A season that started with so much promise for the New Orleans Saints has quickly descended into disaster. After a resounding 2-0 start, the Saints have lost their last seven outings. That’s tied for the second-longest single-season losing streak in their 58-year history.

There is a lot of blame to pass on. Topping the list was Dennis Allen, who became just the fourth coach to be fired by the Saints during the season in 58 years. Injuries, ineffective depth, aging players and undisciplined play were also major contributors to New Orleans’ misery.

With a 17-game regular season now, there is no true “halfway” point in terms of games. The Saints have nine games completed and eight to go, plus a bye week, so this qualifies as a midseason marker.

OFFENSE = D

Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranking: 21st place

Total = 17th
Pass = 18th
Rush = 13th

To be fair, this unit would qualify for an “incomplete” grade just as easily as D. Injuries have absolutely decimated this unit since the third week of the season.

These are the key players who have missed three or more games on the offensive end.

• Derek Carr (3 games missed)
• Taysom Hill (4 games)
• Chris Olave (3 games)*
• Rashid Shaheed (3 games)*
• Bub Means (3 games)*
• Erik McCoy (6 games)*
• Cesar Ruiz (4 games)
• Lucas Patrick (3 games)
• Nick Saldiveri (3 games)
• Shane Lemieux (8 games)
• Jamaal Williams (2 games)*
• Kendre Miller (8 games)*

* = was excluded for week 10

Shaheed is out for the rest of the year, Means is still on injured reserve, McCoy remains out after groin surgery and Miller is serving his second stint on injured reserve. Olave could also be added to injured reserve or miss extended time after a series of concussions.

New Orleans was forced to play practice squad players or emergency signs on the street for a while at all three interior spots on the offensive line. Coupled with the receiver and running back spots being depleted, neither Carr nor rookie QB Spencer Rattler had a realistic chance of much success for part of the season.

However, only RB Alvin Kamara, Olave and Shaheed can be considered consistent success this year. Kamara, in particular, was an absolute and effective warrior despite the extra focus from opposing defenses. Without him, there would have been no offense for several games.

There is upside upside as long as Kamara stays healthy. Carr and Hill are both back, McCoy will likely be back soon. There is a major problem at wideout without Shaheed and Olave, but the health and continued improvement of young tackles Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning could at least mean a physical ball-control attack on offense.

DEFENSE = F

PFF ranking: 30th

Total = 28th
Pass = 27th
Rush = 25th

Unlike the offense, the New Orleans defense has been relatively healthy until the last two weeks. The abysmal performance of a defense considered to be among the best in the league is one of the major things that cost Allen, a defensive specialist, his job.

Late fourth quarter breakdowns by this unit directly cost wins against the Eagles, Falcons and Panthers. There was a six-game stretch in which the defense gave up an average of 429 total yards per game, 180 on the ground and 6.1 per rushing attempt.

Philadelphia put up 460 yards without top receiver AJ Brown. Kansas City also had 460 yards, their first 400-plus game in 16 outings. They did it with an incredible 251 yards after the catch and without their top two wideouts, top two running backs and an open hole at left tackle.

Tampa Bay racked up an embarrassing 51 points in the Superdome with a franchise-record 594 total yards and 277 on the ground. Denver racked up 225 yards rushing, their first 200-plus yard production in 24 games and just their third in 90 contests.

The Saints gave up 130 yards to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Tampa Bay RB Sean Tucker had a career-high 53 yards in 16 games before facing the Saints this season. Against New Orleans, Tucker had 192 total yards and 136 rushing yards. Since facing New Orleans, Tucker has totaled 70 yards in his last three games. For those reasons alone, the Saints deserve the lowest grade available to give defensively.

It might only get worse. After being mostly healthy through the first six or seven games, New Orleans’ running backs have declined rapidly over the past two or three weeks. That’s especially true in the secondary, where CB Paulson Adebo is out for the rest of the year and rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry is currently out. To make matters worse, Marshon Lattimore, the unit’s only standout other than Alontae Taylor, was traded at the trade deadline.

SPECIAL TEAMS = C

PFF ranking: 30th

I’m not sure I understand the logic used by Pro Football Focus here. New Orleans Punt coverage units were well above league average, allowing just 7.7 per return. Coverage of the launch was almost as good.

Rashid Shaheed took a punt back for a 54-yard touchdown and averaged nearly 12 yards on his other returns while nearly breaking up a couple of kickoff returns. The other starters the Saints used were unspectacular but adequate.

Blake Grupe missed two extra points. Grupe is also 16-of-17 on the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from over 50 yards. He was also extremely accurate with his snap placement, allowing coverage teams to force opponents into a worse snap than the league average.

The punning lowered the overall grade of this unit. Matthew Hayball has a net average of 40.2 yards, but has been wildly inconsistent and rarely turned the field over for the team’s struggling defense. Hayball also successfully executed a fake goal, indicating Rizzi’s aggressive nature.

Shaheed’s absence is as big a blow to special teams as it is to the offense. Someone will have to step up in that capacity for this unit to maintain at least an average grade in the latter part of this season.