Saints Precipitous Drop in NFL Power Rankings Continue

Three straight home losses have pushed the New Orleans Saints even further down the power rankings lists, as determined by NFL writers across the country. Here are those we found for you to peruse.

Sports Illustrated: 25th

SI's Conor Orr was kind to the Saints, staying put with them as his 25th ranked NFL team. His hopes, like those of Saints fans, have been dashed, "I felt like this team was destined for an NFC South first-place showdown at some point this year and is now staring down a major identity crisis at 1–4."

CBS Sports: 26th

Pete Prisco was actually on the Saints bandwagon early, now a three spot drop has him wondering, "The optimism of the first two weeks has really faded....Tyler Shough-mania has slowed."

Owner Gayle. Benson feels fans' pain. More on that here.

ESPN: 26th

A drop of five spots from this group. Their focus in their write up was on the D-line of the Saints: "The Saints rank 30th in rushing yards allowed and haven't had much of an interior pass rush this season."

The Athletic: 28th

The Saints drop three slots as another site wonders, "What happened to the optimism surrounding Tyler Shough?"

Saints On SI Mailbag: Fire Management! RB Situation? Hire Brees! Read it here.

PFT: 25th

Mike Florio keeps the Saints in the same slot as last week, saying "Three straight home losses may be very hard to overcome."

NFL.com: 27th

The 7-slot drop by the Saints is the largest from any other writer, as Nick Shook states, "I thought the Saints had enough defensively to keep Minnesota’s low-ceiling offense within reach, and also believed Tyler Shough was capable of getting the ball out consistently against the blitz. I was wrong."

Fox Sports: 27th

A four spot drop by writer Ralph Vacchiano, and a stern talking to, "If this were a ranking of the biggest disappointments in the NFL, the Saints would be No. 1, and no one else would be close, because there is no team in the NFL that has disappointed me more."

Yahoo! Sports: 28th

Five spots below last week, they've given up, "It's time to give up on the Saints until they show they're a good team."

Saints On SI Composite Rankings into Week 4

The composite score for each team averages each of the site's numbers.

1 - San Francisco
2 - Kansas City
3 - Buffalo
4 - Jacksonville
5 - Seattle
6 - Minnesota
7 - Baltimore
8 - Denver
9 - L.A. Rams
10 - New England
11 - Cincinnati
12 - Chicago
13 - Detroit
14 - Green Bay
15-T - Carolina
15-T - Las Vegas
17 - Pittsburgh
18 - N.Y. Giants
19 - Philadelphia
20 - Dallas
22 - Atlanta
22 - Cleveland
23 - Houston
24 - Indianapolis
25 - N.Y. Jets
26 - New Orleans
27 - Tampa Bay
28 - Washington
29 - Arizona
30 - L.A. Chargers
31-T - Miami
31-T - Tennessee

Saints Mailbag

Wednesdays, On SI Saints will answer your questions about what we see from our vantage point. To submit your thoughts or inquiries click here.