The most explosive, efficient, effortlessly high-scoring offense in the NFL through two weeks belongs to the ... New Orleans Saints? Unequivocally, yes. With outings of 47 and 44 points, the Derek Carr and Alvin Kamara-led, fleur-de-lis-wearing club from the Big Easy has been an offensive juggernaut to begin the 2024 season, a development I absolutely did not have on my bingo board entering the year. (However, our SportsLine model did accurately predict success for the Saints.)
Through Week 2 -- before "Monday Night Football" -- the Saints offense is first in offensive expected points added per play by a wide margin.
And at the center of this rather stunning offensive eruption is new Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who is simultaneously the least-known branch on the Shanahan coaching tree with the most famous last name of anyone in the group.
After getting his NFL start with the Vikings, a few years later, naturally, Klint Kubiak linked with his dad, Gary Kubiak, as an offensive assistant. Remember, Gary Kubiak worked as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator with Mike Shanahan from San Francisco to Denver in the 1990s, winning three Super Bowls. In essence, Gary Kubiak is one of the original branches of the (Mike) Shanahan coaching tree.
And Klint Kubiak is staying true to the Shanahan ways. Plenty of outside zone, and, somewhat unique to today's game, two- and three-man route concepts, that have accentuated the speed and fluidity of Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed despite being significantly outnumbered by opposing secondary members.
Watch here against the Dallas, how Olave and Shaheed are the only two receivers running downfield patterns, thereby max protecting Derek Carr with two extra tight ends -- and a late Kamara leak out. Skinny post on one side and dig on the other is a vintage cover 3 beater.
Shaheed's explosiveness draws the attention of the deep-middle safety, and Kubiak sprinkling in play-action from under center -- certainly a Shanahan staple -- disallows the linebackers from getting as much depth as they would need to make a play on the throw over the middle.
When that ball, on that concept, against that coverage, is thrown to a sub-4.40 receiver, it will generate a splash play.
If it works once, why not try it again?
That's precisely what Kubiak did later against the Cowboys. This isn't all schemed based, by the way. Heck of a read by Carr here to notice the safety trickle down toward the dig run by Olave. And he placed a magnificent throw over the top to Shaheed, who has emerged as one of the fastest players in all of football.
Carr spoke directly to this touchdown in the postgame presser, saying;
"I came out of that fake with the coverage and I'm thinking Chris [Olave] all the way. I'm going to have to throw this up to Chris unless the corner is there, I'll trade it down. As soon as I turned around, I saw Rashid [Shaheed] that far down the field. And I was like holy crap, he was out running them. The way he ran and the angle he took was so elite."
Regarding Carr -- he's been sensational. He's 30 of 39 (76.9%) for 443 yards -- that's a mammoth 11.3 yards per attempt -- with five touchdowns to one pick, all of which equates to a 142.4 rating. It marks the highest rating Carr has accomplished in consecutive games in his decade-long NFL career. These type of shocking developments happen every year in the NFL, which is a part of what makes the NFL perpetually fascinating.
And here's what he said about Kubiak after the throttling in Week 2.
"There is a lot of things in this offense the way Klint does things, the way he sets me up for success, puts me in position for success, it allows me to do a lot of things I enjoy doing as a quarterback. Today, it was a protection thing. I was able to do a protection thing. So I'm still able to be myself, but within this system. It's been a really cool marriage of that. And me and Klint are just getting to know each other. We're only two games in, and so we are still learning each other. There's questions like, do want this one on this hash, or what are you thinking. If you call this, do you want, there's still those questions. We're still learning each other and getting better. He's still putting me and our guys in position to be comfortable and be successful."
New Orleans scored touchdowns on its first six possessions against the Cowboys.
Altogether, New Orleans has scored 11 touchdowns, connected on five field goals, punted three times, tossed one one interception and kneeled out on 21 offensive drives to begin the season. Hotter than a shot of absinth on Bourbon Street.
In fact, Carr has led a scoring drive on 15 straight (!) possessions, spanning from the blowout win over the Panthers into the first six touchdown drives against the Cowboys in Week 2. Shout-out to Scott Kacsmar on Twitter/X for that nugget. Insane efficiency.
Not everything schematic from Kubiak has had roots in the 1990s, with heavy personnel groupings, two-man route concepts and deep shots off play-action.
Here, against the Panthers in Week 1, the Saints are spread, and a motion across the formation indicates to Carr Carolina is in zone coverage. It also drops a safety into the box, showing a clear-cut single-high look.
At the snap, there are mirrored routes on each side of the field. The right -- double slants. The left -- a post on top of a post. The deep middle safety jumps the post from the slot, which leaves Shaheed of all receivers scorching from the left sideline down the middle. Touchdown, Saints.
Another glorious throw by Carr, who had a rusher in his face at the time of release here, and it traveled 50-plus yards in the air with ideal ball placement.
New Orleans has scored on passing touchdowns of 57, 59, and 70 yards, yet the torrid start hasn't solely been anchored by towering home runs.
I love the concept here, from a traditional, Shanahanian run look. This appears to be a stretch run to the left, and gets the defense flowing in that direction. In reality, it's play-action and a quick throw to Shaheed in the slot on the other side of the field against ample cushion -- and can you blame the Cowboys for giving him ample cushion?! He does the rest.
Notice, too, how Shaheed understands his blockers were on their way, faking a cut to the inside to change the leverage of the only defender with a chance to make a tackle near the line of scrimmage. Then, afterburners engaged, and it was another easy first down for the Saints offense.
This wouldn't be a Shanahan-themed breakdown if I didn't showcase at least one run play. And Kubiak's schematic roots have shown early. Through two contests, Kamara is averaging 5.0 yards per rush with two touchdowns on 23 outside zone runs.
On those Broncos' back-to-back Super Bowl teams in the late 1990s, the pitch play became a trademark. Here's a look at Kubiak's wrinkle on it. A pitch, from the shotgun, which I'm going to venture was never executed by John Elway to Terrell Davis in Denver.
Go back and watch that again. Notice how the motion of Olave before the snap moves the cornerback inside just enough to give the climbing right guard a better angle to lead the way for Kamara through the hole.
This is a cool twist on a pin-pull concept, with slot receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. (No. 11) pinning down while right tackle Trevor Penning pops out to find the furthest defender to the sideline. Along with the right guard at the second level, the lane probably felt a mile wide to Kamara, who wasn't touched by a Panthers defender until he was 15 yards downfield.
Gorgeous.
Props to the Saints' offensive front, too -- Carr has been blitzed on nearly 43% of his drop backs through two games yet only pressured 19% of the time, although some of that relatively low percentage is on him as well. Carr has released 46.1% of his 39 throws in 2.5 seconds or faster entering Week 3.
A confident quarterback, two burner receivers, the Shanahan zone-blocking-based rushing attack, a still-nimble running back and a mix of old-school and new-school passing concepts have blended together to provide the Saints tremendous offensive efficiency through two games.
Who knew this was all possible?
Maybe Mike Shanahan?
(Garrett Podell contributed to this story)