Stats don't tell the story of Saints defense.

WillMacKenzie · 01-11-2007, 10:49 PM

I don't see the big stink about our defense being the weak link. We have one of the best D-lines in the league. And if you watched the games, you can see that these boys are HITTING hard out there, they're playing extremely physical. More so than I've seen in previous years. Stats definitely don't tell the story when it comes to the Saints.

When payton goes up by 30 points and decides to rest the starters, it's not going to show up in the footnotes at the bottom of the stat sheet. I feel confident in our defense - it is the offense that I hope doesn't get the jitters like in the ravens game.

SaintFanInATLHELL · 01-12-2007, 08:43 AM

The Saints defense tends to give up the big play. I've taken to calling Fred Thomas "The GameShow" because he's always on TV giving up the big prize (reference the Cincy, Pittsbutg, SF, and Dallas games for examples)

The safeties, especially Bullocks, are the Ed McMahons of the group, as they are always late helping out The GameShow.

The secondary gave up a long long TD pass to Reggie Brown in the Eagles game week 6.

I'm not too concerned about the yards that the defense tends to give up. But the big plays need to be stopped.

SFIAH

UK_WhoDat · 01-12-2007, 09:50 AM

I figure we will give up 1 big play. No idea how - equally likely that it could a long pass, or long rush. But if we do not cough up the ball, we should be ok.

xan · 01-12-2007, 02:36 PM

Odds are that there will be two big plays given up by the defense. One will be a run/screen to Westbrook and the other will be a blown coverage to Stallworth.

I'd take limiting their scoring to those two plays. They're going to get something, so why worry how it comes? As long as the team reacts and seals that leak, the Eagles won't get far.

zioni504 · 01-12-2007, 04:06 PM

I agree with SaintFanInATLHELL, play to play we are a solid defense, we just give up BIG plays. Man, Fred Thomas gets burned on so many coverages it kills me.... I really wish we had Roman Harper at safety still, he was looking so solid before his injury. And I think xan's prediciton will probably be acurate as to what the big plays will be. If those are the only 2, we'll be in good shape. Remember, we CAN score pretty efficiently on their D, in our regular season game, we went into the locker room at half winning 17-3! Of course this IS the playoffs which can mean through the stats out the window...
Saturday, please hurry up!

26DEUCE26 · 01-12-2007, 10:39 PM

I think Fred gave up alot of big plays this year, but many of them were mistakes by Bullocks not getting over to help in time.

Brann · 01-12-2007, 11:03 PM

Roman Harper going down hurt this defense as a whole. Stoutmire and Bellamy aren't as athletic and heady as Harper, so Bullocks has had to cheat closer to the LOS to help out.

Thomas slipped on the TD to Burress. He shut him down completely otherwise. He turned Owens into a non-factor except for a TD that apparently even TO didn't think should count (no celebration and he wouldn't high-five Romo on the sidelines after it). Fred bugs me because his play is either brilliant or awful. He's still quick, he's still got pretty good instincts, but he needs Bullocks' help every now and then and Bullocks isn't always available to help. We obviously need corner help, but the pass defense hasn't been the same since Harper went out.

WillMacKenzie · 01-13-2007, 02:43 AM

Hah, yeah the big plays Fred Thomas gives away always has me biting my fingernails.

Roman Harper and Rob Ninkovich are two guys I really miss on our D. at the beginning of the year when they were healthy - we had a pretty solid defense all around, and Ninkovich if I remember was really a monster. I saw him everywhere. Do you agree?

BoudinSandwich · 01-13-2007, 03:28 AM

The thing is, we never lost a game this season BECAUSE of defense. We lost because we kept turning the ball over/stalling on offense. We're going to give up 2-3 touchdowns. We just normally outscore the other teams, winning the game.

Our defense isn't the strongest bunch, but they hold their own. They're completely underated. And, I'm absolutely ecstatic about it! Let other teams take our defense lightly, that's exactly what we want. The less they know about our team, the better.

