The run offense helps the defense
 

Hey All,

This is my first post but I've been reading them for quite a while.

I am a Pittsburgh native (and HUGE steelers fan) who lived in New Orleans for a while and also became a big fan of the Saints. I would love to see them win, the city deserves it. I should probably say that because of his days as DC in the burgh, I'm also a Hazlett fan (for better or worse).

After watching this weekends draft I couldn't help but see last years Steelers as hope for this years Saints. Last year all the members of the Steelers offensive line were healthy, along with Jerome Bettis, and I think that was the reason for the Steelers success on both sides of the ball. I can't remember what the exact statistic was, but I believe that the Steelers had over 60% T.O.P. last year. This was due to their unstoppable running game. Every game the Steelers would score a touchdown, and take over 10 minutes off the clock to do it. The offensive line absolutely mauled every defense they played and broke their spirit in the process. THe steelers oponents were playing catch up (much like the saints last year) and had to change their offensive game plan which made the Pittsburgh defense look even better. I'm certainly not downplaying the defensive playmakers for the steelers but the difference between the 2004 steelers and the 2005 was a healthy offensive line that was playing at a very high level. It affected the Steelers from top to bottom.

All this to say that the addition of Jamal Brown and Newberry could have a very profound impact on the play of the whole saints team. We all know that the saints have lots of offensive firepower, but what happened to it last year? They were taken away from their game plan because they were always playing from behind and couldn't stop the run. If deuce returns to form this year and the line plays as well as billed we could find our defense spending more time in obvious passing situations which could make our defense look better than it probably is. We've now got some good cover guys, and excellent pass rushers.

So no panicing yet...there is much to be excited about.

RUN DEUCE RUN!!!

The run offense helps the defense
 

Good post new guy. Welcome aboard. I have been making the case that a better, more efficient offense last year would have helped our poor defense, but some have poo-pooed the sentiment. The main comfort I take in drafting Brown over DJ is that we will hopefully have the line to grind games out. This can only help our D IMO, but again, I said that last year. So once more, welcome aboard to you.

The run offense helps the defense
 

Anytime you have a dominant running game it helps your defense.

And I do believe that will be the case this year.

However, our defense still has to keep the opposing team off of the score-board.

If not, then our offense will have to match the opponent score-for-score. That\'s not exactly a recipe for success.

As bad as our defense played last year (worst in the NFL in 30 years) the only way we were going to win was by putting up about 30-points per game.

The run offense helps the defense
 

That\'s funny, cause only 5 out of 16 teams put up more than 30 points on us, and 3 of those teams went to the playoffs. :shrug:

The run offense helps the defense
 

What does that mean, saintwhodi? What does that prove?

I\'m a little slow so give me some details and explain \"exactly\" what you mean?

Thanks ..

The run offense helps the defense
 

Exactly why I will leave it where it stands. ;)

The run offense helps the defense
 

Welcome new guy.

A fine post and a good analogy.

Whodi,

As I recall, no one poo-pooed that idea. What they poo-pooed is that the offense HURT the defense. Sure, in some sense that is the case, but in a very relevant sense it is not. I just thought I\'d be clear that I never disagreed that the defense couldn\'t have been helped by the offense - I\'m not sure anyone did. Could be my memory though.