Jeff Duncan couldn't be more wrong if he said 2+2=8
 

Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has unfairly been made the scapegoat but a loss of this magnitude cannot simply be reduced to one bad decision, no matter how egregious it was.

Yes, Williams' decision to blitz the 49ers in the final minute leading to a back-breaking 47-yard reception by Vernon Davis will long live in infamy for Saints fans. But that ill-advised decision was just one of several factors that conspired against the Saints and led to San Francisco's dramatic 36-32 victory.



Gregg Williams shouldn't be the scapegoat in New Orleans Saints loss: film study - New Orleans Saints Football NFL News - NOLA.com

What a croc!! He can spin it anyway he wants to. If he wants to be in denial, so be it. He called the blitz of all lb's leaving the middle open to have harper/jenkins covering the te. Williams fault right there. He don't call that OR someone,who is suppose to be the "leader" of the defense, calls a time out or changes the defensive call, that 47 yard reception don't happen. End of story.

He needs to leave town with Greg Williams and I just told him so...

I don't really disagree with anything Duncan wrote. The GW defense that let us down at the end of the game kept us in the game earlier. I'm not a fan of scapegoats either. That being said, since hindsight is 20-20 it would indicate that some changes would need to be considered.

Williams needed to adjust his defense to the fact that Davis was the only real receiving threat on the 49ers. Ginn wasn't doing much and Crabtree was dropping balls and playing inconsistently. Blitzing your strong safety 17 games in a game where their TE is the only weapon is kind of insane. We should've treated Davis like he was Megatron and doubled and triple-teamed him and let Greer play Crabtree solo.

Jeff did you watch the game ?

It was a team effort. Both sides of the ball contributed to the loss.

But one side has played poorly in nearly every game this season, and it isn't the offense.

While this one game doesn't justify condemning the defense, the previous 17 certainly do.

I watched the game. What I saw is the defense keeping us in the game, after the offense and special teams turned the ball over repeatedly.

Not saying the defense doesn't need work. But, I do believe in giving credit where it is due. So, here's the credit: Had it not been for the defense in that game, Vernon Davis' catch would not have mattered. And, frankly, it shouldn't have mattered.

Turning the ball over as many times as we did in a playoff game is just embarrassing. Roby looked like a keystone cop out there. The defense may need to be overhauled (won't argue there), but if it is true, then it was true when the team took the field that day. But, that loss was not mostly on the defense.

I will have to say that I'm glad Williams is gone, though. Since 2009, he has not proved that his scheme could work with the players we have.

I agree with most of what you're saying WDC, expect the part you're glad GW is gone. Our D is what kept us in the game. Our D let us down with a minute left to go... but our turnovers is what cost us the game. You lose the turnover battle by our margain, 90% chance plus you lose the game.

Fact.

Well, if I may interject ..... and it's just my perspective because I just can't seem to stay out of a good football conversation ..... turnovers are the most important stat in football, and that's not to point fingers at the offense either. SFran scored, what?, 14pts on the turnovers? It made all the difference.

These two quotes stuck out the most in the article to me: "First and foremost, the 49ers simply made more big plays than the Saints." ... "Forget all the talk about the running game and defense winning championships. In today's NFL, games are won and lost by big plays." Both ring true.

Today's game is light years away (and I feel a blog coming on) from what it used to be, and you win by thinking 'outside the box'. Greg Williams was thinking 'outside the box', he had 'em on the ropes and he was gonna' finish 'em. He just blitzed 'em on the previous play and figured no way they would expect it again. It's the killer instinct you want to see in a defensive coordinator. Personally, I think it was a bonehead move in that type situation, but as it has been so eloquently pointed out, "hindsight is 20/20". Who's to say what I woulda' done in that situation, go for the glory or err on the side of caution? Be the hero, be the goat ..... that's what was going through GW's mind. He took a shot. IDK, maybe he knew he was on the way out?

Not sticking up for Williams, I'd rather have Spagnualo anyway, just think the turnovers were more a factor then your defense. I keep going back to the four lead changes in the last four minutes ..... SFran didn't beat you guys, they just outlasted you.

I'm in no way giving our offense and special teams a pass, they performed the worst I've seen since before brees and Payton came. The defense did good to limit the 9ers to 14 points off 5 turnovers, but at the same time GW forced like 5 three and outs in a row then crumbles when the game is about to be won and gives up two TD drives.
We have just scraped through wins when our offense has won games for us and the defense has been non existent, every offense struggles from time to time but the difference is those teams have defenses that make up for it when there offense struggles, we relied on the offense all year and the offense won us games all year. Defense didn't do much.

Spags will make it better though, can't wait to see his defensive system

Turnovers were a direct result of San Fran's defense. People keep pointing out that turnovers were something we had control over as if we were somehow able to control when they happened. That's a load of a croc.