SaintFanInATLHELL · 01-13-2007, 06:59 AM

Originally Posted by OldiesDJ

The thing is, we never lost a game this season BECAUSE of defense. We lost because we kept turning the ball over/stalling on offense. We're going to give up 2-3 touchdowns. We just normally outscore the other teams, winning the game.

Turnovers are definitely the key stat. The Saints have not lost a game when they did not turn the ball over.

And in recent weeks (Panthers game excluded) the defense has only given up one TD a game.

Our defense isn't the strongest bunch, but they hold their own. They're completely underated. And, I'm absolutely ecstatic about it! Let other teams take our defense lightly, that's exactly what we want. The less they know about our team, the better.

I agree on completely underrated. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we finished 11th in total defense and an amazing 3rd in passing defense (178 YPG). We did finish out of the top 10 in the key SuperBowl winning stat of scoring defense. We were 13th at 20.1 per game. But I wonder how much of a difference it would make if we eliminated the 3 Pick-6s I know of from the equation (2 by Brees in the Baltimore game and 1 by Martin 2 weeks ago).
The 18.8 PPG adjusted average would crack the top 10.

The defense is good enough. The offense is stellar. We have just as good a chance as the other 7 teams left. Better considering that the win rate in this round of the playoffs is 80% for the home team with the bye. Better because conference championships are a virtual pickem at 57% wins by the host team.

SFIAH

01-11-2007, 10:49 PM	#1
WillMacKenzie 1000 Posts + Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,627	Stats don't tell the story of Saints defense. I don't see the big stink about our defense being the weak link. We have one of the best D-lines in the league. And if you watched the games, you can see that these boys are HITTING hard out there, they're playing extremely physical. More so than I've seen in previous years. Stats definitely don't tell the story when it comes to the Saints. When payton goes up by 30 points and decides to rest the starters, it's not going to show up in the footnotes at the bottom of the stat sheet. I feel confident in our defense - it is the offense that I hope doesn't get the jitters like in the ravens game.

01-12-2007, 08:43 AM	#2
SaintFanInATLHELL The Professor Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Lithonia, GA Posts: 2,647	RE: Stats don The Saints defense tends to give up the big play. I've taken to calling Fred Thomas "The GameShow" because he's always on TV giving up the big prize (reference the Cincy, Pittsbutg, SF, and Dallas games for examples) The safeties, especially Bullocks, are the Ed McMahons of the group, as they are always late helping out The GameShow. The secondary gave up a long long TD pass to Reggie Brown in the Eagles game week 6. I'm not too concerned about the yards that the defense tends to give up. But the big plays need to be stopped. SFIAH
	Super Bowl Championships: New Orleans Saints:1, Carolina:0, Atlanta Chokers: STILL ZERO Only Atlanta choked in an unchokable situation... Life is definitely good.

01-12-2007, 09:50 AM	#3
UK_WhoDat 1000 Posts + Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Wherever I lay my hat Posts: 3,824	RE: Stats don I figure we will give up 1 big play. No idea how - equally likely that it could a long pass, or long rush. But if we do not cough up the ball, we should be ok.

01-12-2007, 02:36 PM	#4
xan Professor Crab and Site Donor 2014 Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Princeton Posts: 3,355 Blog Entries: 34	RE: Stats don Odds are that there will be two big plays given up by the defense. One will be a run/screen to Westbrook and the other will be a blown coverage to Stallworth. I'd take limiting their scoring to those two plays. They're going to get something, so why worry how it comes? As long as the team reacts and seals that leak, the Eagles won't get far.

