Saints again facing questions about inconsistency on offense and squandered scoring chances

NEW ORLEANS — The good news for the New Orleans Saints is that their muddling start has been good enough to keep them in contention in the anemic NFC South. “We moved the heck out of the ball,” Carr said, but lamented that when the Saints got deep into Houston territory, there were some plays “where you go back and you look at it and you’re like, ‘Not everybody was on the same page.’ “We feel as an offense, as players, if we can do better there, we can help the team win,” Carr added. “I just believe that eventually it’s going to turn around for us.” WHAT’S WORKING Although New Orleans defense faltered early in Houston, giving up 17 points in the first half, they allowed just one field goal after halftime and went on to hold an opponent below 21 points for the 14th time in 16 games. WHAT NEEDS HELP New Orleans is 7 for 19 in the red zone, scoring touchdowns on just 36.8% of drives inside their opponents’ 20-yard line. STOCK DOWN Saints coaches decided to bench second-year left tackle Trevor Penning — the second of their two first-round draft choices in 2022 — but were forced to re-insert him after an ankle injury to James Hurst, who initially had moved over from guard to take Penning’s starting spot.