Thanks to a “decent amount of work,” Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints starters played three series in Sunday night’s preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers. That’s one more possession than the team played last week against the Arizona Cardinals.

That extra possession was the biggest difference from last week, both in terms of number of plays and performance. Against Arizona, the Saints ran two quick, lackluster offenses. Derek Carr and his team didn’t start much differently against the San Francisco 49ers.

Chris Olave remained the primary target. Carr remained inaccurate on his out routes. The performance on the field was uncomfortably similar to last week’s performance.

On the third possession, everything changed. The Saints ran 95 yards and scored a touchdown. By comparison, New Orleans’ starting lineup had not even managed 95 yards in four possessions in the entire preseason.

They focused more effectively on the running game. Carr passed the ball on 10 of the 16 plays of the drive, including a few creative plays that featured Taysom Hill in the backfield. He then supplemented the running game with a few short passes and a spectacular play to Olave.

This was by far the Saints’ best possession of the preseason. They went goal line to goal line with their ideal version of offense. The run dictated the offense and they made the right plays through the air when needed. This is the evolution we expected from Carr and Klint Kubiak’s offense. Let’s see if they can keep it up.