San Fran's defense did little in the last 4 minutes as our offense got exponentially better. They didn't really outlast us what happened was that our defense completely fell apart in the end. Don't you think it's strange that we were able to contain the niners all game and then somehow just fold like a wet noodle in the end? GW's blitzing is a double edged sword of which we came out on the wrong side in the last 4 minutes.

Folks rightly blame GW because you have to put this game in context of his three year tenure. Our defense really has struggled to get pressure and turnovers. You can see how much lesser we have performed without Sharper. GW's scheme frankly didn't work for us and it epically failed in probably one of of not the the worst loss we have ever suffered in the playoffs.

That game really did showcase the ineptitude of GW's system.

And yes I agree that Duncan can hold hands with the rest of the GW apologists like Ralph Marlborough and get a job in st Louis where they can cover GW's jock to their hearts content.

Well, I agree with you that turnovers are generally something you can't control (unless your QB is Tony Romo) and are a result of the defense stepping up, which is why I didn't point fingers at the offense.

I can't really comment on GW's entire tenure because I haven't been around that long, but I do see the point that his scheme didn't work for you guys. What I saw in that game with the defense was you guys were playing on the edge and really making the most of the talent that you had. Getting down early by 17 and then playing from behind most the game didn't really make me think the D necessarily 'contained' the 49ers the entire game and then folded in the end, but they did keep you guys in the game and allow you to come back, which is basically what teams with high-powered offenses are designed to do, ie NE, GB, Det (hehe).

You're right, it's a double edged sword, you live by the blitz - you die by the blitz ..... GW was either going to get that one right or go down in flames. Unfortunately, he crashed and burned at agruably one of the most critical moments of a defensive coordinator's career ..... the bright side being, now he's gone and you guys got Spag's.

I'm just making conversation, it snowed here last night and my choices are:

a) shovel the walk
b) logon onto Black & Gold

..... the future will tell if I have chosen poorly.

Right, but the drive before this one we got burned by Davis- I mean like fool me once shame on, shame on you, fool me, can't get fooled again. Hold on, let me clarify that.

Agree

This statement has officially ended this thread.

End of story.

Lol at romo too ...so true ...

THIS.

Did our Offense and Special Teams let us down with the turnovers? Yes, absolutely. And the D did a good job keeping us in the game (I thought they let up 17 off of the turnovers) but then they made virtually ZERO adjustments at the end of the game.

TWICE we were burned by the blitz in the last 4 minutes because it was so daggone predictable. The reason they tried that Alex Smith run was because they knew the blitz was coming. They let all the defenders into the backfield and Smith just bootlegged around from them. With no one in the secondary there was no one to stop him when he broke contain it gained more than the niners probably even thought possible.

Then we all know what happened on the last series.

You can't play D in the last 5 minutes like you do the first 55. Especially if that includes making no changes to keep them on their toes.

I just hope Spags has us hide our scheme a little bit better and jam guys off the line no matter what the scheme is. Watching Davis just take off with NO attempt to interrupt his route has me screaming at the TV even now.

Not yet!! Our D played real well up until we took the lead, they had the 9'ers #. Every defensive player knew how to play them and what to look for, Gregg Williams called the wrong plays the last 4-5 minutes of that game, he is the man in charge and yes I do blame him, whoever says it's because of the turnovers I can see their point but even with them we came back and took the lead really making the turnovers null and void, score like 0-0. Our O and D did that. Then the D let the game slip through our hands, there was no reason on earth once we took the lead to let the 9'ers O do what they did, none. Pi$$ poor play calling cost us the game in the end by our D it's plain and simple, those were Gregg Williams last orders to the D.

A lot of valid points. I still put the emphasis on Payton for taking lightly the importance of protecting the ball. Attempting returns on kickoffs should have been avoided along with YAC, at least in the first half. I felt before the game that if we win the turnover battle or just even it out, the Saints would have prevailed. I know people will disagree with me, but I don't blame GW. He was tasked with recovering from 5 turnovers and damn near pulled it off.

A lot of valid points...

But this isn't really about one game. This is about 2 seasons of games. The way the Saints lost out in last year's playoffs and this years... its the same.

The defense hasn't played like a professional defensive unit.

Just hanging out on the field until the team gets into the red zone and look for oppitunities isn't playing defense. Its called trying to get by or even lazy. I seriously didn't see any "TEACHING" of our younger players or coaching them up. What I saw was lining them up and say go. Luckily his contract was up because otherwise I was ready to fire him. He knew it as well that is why he didn't wait around and look for a new contract.

He was done and knew it.

We need a coaches to be teachers to develop and coach up the guys on what to do, how to tackle, how to avoid giving up big plays. HOW TO DEFEND!

From my perspective, I wouldn't say the D kept the Saints in the game, but rather the conservative SF offense kept the Saints in the game. Let's face it, we all know any other team in the playoffs would've gotten 21 points out of 3 turnovers inside the Saints 20. The other 2 turnovers were as good as punts.

