmal levels. Heading into Week 8, the Saints rank last in total defense, 26th in scoring, 28th in passing, 30th in rushing and last in average yards per rush.

Injuries have been the main reason for the team’s offensive struggles over the past month. That didn’t explain the miserable performance of New Orleans’ defense, which was relatively healthy.

Cornerback Paulson Adebo was lost in the season a week ago with a femur injury. Two weeks earlier, safety Will Harris was also knocked out. The Saints defensive line remained largely intact, but the defenders were slightly weakened.

Demario Davis was dealing with a hamstring issue, but only missed one game. Back and arm injuries also affected Willie Gay, but he too missed just a week. There was one defender missing whose return could have greatly helped the Saints defense in today’s matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Werner suffered a hamstring injury during the Week 4 game against the Atlanta Falcons. This kept him on the bench for the last three games. In these contests, the Saints gave up an average of almost 37 points and were mostly helpless against both the run and the pass.

Now in his fourth season, Werner doesn’t tip the needle much as a pass defender. He’s not a pass-rushing factor (half a sack and two QB hits in his career), but he can be a threat in space when it comes to man coverage. However, Werner is a strong zone defender and shows incredible discipline in his duties.

What was missed most was Werner as a running back. Demario Davis remains one of the NFL’s best all-around defenders. Werner has been a perfect complement to him over the last three years and has been an underrated part of this defense.

Over the previous two seasons, Werner had 173 tackles and 116 solo stops. During that period, those numbers were second only to Davis. A confident striker. This is an area where Saints have struggled at a tremendous level in his absence.

New Orleans will face a Chargers team that ranks 25th in total offense, but is focusing on keeping the ball and maintaining balance to give QB Justin Herbert opportunities for big plays. Los Angeles is averaging 117 yards per game on the ground, which ranks 17th in the league.

The Chargers will play without physical RB Gus Edwards. However, explosive running back JK Dobbins is having a good year, posting 478 rushing yards and all three of the team’s rushing scores while averaging five yards per carry. Dobbins, an accomplished catcher, also has 15 catches and is extremely dangerous in the open field.

New Orleans averaged 146.7 yards per game on the ground and an equally dismal 5.4 yards per carry. Without Werner, opponents allowed an impressive 217 yards on the ground and an absolutely inexcusable 5.7 yards per carry.

Buccaneers running back Sean Tucker has 59 rushing yards and 96 total yards in 17 of 18 career games. Against the Saints, Tucker had 136 points on the ground and 192 yards from scrimmage. Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt had 139 rushing yards against New Orleans in just his second game this year after last year’s offseason of inactivity and little ball usage. Denver’s Javonte Williams threw for 88 yards against the Saints, the third-best rushing score of his career and his first rushing score of over 80 yards in 16 games.

Tampa Bay’s 594 total yards and 277 on the field against New Orleans were franchise records. Denver ranked 30th in rushing production last year and has a season high of 136. Their 225 rushing yards against New Orleans was their best since 2013, their first 200 rushing yards in 24 games and second 200 yards in 90 games.

Will Pete Werner fix these terrible numbers? Certainly not alone, but his absence was clearly an underrated loss to the New Orleans defense. Werner and the entire defense will need to bounce back and adapt to the Chargers’ physical strategy if the Saints are to end their five-game winning streak this afternoon.