Out with the Old, In with the New

…I agree with Saintsational over Duncan. Improving the run has been THE major offensive priority this year; why shouldn’t we interpret the success of the running game as an offensive improvement rather than a defensive breakdown?

Besides: Gregg Williams has improved the Saints’ defense so drastically and so quickly, I feel confident that if he believes we’re deficient in run defense, he will fix it. We really do, it seems, have far more talent on this defense than people gave us credit for, and Williams is finding the right ways to use it.

no reason to freak out because of a twoot or two from the TP. Stopping the pass is way more important than stopping the run, that said, of course it would totally suck if we get run all over, but we’ve seen our offense get ahead on people only to see the secondary get lit up the past few years. I’ll easily trade pass for run in the long run, especially with drew brees lighting it up. the cold hard football facts has some great articles on this. Taking away the pass first really has to be gregg williams’s priority if he has half a brain, and i think he has at least 70% of a brain.

The problem was only a handful of 3rd and short failures and they were critical. Maybe that’s a bit of an oversimplification. but I don’t think any team could have the #1 ranked offense and have a truly dismal running game. The ground game may get overshadowed at times and underemphasized and may not be in the top 10 in the league, but overall it can’t really be so bad.

So, on offense, since it was our only weakness, even though it wasn’t a horrible weakness, I bet what you are seeing is more of an emphasis by the O line and that’s where it all starts. These guys take pride in their pass protection, that’s obvious. And, they are true pros. But now, in my opinion, they are taking it on themselves to take the run blocking to another level. Remember, O-lines like to run block more than they like to pass block. They get at and after people and they know what they are going to do as opposed to pass blocking where they are the targets, they get attacked and often are unsure what the defense is doing.

I also think we are seeing our defense, even though we know they are and will be better than last year, faced with a dilemma that should perplex all defenses we face this year. You have to think pass defense first almost every time we snap the ball (based on our great success last few years and our multiple explosive threats) but we also have some ground rushers to reckon with. All of our RBs can get a few yards and also can break the big one. The past 3 years, whenever Deuce played, they knew it wasn’t likely he could break off a long one like early in his career. That has changed.

theory may actually hold some merit for the Saints, especially in our division. If the Saints can stay perfectly mediocre against the run(ranked high in the middle third), AND stop the third down pass when that time comes, that would be all the defense we need. Last year, I never worried that much when the defense got to 3rd and 3 or so, after holding offenses to average run gains. They did well against the run on third down, normally, and I don’t see anything changing this year as far as that goes. Their interior line looks as good or better on paper, and their linebackers got the job done last year on 3rd and short. It was, and will be, the 3rd and 10 that gets me chewing on my hat. When they stuffed the offense so well on 1st and 2nd down that they ended up defending long third downs, THAT is where they found themselves giving up the long ball most of the time. At least that’s what my scarred memory tells me. If the Saints start batting down post passes or tackling receivers immediately on slot passes and deep in routes, or God forbid, hitting the quarterback in the backfield, I’ll save hundreds on alka seltzer this year.

I read somewhere yesterday that this scrimmage was the first time they had been really tackling. The report was that tackling was bad, so I assumed that was allowing runners to get more yards. In time, they’ll get that going again and the run D will improve. No need for concern at this early date.

Just five more days, man. FIVE MORE DAYS! Can’t wait. If anyone knows of a live stream of the Bengals game and the others, please point me to where it will be.

is what has killed the Saints the past few years in run containment. The reactionary skills of our OLBs leave much to be desired, though to their credit, they do tend to wrap up and tackle when they manage to make the right read. The loss of McKenzie’s support in that area is bound to hurt. As much as I like Meachem’s potential as a breakout player this season, Carolina snatching up Jon Beason two picks ahead of us is something that still gnaws at me. We’d be soooo much better off already with an outside presence like that.

I had to buy a Sirius radio this week becuase I live out here in California and I cant hear WWL call the game. Turn down the TV and Turn up the Radio! hehe! Dont know why just starting to see a R. Mecheaum with Rosco “Malcum” Jenkins, ir J. Russel.

we’ll be ok. our run D was actually not that bad. my favorite point was that we didn’t have a 100 yard rusher untill LT in London and that means we shut down AP. With payton’s offensive style, GW is probably going to be more focused on stopping the pass in training camp. Whereas, when we play a running team we’ll be more prepared for the run vs the pass. Also, like Dave said, it could just be that our RBs are starting to really come into their own. I’ve been seeing that Reggie has been running up the middle well and our O line could be really working hard to improve their run-block skills. I’m not concerned about the run D until a couple of teams prove me wrong.