Crusader

Four things that went wrong against the Texans

1. Tackling: Really there was nothing of note that the Saints did right in this department. The defensive line, linebackers, and secondary consistently tackled poorly. It became a real problem for the defense as the game went on as they would just bounce off defenders, or miss completely.

To tackle is to physically interfere with the forward progress of a player in possession of the ball, such that his forward progress ceases and is not resumed, or such that he is caused to touch some part of his body to the ground other than his feet or hands, or such that he is forced to go out of bounds. In any such case, the ball becomes dead, the down is over, and play ceases until the beginning of the next play. —
Wikipedia

Certainly sounds easy but it’s something the Saints defense could not get done. This week defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is likely to get his defense back to basics with tackling drill after tackling drill.

2. Defensive line play: Re-building the defensive line was an area of focus for the Saints this off-season. They drafted defensive end Cameron Jordan in the first round, signed run stuffing defensive tackles Shaun Rogers and Aubrayo Franklin in free agency, and brought in a bevy of other talented players to help with the pass rush.

None of that seemed to help against Houston as the Texans were able to average over six yards a carry enroute to posting over 200 total rushing yards. Gap integrity was non-existent, and they could not hold up at the point of attack.

In simple terms a 4-3 defensive lineman, whether defensive end or tackle, must rush the passer but also recognize the run adequatetly enough to fill in the gaps and take away the running backs primary and secondary reads.

New Orleans Saints: Four things that went wrong against the Texans | Who Dat Dish

W.T. Sherman is my favorite General. After all he did order Atlanta to be burned to the ground.