New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

I agree that the defense is playing somewhat better than last year, but what gets me is , where does anyone get that the offense is playing like they did last year? This ain\'t yo momma\'s Saints offense. These guys are struggling.

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

LOL - :P Hell if I know Joe. It\'s just crazy. I still blame McCarthy as much as anyone. He keeps pounding Deuce up the middle in the first half. Like last week, Deuce had 6 yards rushing in the first half ( I think). Now I\'m all for Deuce getting the ball, but I don\'t think McCarthy adjusts to what defenses are doing very well. After we get down, then McCarthy opens the offense up. At least that\'s the way it appears to me. I\'m about done trying to figure it out. They don\'t pay me enough. ;)

[Edited on 19/11/2003 by BillyC]

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

It\'s sort of a catch 22. I think Mike would do better if the team could ever manage to get the lead. They always seem to be playing from behind. The results of poor execution, pentalties, and turnovers. For some reason the Saints just come out slow...

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

I tend to agree with that saintfan. I guess I just want to see the Saints offense come out throwing the ball all over the field from the start of the game and I want to fault McCarthy for not doing that. But the truth is that McCarthy\'s play calling is balanced with the run and the pass in the first half. It really does boil down to execution, or lack of, in the passing game. If the receivers would catch the ball and Brooks wouldn\'t make any bad throws, then McCarthy\'s play calling would look much better.

I would still like to see McCarthy get away from running the ball so much in the first half when it isn\'t successful though. But, that\'s just me..........

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

True, unless youRr running game continues to go 3-&-out the entire 1st half. I say we mix it up, take what the defense gives us, utilize all our weapons, and drive down the field at will.
A short completion will chew just as much clock as a 2 yard dive up the middle.

EXTRA POINTS AND KICKOFFS GIVE YOUR DEFENSE A LOT OF REST ALSO.

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

Gator --

I don\'t think McCarthy is trying to control the clock and win it on the last drive. I believe McCarthy is trying to score on every drive. Saintfan is right, the lack of execution has a lot to do with the slow starts in the first half. It\'s frustrating to watch Deuce run up the middle for little or no gain in the first half, but I believe McCarthy does that to set-up the play action pass later on in the game.

Also, I believe McCarthy likes to have a balanced attack with the run and pass. If you look at the stats at the end of the first half, it\'s usually about 50% run and pass. I don\'t guess I can fault McCarthy\'s play calling, as much as I want to.

The players need to take it upon themselves to cut out the mistakes. Remember the great 49\'er offenses? The play calling wasn\'t much different. They just executed. They didn\'t hurt themselves with penalties and actually caught the ball. And yes, Montana put the ball where it was suppose to be. Brooks needs to tighten his azz up in the first half too.......


Just a little food for thought here. Below are some of the least penalyzed teams in the league. They are also some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Coniencidence? I think not. We\'ve got to reduce the penalties.....


Team/ number of penalties

St. Louis 60
Philadelphia 57
Seattle 55
Indianapolis 55
Kansas City 52
Green Bay 47



[Edited on 20/11/2003 by BillyC]

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

Saintfan and Billy are onto the issue facing the offense. The mistakes are stalling drives and killing opportunities and with alarming frequency.

This team is one of the league leaders in pre-snap penalties, these are killers and there is no excuse for them. They put you in a hole before you even have a chance to execute a play and cannot be blamed on any thing other than lack of focus. It is tough enough to make 10 yards per set of downs much less 15 or 20. I have not charted this but how often do you see these mistakes cropping up a critical points in the game as well? I know the Saints are a leader in third down conversions, but think of how many third downs you have seen blown by motion penalties, dropped passes and missed throws to wide open receivers.

Better execution and McCarthy looks like a genius The madding thing is the mistakes are coming from every part of the offense. False starts by lineman and receivers add to the mix poor catching, errant passes and missed blocks and the Saints put a lot of pressure on themselves to execute longer plays in more obvious situations. The fact they over come this and play relatively error free when the pressure is on is great, but just think what we could do if we only have to fight Philly next week and not ourselves too.