Ridder started the first eight games. The team was 4-4 when Ridder was benched as he was hurt by turnovers and sacks. Heinicke suffered a hamstring injury in Atlanta's 25-23 loss at Arizona on Nov. 12.
When Saints coach Dennis Allen spoke this week about the need to “evaluate everything we’re doing” during New Orleans’ bye week, he didn’t exactly sound like someone whose team has an inside track to the postseason. With seven games left, the Saints’ outlook could be summed up as a mystifying mix of promising prospects and troubling trends. The Saints (5-5) hoped to enter the bye week on a three-game winning streak and with a sense they were hitting their stride.
The New Orleans Saints have epitomized middling football during the first half of this season — one game above .500 but winless against teams with winning records. The arrival of veteran quarterback Derek Carr in free agency has not yet had a dramatic effect on an offense that sometimes looks explosive but also has been weighed down by intermittent stagnation on third downs or in the red zone. The Saints have done enough, however, to sit alone atop the NFC South.