New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall



Monday November 17, 2003


John DeShazier


The pats on the back are becoming so much more frequent than kicks in the butt accompanied by acidic commentary, that it's hard to recall that a mere seven weeks ago, the Saints' defense was the scourge of the franchise.

Not much was pretty about the Saints then, when no area seemed a strength, and when a prolonged tailspin showed no signs of ending.

But the defense, it seemed, was the worst of what appeared to be a pretty bad team. Cohesion, none. Consistency? About as firm as applesauce for series, quarters, halves or even entire games.

Click on link for rest..........

http://www.nola.com/saints/t-p/index...5211225230.xml

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

I think its about time that people publicly acknowledge that Venturi is FAR and AWAY the brains of the whole outfit.

The football genius is getting great play out of everyone but Haz\'s pet T-Sucky.

Anybody else with me on Venturi for head coach?

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

Haven\'t we been there before (I\'m thinking at the end of the Mora era, or maybe I\'m confusing it with when he was head coach of the Colts? Somebody tell me if I\'m wrong, but wasn\'t he a disaster as head coach? Not to take anything away from the job he\'s done wiith the defense lately.

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

Venturi may have done well enough to warrant calling him a good defense coordinator...maybe. But that doesn\'t make him a good head coach candidate. As my signature says, unless Haslet turns things around (no less than 9-7), then we should bring in a top-flight coach.

Is Venturi your uncle or something?

[Edited on 18/11/2003 by ScottyRo]

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

Because having the 18th ranked defense in the league after a TOTAL \"overhaul\" that allowed him to sign anyone he wanted and run any system in the world makes him GREAT. Venturi is poo, sorry guys, POO!

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

First of all, the Saints defense is ranked 13th. How do you figure he could sign anyone he wanted? I thought it was called FREE agency? Free, meaning they can sign with any team they want. Remember Lawyer Milloy? He didn\'t want to play for the Saints and I\'m quite sure there were other players that we tried to sign that felt the same way. I think what you meant to say is the Saints didn\'t sign the players YOU wanted them to sign? The WhoDat propaganda machine is in full swing -- ;)

Venturi poo? WhoDat, how can you say that? This defense is a BIG part of the reason we have won the games that we have. If you don\'t want to acknowledge the fact that the defense is 13th, then surely you can acknowledge the FACT that they have won games for us this year.

As hard as you have bashed Venturi I think you should start a thread hononing the great Venturi. No love for Venturi?


P.S. -- Looking at the remaining games we have left on our schedule, I predict that the Saints defense will be ranked in the top 10 by the end of the year.

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

There are two weeks left in November. You know what that means. December is right around the corner. That\'s when we\'ll find out if the Saints defense is for real or not. Does the word \"swoon\" ring a bell? The Saints have just as much potential to make the playoffs as anyone right now, but come December we\'ll find out if they are the \"Playoff Saints\" or the \"Same Old Saints\".

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

D_it_up2 -- I\'m well aware of what happend at the end of the last 2-years. I think the big difference this year is that we have a defense than can help out and is not a liability. I know that everyone is not sold on this defense, but I think there is little doubt that they are better than the defenses of the past 2-years.

Offenses tend to have more ups and downs during the course of a season than do defenses. There are just more opportunities for an offense to screw up, but defenses usually maintain more consistancy. I think with the defense we have now, that the collapses of the last 2-years will be reversed and we will see a season simular to the 2000 season. At least that\'s what I\'m hoping.

[Edited on 19/11/2003 by BillyC]

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

I\'m not concered about McNabb burning our secondary with deep passes nor am I concerned about McNabb running the ball that much. What I am worried about is McNabb dumping the ball off to the running backs. They have made a living doing that this year.

So to answer your question. Yes, I think the Saints D absolutely shuts McNabb down. I think the Saints D will limit the Eagles offense to 20-points or less. That\'s with no turnovers by the Saints offense.

New Orleans' 'D' again riding tall
 

Eagles vs. Packers
D. McNabb 15/31 198 1 0

Eagles vs. Falcons
D. McNabb 21/33 312 1 0

Eagles vs. Giants
D. McNabb 24/30 314 2 0

Eagles vs. Jets
D. McNabb 17/23 141 1 1

McNabb has thrown for a total of 5 TD\'s in the last 4-games. Not exactly a scoring powerhouse in the passing game.

Oct 26 NY Jets W 24-17
Nov 2 @ Falcons W 23-16
Nov 10 @ Packers W 17-14
Nov 16 NY Giants W 28-10

The most points the Eagles scored in their last 4-games was 28 against the Giants and their secondary was severly depleted by injuries. Against Atlanta they only put up 23-points. They Eagles are not a high scoring offense by any stretch of the imagination. As a matter a fact, the 28-points they scored last week was their highest output of the season.

Saints vs. Falcons
A. Brooks 23/30 352 3 0

Saints vs. Panthers
A. Brooks 20/33 187 2 1

Saints vs. Bucs
A. Brooks 13/29 142 1 1

Saints vs. Falcons
A. Brooks 21/37 228 0 2

Books threw for 6-TD\'s in the last 4-games and that ain\'t setting the world on fire either. But he did play 2 of the toughest defenses in the league in that stretch. He also played the Falcons defense twice. What all of this tell us is NOTHING. But I still think we hold the Eagles to 20-points or less if we have no turnovers.



[Edited on 19/11/2003 by BillyC]

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.