Drew Brees Holding Saints Back!

by Dave Cariello on Dec 2, 2008 11:45 PM CST

I'm just kidding.

Or am I?

You know I have a man crush on Drew like the rest of you guys and what follows in this post is merely speculation. Curse me for even uttering such blasphemis words. But I was just thinking about something, thought it had at least slight validity and wanted to see what you guys thought.

We have all discussed the fact that when Reggie Bush is missing from this offense it forces coach Payton to use Pierre Thomas and Deuce McAllister in more traditional senses of the running back position. It stops Payton from forcing the ball to Reggie and it often creates a more balanced, more fluid offensive attack that is quite possibly more productive. Basically, it's addition by subtraction. And again, it's not really an issue with Reggie it's an issue with Payton.

What if we were to apply this logic to the best player on this team, Drew Brees? What if Brunell had to take over for the rest of the season? Would we see the same results? "That's ludicrous!" you might scream. Again, this isn't about Drew it's all about Payton. But think for a minute. Drew is the (other) son that Payton never had. The coach/quarterback relationship has never been stronger than between these two love birds. We've all been complaining that this offense is too pass happy and not dedicated enough to the run. 47 passes against the Bucs secondary!? A Saints team sans Drew would certainly adjust their gameplan and become more dependent on the talent they have at the running back position and thus give us fans what we've longed to see for weeks now. Sean Payton has often put entire games in Brees' hand and I just wouldn't expect the same level of trust from him with any other quarterback.

Now obviously we wouldn't want Joey Harrington or another sub-par quarterback in there to take over but if the Saints had someone capable, surrounded by the rest of the talent on this team, would the absence of Brees negate Payton's stubborness to run the ball and create more balance? Or would Payton just continue his failing offensive gameplan with a different face?

Is it even remotely possible that just the mere presence of Drew Brees on this team, because of Payton's insistance to succeed or fail with him, is hurting the Saints rather than helping?

This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.

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Blasphemy!

Shun the non-believer! SHUN!!!!

by SaintsDynasty on Dec 2, 2008 11:58 PM CST reply actions

Don't think so

Remember that Payton is fundamentally a quarterbacks coach. He has a pretty-well finished product in Drew Brees, so the challenge is seeing how far and fast he can take it. Like a car freak with his hands on a Lamborghini.

But if it was someone other than Drew, an unfinished product, the challenge would be different. More like a broken-down ‘53 Corvette covered by a tarp in the back yard. Rebuilding it, tinkering with it, restoring it into a car freak’s wet dream, would be the new project. Because to Payton, still, it’s all about the quarterback. Every game would be a test drive; but instead of Drew’s 27 out of 40 for 390 yards and three TD’s, we’d get 20 out of 40 for 220 yards and 2 picks. Game after game after game, until either the passer rating came up or the project was abandoned for a new one.

Because Sean Payton isn’t a head coach. He’s a quarterbacks coach. We don’t have a head coach. We DO have someone making head coach decisions, but that’s like me restoring a ‘53 Corvette. I’d connect the carburetor to the horn. Giving me a wrench and responsibility doesn’t make me a mechanic. I’m no mechanic; and Sean Payton is no head coach. He’s a head-coach-in-progress, sitting under a blue tarp in Mickey Loomis’ back yard.

0-17

by MtnExile on Dec 3, 2008 6:06 AM CST reply actions 3 recs

Pretty Insightful

I thought about this a few days ago and I think your premise makes sense. And, I love Brees, would never want him to go anywhere else, and am convinced if we had a balance attack on offense by giving the ball to PT 20-25 times per game, EVERYTHING would fall in place including the defense. So, I do agree with you especially when you consider that if we had say Brunell as quarterback, or let’s say Mc Nabb, or some other qb that was not as good a thrower as Brees- like Delhomme or Garcia- we would still be around 6-6. maybe even 7-5- because we would HAVE to run the ball.

by Philinwood on Dec 3, 2008 7:16 AM CST reply actions

This Says it ALL!!!!

According to Jeff Duncan:

“It was the 12th time he’s thrown 45 or more passes in a game. Not surprisingly, the Saints have lost 11 of those games”.

by Philinwood on Dec 3, 2008 7:20 AM CST reply actions

Interesting

As difficult as this is to ponder for me, it is worth thinking about. I think there are 2 slightly different questions being asked and 2 very different answers:

1. Without Brees, would we be forced to be a more balamced team? – Undoubtedly. Many (myself included) have suggested that Payton opts to pass so much because he feels that is our best chance to win. Without an all-world QB, I think even Payton would be forced to concede that more balance would be necessary.We would probably see an offense relying on running and short passes more than the one we have now.

2. Without Brees (and therefore a more balanced offense) would we be better? – I don’t think so. We would run more, but I don’t think our running game would improve much. I think our OL is not well-suited to run blocking as it is presently constructed. Perhaps they’d be a little better if they did it more, but I don’t know if our offensive coaching staff knows how to coach it well. Without Brees, we’d see more 8 man fronts, less respect for our vertical passing game and more frustration on short-yardage. We might be more consistent on offense, but not as good.

by SaintBevo on Dec 3, 2008 6:14 PM CST reply actions

I think

that if we didn’t have Brees we would possibly be 0-12. Who knows what would happen if Payton had no Brees? I’m just being sarcastic but still…………think about it!

by D.P.M. on Dec 3, 2008 9:42 PM CST reply actions