Through the first two weeks of the 2018 season, the New Orleans Saints allowed more yards than all but three teams and more points than all but two teams. In other words, they've been really, really bad so far.
Cornerback Marshon Lattimore has another word for the team's performance: "embarrassing."
"We're at the bottom of the league right now," Lattimore told NFL.com. "Man, that's embarrassing. We just got to get it right. That's motivation enough just to see those numbers up on the board. We don't want to be known for being a terrible defense."
Here's the thing: the Saints started last season very much the same way. New Orleans has given up 856 yards and 66 points this season. A year ago, the Saints had given up 1,025 yards and 65 points. Of course, we know what happened after that: the defense tightened up considerably, and from Week 3 on the Saints ranked sixth in the NFL in both yards and points allowed.
So perhaps it should not come as a surprise that Lattimore believes this year's Saints team can make a similar jump back toward the top of the defensive charts.
"We know how to turn it around," Lattimore said. "We have a team full of dogs -- defense and offense -- so we know how to turn it around. We know what we got to do."
That process will have to start with shutting down the division rival Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, but they get the Giants the week after that. If they're going to return to being the shutdown defense they were for most of last season, the Saints will likely start showing it soon. If they can't get back to that level, then a team that was thought of as one of the NFC's inner-circle contenders is likely to be on the outside looking in when the playoffs roll around.
