PFF: Three to Focus On TB@NO
 

Three to Focus on – Buccaneers @ Saints, Week 9 November 4th, 2011 | Author: Gordon McGuinness

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1) LeGarrette Blount vs. The Saints’ linebackers

... Of the Saints’ top four linebackers, only Scott Shanle has a positive grade against the run. All four of them have missed at least three tackles so far, and both JoLonn Dunbar (-5.6) and Johnathan Casillas (-5.9) are ranked amongst the worst five 4-3 outside linebackers against the run. Believe it or not, no middle or inside linebacker in the league has a worse grade against the run than Johnathan Vilma (-7.7 against the run). It all potentially adds up to a long day for the Saints as they try and stop Blount.

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2) Michael Bennett vs. Zach Strief

Bucs defensive end Michael Bennett (+19.5) has produced two of the best weeks of any player in the NFL this year. Strief didn’t exactly light things up before his injury, so it will be interesting to see how he handles Bennett on his return to the starting lineup.

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3) Drew Brees vs. Josh Freeman

After a fast start to the year, Josh Freeman (+10.8) has struggled recently. He was terrible in London against the Bears, finishing the game with an overall grade of -4.4. He’s particularly struggled going downfield, where he has completed just five of 16 passes and of his 10 interceptions, seven have come when he’s thrown the ball across the middle of the field. By contrast, Drew Brees is having a fantastic year. Using our signature stat, Quarterback Accuracy Percentage which takes into account dropped passes, spiked balls and throwaways, Brees’ accuracy for the season so far comes in at a staggering 76.5%. He trails only Aaron Rodgers in that regard. And in terms of his full grade, Brees is our top ranked quarterback and leads the league by nearly 400 yards in terms of passing yards. It’s safe to say that Brees will show up on Sunday, the question is which Josh Freeman will be on the opposite side?
Rest of article: Three to Focus on - Bucs @ Saints | ProFootballFocus.com

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The Saints better get Jimmy Graham involved. He's their impact performer...

NFL RedZone Report Week 9 : The XLog

Vilma might not play with that sprained knee..might be Dunbar in there trying to stop Blount..better be our front four..

Martez Wilson was the number 1 ranked MLB in the 2011 draft.

I'm just sayin. 8-)

Yeah i know..would be nice to have him in there eventually..

Vilma hasn't seemed like himself recently, it's probably the injury but I've seen replay after replay of him diving for the tackle and the runner being 2 steps ahead, he used to make those tackles

I would argue that the Saints need to get Graham less involved. He's played pretty well and Colston and Sproles are great but why isn't Brees throwing to Meachem, Moore, and Henderson more? Spreading the ball around is something he used to do a lot more but he sure seems to be looking for one specific guy each time he throws the ball.

The problem is more often then not nobody else is getting separation so he is throwing it up for grabs to his taller receivers in Graham and Colston. Besides the last int in the Tampa game when Meachem was open in the left side of the endzone, no one else has separated from their defenders and actually been open.

Plus meachem just tips the ball up to defenders around him, thinks he's playing volleyball.
Moore needs to get "moore involved" cuz he's our best WR.

I think one of the key matchups that needs to be discussed has got to be coaching -- Raheem Morris vs. Sean Payton straight up is a no-brainer (Payton wins) but if Payton is not able to coach effectively from the booth or call the right plays, it's like a gift from the gods falling into Raheem Morris' lap. Raheem Morris as head coach versus no head coach at all on the Saints sideline, with Payton injured in the locker room watching it on TV -- well that was actually a pretty even matchup, a pretty even game, as we learned last time. No Payton on the other sideline makes Raheem look better than he is.

Whenever Sean Payton has coached against Raheem Morris in the past, he's consistently clobbered him, unless some other factor came into play, like pulling starters or closing the Saints playbook completely in the second half because of the approaching playoffs, freak missed field goal or a freaking BROKEN LEG. That's the only thing that makes this series between them interesting. Every "normal" game between these two coaches, with both teams healthy, has pretty much ended up a Saints romp. So, the impact in this game of head coaching, X's and O's, and Carmichael's playcalling, adjustments, etc. is going to be huge.

How much of a learning curve does he get till he plays?

Probably longer than most, considering he has to master Gregg's eleven-billion different blitz packages and schemes.

Sometimes I wonder if GW's scheme's are too rocket science complex.

Yeah, I was shocked last week when I saw Vilma's and our LB core stats. I never expected it was that bad, and naturally just blamed the defensive line,lol.
Later I found out our DL is not doing bad at all. Good stats man. Im surprised GW hasn't solved this yet.
And I keep forgetting Vilma was diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans, in high school , wonder if its catching up to him, hope not.

Maybe so. He certainly doesn't look like the Vilma of old. He's starting to morph into Cleat-Mark Simoneau. Being undersized he always used his speed and agility to succeed. When that starts to fade he becomes a liability.

I'm hoping his banged up knee is the reason, but thats odd because his coverage stats are still very good.

We better find a way to tart running the GD ball more effectively. Then we better learn to stop the GD run.

It seems like those two things are the same two things you have to do to be successful. We aren't doing either well.

Brees will continue to throw int's until we prove we can run the ball and take some pressure off our Oline. Teams, in my opinion, are teeing off because they have no respect for our running game.

Maybe I am wrong, but that seems to be our two main frigan issues.

Saints have faced some big RBs. Blount is hovering around 250lbs, Jackson 240lbs. Our LB corp are small or average size trying to bring down these big bowling balls. Against more typical size RBs they can usually get it done. What I hate seeing are these big backs coming off the edge and picking up speed. I hope they have an answer for that this game. Keep it up inside.

So dead on, IMHO. I didn't mind, at first, the constant going to Sproles and Graham, but now it looks like Brees is locking in. Throwing it to JG when he is triple covered and ****. I know the guys is a mismatch to the 1000th degree, but when they start taking that away how come nothing else is open?

And can someone tell em why we can't run the ball. I don't understand? I mean if you have the type of passing game we do, why are we unable to run the ball?

I hope our best ball is yet to come, but boy, even with a healthy backfield, this sure has the feel of last year to it again. Inconsistent, up and down play, losing to teams we should beat. I sure hope that our best ball is about to begin to be played, week in and week out!

Three to focus on...

1) Jimmy Graham. Do opponents have enough film to stop 'em? Are does he get back on track...

2) Malcom Jenkins. Can he shut down the big pass play?

3) Mason Foster. Is he healthy and was he the linebacker the Saints should have taken?