Saints relearn importance of offensive balance

QBREES9 · 09-13-2010, 05:04 PM

NEW ORLEANS—For the Saints, balance is better.

The Saints know what Drew Brees can do, and they know he has plenty of weapons. But after starting the game a little pass-happy in their 14-9 victory over the Vikings, the Saints found their running game in the second half and it paid off.

Running back Pierre Thomas had 70 of his 71 rushing yards in the second half, including scoring the game's go-ahead touchdown and helping the Saints control the ball for more than 21 minutes after halftime.

"We didn't run the ball a lot in the first half," Thomas said. "We needed to be a little more balanced. We started pounding in the second half more."

The aerial attack led by Brees is the backbone of the Saints' offense. But they won a championship by making opposing teams respect their running game as well, which opened up more opportunities for Brees with play-action passes.

Brees does not want to get away from that this season. So on a night when the offense only produced 14 points, Brees (27-for-36, 237 yards, one touchdown) left the Superdome happy, despite not lighting up the scoreboard.

"We feel like we're a very balanced offense," Brees said. "I felt like we really established (the run) in the third quarter, and obviously we were able to finish the game with that."

Spectacular it was not. Satisfying it was.

09-13-2010, 05:04 PM	#1
QBREES9 Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Haven Ct Posts: 23,989	Saints relearn importance of offensive balance NEW ORLEANS—For the Saints, balance is better. The Saints know what Drew Brees can do, and they know he has plenty of weapons. But after starting the game a little pass-happy in their 14-9 victory over the Vikings, the Saints found their running game in the second half and it paid off. Running back Pierre Thomas had 70 of his 71 rushing yards in the second half, including scoring the game's go-ahead touchdown and helping the Saints control the ball for more than 21 minutes after halftime. "We didn't run the ball a lot in the first half," Thomas said. "We needed to be a little more balanced. We started pounding in the second half more." The aerial attack led by Brees is the backbone of the Saints' offense. But they won a championship by making opposing teams respect their running game as well, which opened up more opportunities for Brees with play-action passes. Brees does not want to get away from that this season. So on a night when the offense only produced 14 points, Brees (27-for-36, 237 yards, one touchdown) left the Superdome happy, despite not lighting up the scoreboard. "We feel like we're a very balanced offense," Brees said. "I felt like we really established (the run) in the third quarter, and obviously we were able to finish the game with that." Spectacular it was not. Satisfying it was.
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