Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances

LBCutta · 01-28-2010, 01:26 AM

Brees is in the top 2 or 3 in QBs in NFL we know this. But Im concerned about his play in BIG Playoff games. He tends to struggle when he is outside of his blowout confort zone. Out of the 4 playoff games he has played in with the Saints he only truly showed up in one. And that was against the Cardinals. Phila in 06 he made mistakes and looked uneasy, same in Chicago. And last week against Minnesota he did not play his best game by far. His accuracy was off big time. It seems that the big game pressure gets to him at times. And I really feel that if the game was on the line last week and Brees had to score a TD to win we would have lost. We needed an unlikely hero in Hartley to win. And I feel it may come down to this in the SB. What do you all think?

SaintPauly · 01-28-2010, 01:40 AM

I just have to point out, all of the drops by WRs in the Vikings game as well. You get rid of all of those, and Brees has 300 yards, to go with the three touchdowns he passed for. Not to mention he had NO picks, at all.

I really don't think this is something you should worry about bro.

Choupique · 01-28-2010, 06:57 AM

I'm more concerned about fair weather fans.

RailBoss · 01-28-2010, 07:04 AM

Blowout comfort zone is a great description this is where Drew struggles. We saw it in Dallas and Minnesota who brought the same type of pressure which took him out of his game rythem.

whodatsaintsfan26 · 01-28-2010, 07:21 AM

You should also look at the rushing numbers in the games that Brees has struggled. If the defense doesnt respect the run it makes it harder for the QB to make plays. If you cant run the ball, or dont try to run the ball the pass rush is always coming hard. The Arizona game 34 carries at 5 YPC and a total of 171 yards rushing. Opens up the throwing lanes. The Vikings 23 carris at 3 YPC and 61 yards rushing. If the Saints have success running the ball Brees can tear a defense up, but if he is counted on to carry the entire offensive load that is where the struggles seem to be to me.

foreverfan · 01-28-2010, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by Choupique

I'm more concerned about fair weather fans.

xan · 01-28-2010, 07:54 AM

Brees has a tendency to sail the ball under pressure. He throws a high ball to begin with, but looking at the incompletes from the last half the season you can see more than a trend to miss high. I watched the replay last night, and, aside from the incompletions where he bounced the ball at someone's feet due to pressure, all his throws were too high, and misses were exceptionally high. Wide open receivers never had a shot at most balls. Shockey's wheel route, Meachem's go, Thomas on the PI play in OT are the best examples, where the receiver had a decided advantage and Brees panicked and overthrew the ball.

Plus, did anyone notice his staccato footwork after getting a few hits? He was particularly susceptible to pressure and utterly unfluid moving around the pocket. I'll bet if we could see inside the helmet, he had deer-eyes. He better grow up quick and get control of these issues. He rushed practically everything as the pressure built and needs to slow things down a bit, because if you think the NFC Championship Game had an elevated level of speed to it, just wait for the Super Bowl speed.

LBCutta · 01-28-2010, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by whodatsaintsfan26

You should also look at the rushing numbers in the games that Brees has struggled. If the defense doesnt respect the run it makes it harder for the QB to make plays. If you cant run the ball, or dont try to run the ball the pass rush is always coming hard. The Arizona game 34 carries at 5 YPC and a total of 171 yards rushing. Opens up the throwing lanes. The Vikings 23 carris at 3 YPC and 61 yards rushing. If the Saints have success running the ball Brees can tear a defense up, but if he is counted on to carry the entire offensive load that is where the struggles seem to be to me.

very true. And I think we will be more successful running the ball against the Colts. I think we can win this but only if we are balanced. 60 mins stands between is and a World Championship......wow

SaintGup · 01-28-2010, 08:27 AM

Wow. All of a sudden Brees is a problem for some people. SaintPaul25 is right about the drops and the yards he would have made but I really don't think we should worry. I think that WE should be the ones to realise that not all games will have Brees throwing 300+ yards and three touchdowns. He managed the game well, threw no INTs and his unquestionable leadership was and always will be there. And the Vikings D were not like the Cowboys. Our O line did a stand up job against a D line who people said were going to get to Brees. In fact Jared Allen, whom I have great respect for, was totally negated by the left side. Maybe Brees doesn't throw a perfect spiral 100% of the time but he's damn close and at an NFL record 70.6% completion in the regular season, he must be doing something right.

SaintPauly · 01-28-2010, 08:35 AM

Also, someone said earlier, and I agree with 100%, I think the team will have less pressure on themselves in the Superbowl, than they did in the NFCCG. With the history of the team, and the weight of the entire who dat nation on their backs to win, I'm sure the jitters were there. Now they are in it. Yes, they want to win, but I think just knowing, no matter what, they are there, will calm them down considerably.

01-28-2010, 01:26 AM	#1
LBCutta 500th Post Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Killeen, TX....Born in Marrero, LA Posts: 592	Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances Brees is in the top 2 or 3 in QBs in NFL we know this. But Im concerned about his play in BIG Playoff games. He tends to struggle when he is outside of his blowout confort zone. Out of the 4 playoff games he has played in with the Saints he only truly showed up in one. And that was against the Cardinals. Phila in 06 he made mistakes and looked uneasy, same in Chicago. And last week against Minnesota he did not play his best game by far. His accuracy was off big time. It seems that the big game pressure gets to him at times. And I really feel that if the game was on the line last week and Brees had to score a TD to win we would have lost. We needed an unlikely hero in Hartley to win. And I feel it may come down to this in the SB. What do you all think?

