Opportunistic defense carries New Orleans Saints again: film study

Attached Thumbnails · 09-22-2010, 06:34 PM

It's tempting to look at the New Orleans Saints No. 23 defensive ranking and think they're the weak spot in the club's arsenal.

G. Andrew Boyd/The Times-Picayune
The New Orleans Saints defense tends to give up big plays, but makes key ones when they need to.
At times, the Saints yield yards at an alarming rate, as they did in their 25-22 win against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night.

But just when your ready to rip into them, they come up with a huge play or create a momentum-changing turnover to save the day.
The resume now spans all of the 2009 season and two games into 2010. The body of work is sufficient enough that their performance can no longer be written off as lucky.
This is what the Saints do. They pressure on third down. Play good red-zone defense. And attack the ball at every opportunity, looking to create turnovers.
This is their identity.
The Saints allowed 417 yards to the 49ers and made Alex Smith look like Joe Montana reincarnated for four quarters but they managed to force four turnovers and allowed only a handful of explosive plays.
Not surprisingly, the Saints rank second in the NFL in takeway/giveaway ratio with a plus-five differential. The Saints also ranked second in 2009.
That's not a coincidence.
That's a trend.

read more

QBREES9 · 09-23-2010, 12:46 AM

The Steeler D is carrying them

Rugby Saint II · 09-23-2010, 04:59 PM

GW hasn't given either one of the teams we played the same look twice. I love these exotic packages that we come up with. Payton is mixing it up on the O line too. It doesn't look like we are going to give away too much early in the season.

st thomas · 09-23-2010, 05:06 PM

i hope he unleashes his best sunday

homerj07 · 09-23-2010, 09:27 PM

I agree - BUT.... We gave up waaaaaay to many yards. We do need to stop giving up so many yards.

Where is JUNIOR?????

09-22-2010, 06:34 PM	#1
Threaded by SmashMouth I donated, did you? Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mandeville, LA Posts: 38,125 Blog Entries: 29 Rating: (0 votes - average) It's tempting to look at the New Orleans Saints No. 23 defensive ranking and think they're the weak spot in the club's arsenal. G. Andrew Boyd/The Times-Picayune The New Orleans Saints defense tends to give up big plays, but makes key ones when they need to. At times, the Saints yield yards at an alarming rate, as they did in their 25-22 win against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. But just when your ready to rip into them, they come up with a huge play or create a momentum-changing turnover to save the day. The resume now spans all of the 2009 season and two games into 2010. The body of work is sufficient enough that their performance can no longer be written off as lucky. This is what the Saints do. They pressure on third down. Play good red-zone defense. And attack the ball at every opportunity, looking to create turnovers. This is their identity. The Saints allowed 417 yards to the 49ers and made Alex Smith look like Joe Montana reincarnated for four quarters but they managed to force four turnovers and allowed only a handful of explosive plays. Not surprisingly, the Saints rank second in the NFL in takeway/giveaway ratio with a plus-five differential. The Saints also ranked second in 2009. That's not a coincidence. That's a trend. read more Attached Thumbnails
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09-23-2010, 12:46 AM	#2
QBREES9 Moderator Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: New Haven Ct Posts: 23,985	The Steeler D is carrying them

09-23-2010, 04:59 PM	#3
Rugby Saint II Bounty Money $$$ Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 5800 Airline Dr. Metairie, LA. Posts: 24,052	GW hasn't given either one of the teams we played the same look twice. I love these exotic packages that we come up with. Payton is mixing it up on the O line too. It doesn't look like we are going to give away too much early in the season.

09-23-2010, 05:06 PM	#4
st thomas Site Donor 2018 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: lafayette Posts: 7,753	i hope he unleashes his best sunday

09-23-2010, 09:27 PM	#5
homerj07 In Doh We Trust Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Central Florida Posts: 7,027 Blog Entries: 16	I agree - BUT.... We gave up waaaaaay to many yards. We do need to stop giving up so many yards. Where is JUNIOR?????