Our D: It is what it is
 

After 5 games into the season, I'm starting to accept the fact that our Defense is "good" - not "great". I had so many high expectations before the season started with the addition of Franklin, Rogers, and Jordan (who's been very good) - the promotion of Casillas to starter, and the continued development of Jenkins at FS. I thought our D would be much better than they've been. I'm starting to wonder whether or not Gregg Williams is over-rated, although at this point, I wouldn't trade him for any other DC out there because of the chemistry and intensity that he brings to the team. One thing that stands out to me is that G3 seems more focused on getting sacks rather than creating turnovers. Honestly, it's great to get those sacks, but what good is it if you can't stop the other team on 3rd and long? The intensity and nastiness that he supposedly brings to the sideline doesn't seem to be translating on the field.

Here are our rankings through week 5:

Yds allowed - 16th
Pass - 16th
Rush - 15th
Sacks - 6th
TD's - 24th
INT's- 21st

I am bashing them pretty hard myself.

I am seriously hoping that what happens in the NFL happens to us this year and that is you want your D to come together and peak late in the season and into the playoffs. Much like our SB year and the Giants.

My problem I am having is that the SB year there were flashes on D of what they were capable of and what to expect if it came together and sure enough!

So far this year all I am seeing is the flashes of the playoff game with Seattle.

I think a lot of it is the personnel we have on the field ..lets say we had the Jets secondary..the Lions D line..and the Niners LBs...then what would we be like?..I think G.W would have the number 1 ranked D..

JMHO

There's no pressure without bringing the house.
Tackling leaves a lot to be said and done.
Even the sack stat is scued in my view...Harper has half of them.
I haven't seen enough games from start to finish to match to the numbers,
but I still see our DB's high on the list of leading tacklers every week,
and O-lineman low on the list every week.
The one game we lost was the one where we just couldn't outscore our opponent.
Every week is new, so I'll stay hopeful and look for fundamental improvements.

GW is scheming with less than average talent.....it ain't his fault we can't tackle.(is it?)

The biggest difference is turnovers! In 09 we had 26 picks with 5 returned for TD. Sharper had 9 picks alone and we caught just about everything that hit our hands. Right now we have 3 and I see at least 2 drop picks every game. If I were GW I would make every DB spend an hour a day catching balls off the jugg!

They'll get better. They got a lot of pressure on Cam but what else can you do, he's very good at escaping with his feet and making tough throws for most QB's. He's been doing it all season. Then that gimmick option they make work. Very tough to defend. Nobody really has an answer for it.

doubt it, bend dont break, with occasional breaks will be our theme this year.

I'm not sure I agree with this. We made big upgrades in the middle with Rogers and Franklin. Smith is in the best shape we've seen him in in a while, our secondary has only improved, with Greer/Porter healthy and P-Rob/Jenkins developing well. Only real area we didn't upgrade was at LB.

So, is it really that GW is working w/ less than average talent? Maybe so, but sometimes I think we out-think ourselves. And, that's coaching.

Get back to basics; blocking and tackling. Also, what about the 1st year that we had GW? Remember all the hooplah about him changing the culture in practice? Everyone running full-speed to the balls on the ground? I haven't heard too much about that happening anymore. Not saying it isn't, but it makes you wonder....

A lot of it could also be the new CBA with the limited amount of time you can practice in full pads.

You make a good point. I was mentioning this very thing to a friend Sunday right before the game. The plus/minus piece is huge, and we have to figure out a way to stop the "Missed Opportunities". Right off the bat, P-Rob makes a nice stab for a pick...and that's great. But then, later in the game, Shanle drops one right in the friggin bread basket, and a few plays later Carolina scores...and that sucks!

We have to try and minimize the missed opps, and take advantage of them when they come our way.

That name keeps popping up...

Shanle.

Picture Jerry Seinfeld uttering his name in the manner of "Newman"!

But he's Benson's cousin's son, so...

Alaska

Yes it is VERY much his fault. You can scheme and plan all you want but unless you instill the very basics of playing Defense then it is all for NOT.

One would think that once you got to the pro level you'll be well verse in all your fundamentals but it isn't true, you have to continue to develop and hone your skills.

