SaintFanInATLHELL

There have been quite a few bright spots since that time too.
[quote[
There is quite a bit of optimism for 2008. I have seen improvements especially on the defensive side of the ball. However, there are still question marks in a few places.
One, will Deuce McAllister be anything near his former self? If not, will the Saints give the ball consistantly to Pierre Thomas? [/quote]

This Saints team under Payton doesn't give the ball consistently to anyone in the run game. For all the talk of Deuce being his former self, in 2006 Deuce only ran for 1057 yards on 244 carries. That's an average of 15 carries per game for 66 yards per game.

This Saints offense isn't going to rush for a ton of yards. What they need to be able to do is to be consistent in the run game.

The Saints have three offensive indicators of success: The number of passes Brees throws, the number of turnovers, and the yards per carry. When the Saints have positive results in those areas, the offense does well. Keep Brees' passes around 35, the number of turnovers to 1, and the YPC a shade above 4 and everything is fine.

So does that mean 30 rushes? Nope. Does that mean Deuce or PT23, or Bush needs to gain 1500 yards in a season? Nope. It just means that when the Saints rush thhe ball they need to be productive and not turn the ball over.

Each one of the 4 backs that we have on staff have done it on occasion. The issue is consistency.

If Deuce gets 10 rushes per game for 45 yards, gets 3 first downs, and doesn't turn the ball over, then he's been productive. But that's only 700 yards for the season.

I agree to a point. The running game needs to serve as a counterbalance to the passing game, which is the engine that makes the offense go. If you don't rush productively, then the defense puts in their dime, and rushes the passer, making life tough on Brees and the receivers.

But it only needs to be productive, not explosive. You rush the ball 20 times for 90 yards, and that's enough to make the defense have to defend the run.

Again I agree to a point. Reggie in the backfield made it easier to key on him. Motion him out and keeping another back in the backfield forces a safety or LB out of the box. If you don't account for Reggie, then he burns you.

The other aspect of a productive running game is setting up play action. If a defense knows that you're simply going to wave the ball at the back, then they'll start to ignore the threat of the rush.

The Saints have 4 guys that showed the potential of being productive. I hope that PT23 gets a lot more time on the field so that Deuce can be available when we need him.

The guy is young and can play in a 4-3. He had nearly 300 tackles in 2 years in the Jets 4-3. His injury was freakish and the doctors say that he can fully recover.

There's no reason to think that he can't.

Now let's talk about Morgan. By the time he hits the field again, his last concussion will have been 2 years in the past. It was an Achilles tendon injury that kept him out last year.

Also he'll be playing the Will LB. Many of those tackles that he used to make in the Mike will now go to Vilma.

All Ellis has to do is be himself. His agility and strength will create havoc in the middle of the line. Dude may only get 1 sack all year. But if he facilitates Smith, Grant, and McCray getting 40 among them, then he'll have served the defense well.

Morgan presumably. Shanlee if not. Getting 53 off the field was infinitely more critical than the Will.

Of course! Less balls going over the top will mean less double moves, and less toast.

I expect them to be in the top 15 in yards and scoring, hopefully in the top 10. There will be a vast improvement.

I do believe. I believe that the defense will be tons better. That the offense will be more productive becayse they won't be playing from behind all the time. That PT23 and Deuce will create enough of a running game (along with Reggies occasional contributions) to keep the offense on schedule.

I have my hopes way up. I hope that you can do the same.

SFIAH

Super Bowl Championships: New Orleans Saints:1, Carolina:0, Atlanta Chokers: STILL ZERO

Only Atlanta choked in an unchokable situation... Life is definitely good.

CheramieIII

1. 13-3 regular season.
2. The Dome Patrol is Back.
3. No team can run on us.
4. We're ranked 5th in total defense but 12th against the pass.
5. We beat the Redskins in the NFC Championship.
6. We beat the Jaguars in the Superbowl 31-17.

Now, suck on that for a while!

iceshack149

Despite having a sub par draft last year (in my opinion) my hopes for the Saints were through the roof last year at this time. I've set myself up like this so many times over the years like many on this board have done and when the expectations aren't met I lose more years off my life.

I am exited for the 08 season. Admittedly too excited. I'm intoxicated on kool-aid. Maybe I'll sober up over the next few months.

Looks like another deep thought discussion hosted by JKool. Tempered enthusiasm vs unbridled excitement.

JKool

Hmm... I'm not sure what I had to do with it...

SFIAH, nice analysis!

I'm kind of with lynwood on this one. It is very hard to make much of a prediction on this at least until we know who is going to make the roster.

As of now, it seems pretty safe to say that the improvements we've made and what we have from last year looks VERY good compared to our division rivals.

All said, as of right now, I'm pretty convinced by SFIAH. 13-3 seems like a very good possibility. I always like to throw in an extra loss or two, just to be on the safe side. It looks pretty hard to deny that we'll be the division champs, though.

"... I was beating them with my eyes the whole game..." - Aaron Brooks

iceshack149

You and Hagan have been doing a good job of defining and debating things lately. That's what I meant. Sorry if it appeared as a belittling comment.

hagan714

Sfiah nice post.
iceshack149 belittling comment
the draft does appear to be a bust in 2007 but I think this year we will get a better idea how good or how bad the draft was.
the OL is going to evolve in the next 3 years, IMO, from a pass blocking unit that needed creative play calling to make the run work. To a unit that dares you to stop them. I like the depth of this group, well on paper. Now I want them on the field to see if I can really stomach them. LT is the last ingredient I think we need.

"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

JKool

Ice, I didn't feel belittled at all. I just didn't want to get credit for something I hadn't done.

So many great discussions going on now! I couldn't be more pleased.