New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - The Advocate Marshon Lattimore says 'nothing to panic about' as Saints defensive backs take stock of shocking start

BY JOEL A. ERICKSON | JERICKSON@THEADVOCATE.COM SEP 12, 2018 - 5:30 PM

A secondary that was the strength of the New Orleans defense a season ago took a pounding in the season opener against Tampa Bay, the kind of pounding that can leave a mark.

New Orleans gave up 417 passing yards to Buccaneers backup Ryan Fitzpatrick, but the numbers were even worse than that on closer inspection.

Fitzpatrick's 14.89 yards per pass attempt were the most for any quarterback in a decade. New Orleans gave up two touchdown passes of more than 50 yards, one more than the Saints allowed in all of the 2017 season. In 28 attempts by Fitzpatrick, the secondary only broke up one pass.

The good news is the Saints believe the problems are fixable.

"We watched the film, and it was a lot of, just, technique," cornerback Marshon Lattimore said. "It just wasn't nothing to panic about."

A 58-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson on Tampa Bay's first drive happened when no Saints defensive back ran with him down the field, a clear coverage bust that called to mind the communication issues that had been a chronic problem for the New Orleans secondary from 2014-2016.

Other than Jackson's high-profile catch, though, the problems on Sunday were more technical than mental.

"There were not as many communication or coverage busts as there was technique, pressure (issues)," Saints head coach Sean Payton said.

Lattimore and Ken Crawley thrived on press coverage last season, squaring up with receivers at the line of scrimmage and disrupting their routes with physicality in the first five yards.

New Orleans planned to do the same thing on Sunday.

But it rarely happened.

"Our technique wasn’t great," Payton said. "Our disruption plan at the line of scrimmage with the release patterns, one of the goals in this game was to limit the explosives and we didn’t do that. There weren’t a lot of positives."

New Orleans planned to incorporate press coverage into its game plan and prepared to deal with a variety of looks the Buccaneers gave the Saints on Sunday.

What the Saints were prepared to do and what actually happened once the game began were two different things.

"We didn't do the things we were practicing all week, as far as alignment, techniques on certain routes, certain formations," nickel cornerback Patrick Robinson said. "We didn't do any of that, and it showed."

Individual cornerbacks have off days in the NFL. Entire secondaries go through stretches in games where nothing seems to work.

"Sometimes that happens," Robinson said. "Rarely happens to the point where, the whole game, we're messing up. ... I'm not going to say messing up, but we didn't play our game."

Lattimore, the reigning Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowler a season ago, struggled against Mike Evans, a receiver he locked down in both meetings with the Buccaneers last fall.

For a player who was so good as a rookie, the performance was startling, but Lattimore plans to use the disappointment of Sunday's game as fuel moving forward.

"It ain't high school, where you're going to win every battle, every time," Lattimore said. "We play them twice, so it's not the last time we're going to see him. I'm seeing him for many years to come. ... He's a good player. He won this time. I have to go in and win the next time."

Now, the challenge is getting things turned around in time to face a Browns team flush with talent at the receiver position. Former LSU and Miami Dolphins star Jarvis Landry is one of the best possession receivers in the game, and running mate Josh Gordon is one of the NFL's freak athletes, capable of a big play at any moment. Rookie Antonio Callaway is another big-play threat.

If the Saints don't fix their technical issues, Cleveland is more than capable of approximating Fitzpatrick's performance, a reality that isn't lost on Lattimore and rest of the secondary.

"You've got to know how to bounce back from a loss," Lattimore said. "I feel like we're going to do that this weekend. We have to do it this weekend. We're at the bottom of the league right now."

A place the Saints did not expect to be after the way they played last season.