01-12-2007, 04:06 PM	#5
zioni504 Registered Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 54	RE: Stats don I agree with SaintFanInATLHELL, play to play we are a solid defense, we just give up BIG plays. Man, Fred Thomas gets burned on so many coverages it kills me.... I really wish we had Roman Harper at safety still, he was looking so solid before his injury. And I think xan's prediciton will probably be acurate as to what the big plays will be. If those are the only 2, we'll be in good shape. Remember, we CAN score pretty efficiently on their D, in our regular season game, we went into the locker room at half winning 17-3! Of course this IS the playoffs which can mean through the stats out the window... Saturday, please hurry up!
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01-12-2007, 10:39 PM	#6
26DEUCE26 100th Post Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 116	RE: Stats don I think Fred gave up alot of big plays this year, but many of them were mistakes by Bullocks not getting over to help in time.
26DEUCE26 100th Post Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 116

01-12-2007, 11:03 PM	#7
Brann Ill-tempered Texan Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Pascagoula, MS Posts: 228	RE: Stats don Roman Harper going down hurt this defense as a whole. Stoutmire and Bellamy aren't as athletic and heady as Harper, so Bullocks has had to cheat closer to the LOS to help out. Thomas slipped on the TD to Burress. He shut him down completely otherwise. He turned Owens into a non-factor except for a TD that apparently even TO didn't think should count (no celebration and he wouldn't high-five Romo on the sidelines after it). Fred bugs me because his play is either brilliant or awful. He's still quick, he's still got pretty good instincts, but he needs Bullocks' help every now and then and Bullocks isn't always available to help. We obviously need corner help, but the pass defense hasn't been the same since Harper went out.

01-13-2007, 02:43 AM	#8
WillMacKenzie 1000 Posts + Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,627	Hah, yeah the big plays Fred Thomas gives away always has me biting my fingernails. Roman Harper and Rob Ninkovich are two guys I really miss on our D. at the beginning of the year when they were healthy - we had a pretty solid defense all around, and Ninkovich if I remember was really a monster. I saw him everywhere. Do you agree?

01-13-2007, 03:28 AM	#9
BoudinSandwich OldiesDJ Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Scott, LA Posts: 951 Blog Entries: 12	The thing is, we never lost a game this season BECAUSE of defense. We lost because we kept turning the ball over/stalling on offense. We're going to give up 2-3 touchdowns. We just normally outscore the other teams, winning the game. Our defense isn't the strongest bunch, but they hold their own. They're completely underated. And, I'm absolutely ecstatic about it! Let other teams take our defense lightly, that's exactly what we want. The less they know about our team, the better.

01-13-2007, 06:59 AM	#10
SaintFanInATLHELL The Professor Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Lithonia, GA Posts: 2,647	Originally Posted by OldiesDJ The thing is, we never lost a game this season BECAUSE of defense. We lost because we kept turning the ball over/stalling on offense. We're going to give up 2-3 touchdowns. We just normally outscore the other teams, winning the game. Turnovers are definitely the key stat. The Saints have not lost a game when they did not turn the ball over. And in recent weeks (Panthers game excluded) the defense has only given up one TD a game. Our defense isn't the strongest bunch, but they hold their own. They're completely underated. And, I'm absolutely ecstatic about it! Let other teams take our defense lightly, that's exactly what we want. The less they know about our team, the better. I agree on completely underrated. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we finished 11th in total defense and an amazing 3rd in passing defense (178 YPG). We did finish out of the top 10 in the key SuperBowl winning stat of scoring defense. We were 13th at 20.1 per game. But I wonder how much of a difference it would make if we eliminated the 3 Pick-6s I know of from the equation (2 by Brees in the Baltimore game and 1 by Martin 2 weeks ago). The 18.8 PPG adjusted average would crack the top 10. The defense is good enough. The offense is stellar. We have just as good a chance as the other 7 teams left. Better considering that the win rate in this round of the playoffs is 80% for the home team with the bye. Better because conference championships are a virtual pickem at 57% wins by the host team. SFIAH
	Super Bowl Championships: New Orleans Saints:1, Carolina:0, Atlanta Chokers: STILL ZERO Only Atlanta choked in an unchokable situation... Life is definitely good.