I mean cmon...Prob didnt "Pick" that off...it was a gift , wrapped with a bow on it. Jason David could have picked that off. thats like saying Shanle ran someone down because hes sooo fast. Not knockin prob, becuase hes going to be good...but are we all forgeting how A. Rodgers TORCHED him, play after play after play after play after play, and the rest of our D....hes not all of a sudden a great player. neither are the Shanles of our D, when we play elite teams,this defense will struggle just like it did on opening night.

I really had high hopes for our D this offseason with all the moves, maybe thats why Im so bitter right now. I see the problem as being pretty simple. WE CANT GET PRESSURE WITHOUT THE BLITZ, so good teams will spread us out so we cant blitz. I mean look what the Jags tried to do.. they opened the game spreading us out, they just happen to suck so it wasnt all that productive.

someone please tell me why Shaun Rogers hasnt been what I thought he would be? I dont get it.

Benson's cousin's son WOW!!!!! if true that explains why we can't cut/trade or throw him away!!!!!1

I tend to agree..but we did get pressure..the game comes on again tonight Im gonna watch it again...from what i saw the problem was we were playing a mobile QB and he would slide over or just flat out scramble...

I think our LBs need to contain the oustside just as much as we need to pressure the QB...im still wondering why we haven't tried using Junior G as a stand up OLB in a 3-4 set..we have Casillas who could help on one side and slide Dunbar and Vilma to the middle ..that gets Shanle off the field..I know Casillas is small ...but Harper might can help on run plays..I dunno..we just don't have the talent to do a lot of things we need to do...we need to get two stud LBs in the draft or free agency next in the worst kinda of way..

JMHO

I'd like to disagree with this also. There's plenty of talent on that front 7 and in our secondary. We just aren't performing. Both coaching and players are to blame... there's plenty to go around. It's a team effort.

I agree. I think we have good talent, just not getting what we need from them.
I could probably count Jordan-Franklin-Rogers-Ellis total tackles in 5 games on my fingers.
If not, I would be pretty close.

I don't know if it's GW's fault that we can't tackle, but it certainly is his responsibility.

Nobody has been harder on the "D" than me, and like everybody else I am hopeful that it will improve as the season goes along.

I mean, you know, it better improve, otherwise teams will run the option on us to the tune of 27+ points a game...

More Ints & more FRs would mean better numbers across the board!!

For what its worth, I was listening to The Sirus Blitz today and Schein & Gannon were talking about defense in general. Teams with better than average offenses are going up and down the field between the 20's on everybody. What is making the difference is the Red Zone Defense. Once the field compresses, then coverage gets tighter, less room to manuever etc. What is winning games is holding teams to FG's.

I dont get this. We rarely get to the QB unless its a ****ty Oline like the Bears. The reason we cannot tackle worth a damn is because he coaches the players to go for the strip rather than to wrap up and actually tackle. I think if he focused less on creating turnovers and more on the fundamentals like tackling and blocking the turnovers and sacks would follow. IMO the biggest knock on GW is that he focuses too much on the turnovers.

The good news is right now most of the better teams aren't doing that well on defense. I do believe the Saints will improve as the season progresses. It has been a frustrating start, especially considering the expectations we all have. At this point I would love for the Saints defense to get even more aggressive with blitzes. Their front line isn't able to do it without help. I know blitzes gets you burned, but I will take a couple of burns at this point if that means shutting the rest of it down. Whatever happened to that 46 defense Williams was suppose to install, at least on a part time basis? Well, I haven't seen much of it this season. Perhaps he is saving it for later... LOL

The tackling has been weak. I watch Baltimore or Pittsburg and those guys are wrapping and dropping like crazy. I dream of seeing a bunch of Black and Gold slobberknockers but you know what? Their W L numbers aren't any better than ours. It seems like the JETW defense is the way to go this year. I'll be happy if we can just cut out those ridiculous long runs against us.


(Just Enough To Win)

...and still is.

I seriously wouldn't call them average. You know they are going to run and you have to stop them and you give them 6-10 yards a carry... yikes.

Our defense is very inconsistent! It's almost like they only put out any effort 10% of the game...

At least they are good at one thing... "being inconsistent".

No I say they are pretty consistant now. They couldn't stop Seattle in the playoffs and have made ever offense we played against this year pretty good minus the second half vs Chicago.

I'd say that the Saints defense right now is mediocre.

Saints offense has a mediocre running game.

The only thing that the Saints do better than most is the passing game. Other than that, Saints are fairly pedestrian.