Preston's Saints @ Jaguars Preview: Spot On
Each team starts the season anew with varying degrees of continuity among their staff and players. Many "football people" - players, coaches, and front office types (past and present) - all agree on the axiom that by the end of the first month of regular season play, a team begins to find its identity.
The process isn't as simple as continuing from the previous year's stopping point. Every team is trying to improve and every team undergoes a shuffle of the roster, taking time for all moving parts and schematic changes to "gel." Players get older and digress, younger players further establish themselves (or not), and the opponent has had a full year to digest and dissect everything a team has done the past year. Teams either evolve and adapt, or get left behind.
The fourth week is when it all starts to come together. We have a good feel of how the new components mesh together; they've had time to work through the kinks, get comfortable and establish trust by gaining experience playing together during those "in game" situations like red-zone, third down or two minute drill, to name a few.
Some teams take a little longer to get their ducks in a row and this unique off-season has added stress to those who run more complicated schemes. Teams now have a few weeks of film on their opponents "new" look and vice versa. Yet when we take a close look at Sunday's matchup between the Jaguars and the Saints, one cliché seems to hold true: a leopard can't change its spots.
Full article below.
Preston's Saints @ Jaguars Preview: Spot On - Canal Street Chronicles |
