Saints hope to improve running game in 2011
 

SHELDON MICKLES

Advocate sportswriter

METAIRIE - After leading the NFL in total offense for three of the first four seasons under head coach and de facto offensive coordinator Sean Payton, the New Orleans Saints took a few steps back in 2010.

They slid five spots to sixth in the final rankings, which wouldn’t be a huge deal for most teams. But for the Saints, who were ravaged by injuries on that side of the ball, it’s a big dropoff.

“Obviously, the most important thing is to win football games,” said offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. “You set goals for yourself, and a goal for us every year is to be the top offense in the league. If you do that, then you see how far you can go.”

Then, Carmichael gazed out at an empty practice field following Saturday’s workout and said, “And it starts right out here.”

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Saints hope to improve running game in 2011 | Saints | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

I really hope that we will atleast be in the upper half of the leauge in rushing. That would be a big improvement from last year and help out the passing game tremendously.

I think that the running game will vastly improve from last year simply if Stinchcomb will be healthy and ready to go. Stinch's side of the O-Line wasn't the same run block-wise last season and I think much of that had to do with his lingering injury. I think that he is undervalued by many and his run block skills are comparable to other upper echelon tackles in the league (when healthy). The injury seemed to have hampered his blocking leverage a lot, especially during the last stretch of the last season.

Welcome FinSaint

Considering they were "ravaged by injuries", dropping only to sixth was practically a miracle.

Here's what makes the Saints offense tops in the NFL this year:

Limited injuries
Cohesive backfield
Dominant defense

How much are we going to miss Goodwin??

There will be a learning curve for Tennant, no doubt, i liked goodwin he was solid and a real smart guy at the line

He was getting up there in age anyway so this was bound to happen sooner or later, Tennant has to take the ropes now and show everybody that we won't miss Goodwin

Miracles are known to happen around Breesus.
Also, agreed. Sept. 8th can't come soon enough (though I'll settle for August 12th)

According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, No. 28 overall pick Mark Ingram is "coming on fast" at Saints camp and is expected to be "heavily involved" in the team's regular offense to open the season.

We'd guessed he would be, but it's notable that Ingram is already working with the first-team offense and getting a large chunk of top tailback reps. The clear-cut No. 1 fantasy rookie in this year's class, Ingram will offer double-digit touchdown potential as New Orleans' likely goal-line back. He also excels in the passing game and could make a serious run at 260-270 touches.

Source: Jeff Duncan on Twitter

That would mean we would have a featured back again. I might be old-school in my thinking but I really love when a team has a 1000yds runner and not just the comitte.