saint5221

Everyone is right to focus on the weakness of the Saints abilities to stop the run. We rank very near last in the league in rushing defense giving up 140 yds per game. This is absolutely one of the teams biggest downfalls.

There are two other areas that the Saints are setting the league pace in that are also causing great problems for this team, turnovers and penalties.

The Saints have one of the worst turnover margins in the league at -10 and lead the league in fumbles at 15. Turnovers are one of the worst killers in the league we all know how fast the odds of winning slide with each turnover in a game.

The Saints are one of the most penalized teams in the league as well and even more frustrating they lead with 41 Pre-snap infractions for false start, illegal motion, delay of game or defensive offsides. It\'s hard enough to get past an NFL defense as is, no need to spot them extra yards for a first consistently.

A heavily penalized team that turns the ball over and can\'t stop the run, with that formula it is a wonder we have won as many games as we have this year. The blame for such play is squarely on the coaches heads. A better prepared more focused team, A better coached team, one without as many mistakes and we would be solidly in the playoff hunt not on the fringe.