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METAIRIE, La. – When the Saints jettisoned Gary Gibbs following the 2008 season, one of the reasons was clear to anyone watching New Orleans’ professional football team play defense.

The unit couldn’t get the ball away from opponents, coming up with just 22 takeaways in 2008, Gibbs’ final season as defensive coordinator.

As New Orleans (4-1) heads into a key NFC South showdown at Tampa Bay (3-2) on Sunday at 3:15 p.m., the Saints have seemingly taken a step back towards irrelevance in the turnover game.

The Saints have only four takeaways in 2011, second fewest in the league and ahead of only Miami and Pittsburgh, who both have only two takeaways.

That’s a far cry from 2009, when the Saints won the Super Bowl, buoyed by a defense that came up with takeaways when it needed to. New Orleans was second in the NFL that season with 39 takeaways – 17 more than a season earlier – and a plus-11 turnover margin.

“Ultimately, in 2009 we caught them,” Saints cornerback Jabari Greer said. “We caught the balls. That’s something we’re focusing on now.”

Full article below.
Saints having problems taking the ball away | wwltv.com New Orleans

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

All little common sense goes a long way.