MatthewT |
01-11-2011 12:38 AM |
Saints lost because they were a flawed team to begin with, and got taken down in a playoff game. Take Brees for example, in 2006 he had 554 passing attempts, NFC Championship game. In 2007 had 652 attempts, in 2008 had 635 attempts, missed playoffs both times. Super Bowl Champs 2009 had 514 attempts (adjusted average over 16 games 548). In 2010 had 658 attempts, Saints lose in wild card.
Basically just the Brees stats do show a consistent pattern. I know there is a lot more to it, but just the passing attempts illustrates why balance is needed, and the Saints didn't really have that this year. In the NFL teams cannot just simply pass the ball all the time and expect to make it all the way. I know the Saints were seriously bitten by injuries in the run game, so I get the Saints having to pass so much.
This years version of the Saints was basically no running game, which killed the deep passing game, which killed the defense, and special teams no help at all. Seattle was smart enough to take advantage of the flaws and won them a playoff game.
|