01-28-2010, 01:40 AM	#2
SaintPauly Senior Citizen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Gulfport, MS Posts: 3,180 Blog Entries: 1	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances I just have to point out, all of the drops by WRs in the Vikings game as well. You get rid of all of those, and Brees has 300 yards, to go with the three touchdowns he passed for. Not to mention he had NO picks, at all. I really don't think this is something you should worry about bro.

01-28-2010, 06:57 AM	#3
Choupique 1000 Posts + Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,594	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances I'm more concerned about fair weather fans.
Choupique 1000 Posts + Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,594

01-28-2010, 07:04 AM	#4
RailBoss 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: South Of The Mason Dixon Line Posts: 7,113	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances Blowout comfort zone is a great description this is where Drew struggles. We saw it in Dallas and Minnesota who brought the same type of pressure which took him out of his game rythem.

01-28-2010, 07:21 AM	#5
whodatsaintsfan26 500th Post Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Dallas Texas Posts: 577	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances You should also look at the rushing numbers in the games that Brees has struggled. If the defense doesnt respect the run it makes it harder for the QB to make plays. If you cant run the ball, or dont try to run the ball the pass rush is always coming hard. The Arizona game 34 carries at 5 YPC and a total of 171 yards rushing. Opens up the throwing lanes. The Vikings 23 carris at 3 YPC and 61 yards rushing. If the Saints have success running the ball Brees can tear a defense up, but if he is counted on to carry the entire offensive load that is where the struggles seem to be to me.

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01-28-2010, 07:26 AM	#6
foreverfan 12,000 BS Posts Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Metairie, LA Posts: 13,457 Blog Entries: 5	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances Originally Posted by Choupique I'm more concerned about fair weather fans.

01-28-2010, 07:54 AM	#7
xan Professor Crab and Site Donor 2014 Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Princeton Posts: 3,355 Blog Entries: 34	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances Brees has a tendency to sail the ball under pressure. He throws a high ball to begin with, but looking at the incompletes from the last half the season you can see more than a trend to miss high. I watched the replay last night, and, aside from the incompletions where he bounced the ball at someone's feet due to pressure, all his throws were too high, and misses were exceptionally high. Wide open receivers never had a shot at most balls. Shockey's wheel route, Meachem's go, Thomas on the PI play in OT are the best examples, where the receiver had a decided advantage and Brees panicked and overthrew the ball. Plus, did anyone notice his staccato footwork after getting a few hits? He was particularly susceptible to pressure and utterly unfluid moving around the pocket. I'll bet if we could see inside the helmet, he had deer-eyes. He better grow up quick and get control of these issues. He rushed practically everything as the pressure built and needs to slow things down a bit, because if you think the NFC Championship Game had an elevated level of speed to it, just wait for the Super Bowl speed.
	Calvin: "I wish I was a Tiger." Hobbes: "Common lament."

01-28-2010, 08:12 AM	#8
LBCutta 500th Post Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Killeen, TX....Born in Marrero, LA Posts: 592	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances Originally Posted by whodatsaintsfan26 You should also look at the rushing numbers in the games that Brees has struggled. If the defense doesnt respect the run it makes it harder for the QB to make plays. If you cant run the ball, or dont try to run the ball the pass rush is always coming hard. The Arizona game 34 carries at 5 YPC and a total of 171 yards rushing. Opens up the throwing lanes. The Vikings 23 carris at 3 YPC and 61 yards rushing. If the Saints have success running the ball Brees can tear a defense up, but if he is counted on to carry the entire offensive load that is where the struggles seem to be to me. very true. And I think we will be more successful running the ball against the Colts. I think we can win this but only if we are balanced. 60 mins stands between is and a World Championship......wow

01-28-2010, 08:27 AM	#9
SaintGup 500th Post Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: London, England Posts: 580	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances Wow. All of a sudden Brees is a problem for some people. SaintPaul25 is right about the drops and the yards he would have made but I really don't think we should worry. I think that WE should be the ones to realise that not all games will have Brees throwing 300+ yards and three touchdowns. He managed the game well, threw no INTs and his unquestionable leadership was and always will be there. And the Vikings D were not like the Cowboys. Our O line did a stand up job against a D line who people said were going to get to Brees. In fact Jared Allen, whom I have great respect for, was totally negated by the left side. Maybe Brees doesn't throw a perfect spiral 100% of the time but he's damn close and at an NFL record 70.6% completion in the regular season, he must be doing something right.

01-28-2010, 08:35 AM	#10
SaintPauly Senior Citizen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Gulfport, MS Posts: 3,180 Blog Entries: 1	Re: Concerns about Brees' Playoff Performances Also, someone said earlier, and I agree with 100%, I think the team will have less pressure on themselves in the Superbowl, than they did in the NFCCG. With the history of the team, and the weight of the entire who dat nation on their backs to win, I'm sure the jitters were there. Now they are in it. Yes, they want to win, but I think just knowing, no matter what, they are there, will calm them down considerably.