But really, I want to focus on what happened not on the last drive, but in the entire 4th quarter. The game is 17-20 at this point. Here's how the 4th quarter played out.

* SF starts at their 28, Saints defense allows a 42 yard run by Gore, SF ends up scoring a FG -- 17-23
* Saints score TD -- 24-23
* SF starts at their 20, Saints defense allows pass plays of of 13 and 37 yards, then a 28 yard run by Alex Smith for a TD, fail 2-pt conversion -- 24-29. That's 78 yards and a TD on 3 plays. That drive had 5 plays total.
* Saints score TD, 2-pt conversion -- 32-29
* SF starts at their 15, with 1:37 left in the game, then the Saints defense allows plays of 7, 11, 47, 6, and a 14 yard TD pass, with 9 seconds to spare. The other 2 plays on that drive were an incomplete pass and a spike to stop the clock.

So, it is not just the very last drive. You cannot allow a team to march 80 yards down the field on 3 consecutive possessions in the 4th quarter. Or even more to the point, in the playoffs, you cannot allow an offense as average as the SF offense to march 80 yards on 3 consecutive possessions and score points in the 4th quarter with the ease the Saints defense allowed the SF offense to move up the field.

Count me in on that "glad GW is gone" number.

One week later and I've moved past the horrible start (falling behind 17-0), the 5 turnovers, and the overall inconsistent play. What I'm still frustrated about is GW’s playcalling down the stretch. We can argue about everything that happened in the first 59 minutes of the game and how we should have had a bigger lead. However; regardless of what happened during the first 59 minutes we had a 3 point lead with 40 seconds left and niners were on their own 33 with only one timeout left. Then the play call that I still can’t get out of my head happened; GW called man-blitz leaving their only offensive weapon one on one with a safety, the next thing you know it’s 1st and 10 niners from our 20 yard line. GW should of learned something from the previous play when he blitzed and got lucky Smith didn't connect with Swain. If Swain was even a decent receiver then that would of been a big play. However, GW put his pride before the team and got burnt on the next play. It is completely inexcusable to lose a game in regulation in that situation, especially against a weak offense. Now I’d be willing to give GW a break if he went prevent defense early in the drive and the niners were moving the ball at will but they weren’t. Against our prevent defense, the niners had moved 18 yards in 57 seconds on that drive up until we decided to blitz. In the NFL playoffs, most games come down to the final 5 minutes and who executes the best. Last Saturday, GW let us down when it mattered most and deserves most of the blame.

The last 5 minutes of this game pretty much summed up GW’s tenure here with us. The defense relies solely on turnovers and heavy blitzes to make stops. When we weren’t getting turnovers or the blitz wasn’t effective we couldn’t make stops. As a result, we gave up a ton of big plays under GW. We spent over half of our payroll in 2011 on the defense but you never would have known it from watching them play. It was time for a change and I’m really excited about Spags being our D Coordinator and feel good about him being able to turn our D around.

we need to get back to technics in coaching players to do there job that been haunting for 2 yrs, spags will bring back that i believe. sf 49ers did what we did in 09 to take the ball away. it really wins games.

I agree. It was a team loss. Defense can't take all blame when there are five TOs in the game from your Offense and Spc Teams.

I totally agree with this, especially the part about spending over half our payroll on D and not getting our money's worth.

The only reason we lost that game was the turnovers. Bottom line.

Yeah, I also think that one has to look at the whole 3 year stint as a whole and not just fixate on the last game - as a whole it wasn't good enough to keep GW around.

It almost seemed to me that since the Saints let Bobby McCrady go, there really hasn't been a sense of the vicious pass rush that carried the Saints through those playoffs, and especially against the Vikes.

Offense takes every blade of grass...... Defense defends every blade of grass. The D has not defended their grass the last 2 years. The offense speaks for itself. Without this O that we have we might get 5-6 wins a year, our D could not win for us or keep a game close without the O. I do agree about the turnovers, but they did happen.

Well said. As mentioned, you have to judge him on his body of work. A lot (me included) called him a one trick pony but I think you can also call him a 1 year pony as well. He changed the mindset of our D in 2009. Don't know what happened after that. This year we had the lockout and I think that may of had more to do with things than we realize.

I'm sort of getting annoyed by all these analysts and stuff defending Gregg Williams by saying that our secondary made mistakes. And I'm not trying to crucify Gregg Williams or anything, but in all honesty his schemes made it very difficult on the secondary to make the best choices. The way we blitzed constantly without getting any increased pressured on the QB left no slack in the secondary and basically made it difficult to make choices due to their often being no additional help.

There's a common sense when it comes to schemes. If you blitz and don't get there, your secondary is going to be hung out to dry. We hardly ever got there. It's really amazing our secondary held up as good as it did in some situations, but there is a reason that throughout the entire year we gave up huge plays consistently.

Those turnovers prevented us from scoring and keep our defense on the field. With 3-4 more possessions we win by 14-17 points.