GATORMAN RULES

WhoDat · 11-25-2003, 07:05 AM

I don\'t know Billy. I would say that D-line is the strongest part of our defense. Howard, Grant, Whitehead, Sullivan, and Grady have all played pretty well this year. Our linebackers are just that bad.

Same goes for our offense. Our line isn\'t the greatest, but they are NOT bad either. Just b/c Madden (who I think is going senile anyway - if he isn\'t there already) said something on the Monday Night game does not mean it applies to us. Deuce is one of the best running backs in the league, and while he does do A LOT on his own after first contact, the line has done about as good as any other team\'s line in run blocking. In pass protection they had some problems early, but have been pretty damn solid since then. It\'s not like Brooks is running for his life getting hit 20 times a game back there. Most of his passes come when he\'s standing up straight in a well-formed pocket. At least, that\'s what I see.

I have a really hard time blaming either line for the Saints poor play. To me, the major fault on offense is splread between injured and underacheiving WRs, an inconsistent QB, and poor playcalling for most of the year (although you have to admit it\'s been pretty damn good of recent).

On D, we just get worse the farther you get from the line. LBs, CBs, and Safeties could all go (minus D Rodgers and Victor Green in my mind), and I wouldn\'t bat an eyelash. The coordinator is stil the biggest problem with that D. Sorry to the guys who have gotten all warm and fuzzy about Venturi since the D played well against Atlanta and Tampa, but he hasn\'t gotten any better and neither has the D, and VENTURI is STILL the biggest reason why.

11-25-2003, 07:05 AM	#11
WhoDat 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 5,631	GATORMAN RULES I don\'t know Billy. I would say that D-line is the strongest part of our defense. Howard, Grant, Whitehead, Sullivan, and Grady have all played pretty well this year. Our linebackers are just that bad. Same goes for our offense. Our line isn\'t the greatest, but they are NOT bad either. Just b/c Madden (who I think is going senile anyway - if he isn\'t there already) said something on the Monday Night game does not mean it applies to us. Deuce is one of the best running backs in the league, and while he does do A LOT on his own after first contact, the line has done about as good as any other team\'s line in run blocking. In pass protection they had some problems early, but have been pretty damn solid since then. It\'s not like Brooks is running for his life getting hit 20 times a game back there. Most of his passes come when he\'s standing up straight in a well-formed pocket. At least, that\'s what I see. I have a really hard time blaming either line for the Saints poor play. To me, the major fault on offense is splread between injured and underacheiving WRs, an inconsistent QB, and poor playcalling for most of the year (although you have to admit it\'s been pretty damn good of recent). On D, we just get worse the farther you get from the line. LBs, CBs, and Safeties could all go (minus D Rodgers and Victor Green in my mind), and I wouldn\'t bat an eyelash. The coordinator is stil the biggest problem with that D. Sorry to the guys who have gotten all warm and fuzzy about Venturi since the D played well against Atlanta and Tampa, but he hasn\'t gotten any better and neither has the D, and VENTURI is STILL the biggest reason why.
WhoDat 5000 POSTS! + Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 5,631	\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. ThatÃ¢Â€Â™s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans SaintsÃ¢Â€Â™ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse \"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"