WhoDat

OK, I didn\'t read all of the posts in this thread, but I\'ll jump in anyway. Sorry if this has already been said.

The pass defense has gotten somewhat better this year, but that has little or nothing to do with our secondary or scheme. Here\'s why:

1. Last year we scored at will. Teams HAD to abandon the running game and throw on us to keep pace - that equated to greater exposure and more yards.

2. We can\'t stop ANYONE in the running game this year. With an offense that now struggles to score 20, teams can run, and they do it effectively. Besides, there is virtually no threat of getting burned by our defense, so the longer your offense is on the field eating up clock, the better. Teams DO run more - or at least more effectively against us, so they pass less.

3. Our front four are playing much better this year. That pressure directly effects the secondary. Our secondary is not very good, but if they only have to cover for 3 second, they can do that ocassionally. Pressure up front has made them look better.

4. Last year, stopping the run was the focus of the defense. Knight came up and played half safety, half linebacker. That often put him out of position in the passing game and translated into big plays when we only had three men in pass coverage. This year, we don\'t bring Bellamy or Jones up the same way we did with Knight. As a result, we have fewer big plays, but can\'t stop the run. In essence, last year we just asked teams to cut our heads off in one big chop. This year it\'s death by a thousand cuts. Either way, the defense is still a problem. It only looks like less of a problem b/c the offense has stunk it up so much. That makes the defense look better by association - when in fact, they\'re not all that much better.

That\'s my opinion anyway. The defense did get better, but not a lot better. I\'d still say they\'re playing in that 15th to 20th realm. If the offense was putting up 30+, and we were playing teams that don\'t stink (a la the 6 teams we\'ve played with losing records in the last 9 weeks - even the winning teams don\'t have very good offenses - see TB and Carolina), this D would be getting exposed more - and they\'d look a lot like the keystone cops we had out there last season.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ 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.\"