QBREES9

Me too.

MatthewT

Oh yes, Drew threw that one into the ground intentionally. He is too accurate to miss that bad. Unfortunately Drew is on pace to shatter that record this year. The reason I say unfortunately is because having to pass that much is usually an issue. Leads to too many turnovers for sure. If the Saints are going to win the Super Bowl the passing attempts need to come way down.

FinSaint

Well, in 2009, the Saints averaged - 131.6 rushing yards per game; 272.2 passing yards per game; and an average of 403.8 total offense yards per game. Therefore, the ratio between pass and rush was 2:1 (2.1).

This season, the Saints have averaged - 126.1 rushing yards per game; 341.0 passing yards per game; and an average of 467.1 total offense yards per game. Therefore, that same ratio this season has been closer to 3:1 (2.7).

So, that would seem to support your claim that the Saints need to cut down on the pass attempts if they wish to repeat that "winning formula," but we also have to considerer the affect single games can have on these stats. For example, if a team finds itself trailing in most of the games, it has to rely more on the passing game to be able to catch the other team in the scoring, and, needless to say, when a team leads its game for the most part - it will probably use more running plays to control the game and run down the clock. And lastly, we have all been hearing all season along how the league is now a "pass first league ruled by QBs," so would it be safe to say that the increase of the passes is dictated by the overall trend of the play across the league?

Then another thing we could look at would be the attempts, completions, and yards per pass, because they might give us a better perception of the brake down of the passing game between these two seasons.

In 2009, the Saints had 378 completions of 544 attempts with a completion percentage of 69.5% for an average of 8.3 yards per catch in the 16 games of the regular season. That's 34 attempts per game.

This year, the Saints have had 212 completions of 299 attempts with a completion percentage of 70.9% for an average of 8.3 yards per catch in the 7 games they have already played this season. That's 43 attempts per game.

These figures would seem to support the claim that the effectiveness of the passing game has remained very much the same (8.3=8.3; 69.5<70.9), but the number of attempts has increased by almost 30%, which could suggest that the Saints have simply needed to pass more this season than in 2009.

Looking at the numbers it's hard to support the claim that passing is just more effective now, which is why it is done more, because there's really no difference between the seasons in that regard. In fact, in the 2009 season the Saints had an interception per every 45 attempts, but this year they have had an interception per every 37 attempts, which could be interpreted as the defense being better against the Saints passing game this year as opposed to the 2009 season. Of course, there are a number of other things which could/would explain the differences, and this is just one interpretation. I would think myself that the key remains in the individual games and how the game-plan has unfolded during those games because of various circumstances - in addition to the the playing styles and level of performance of the opponents the Saints have played this year.

More numbers crunching, especially in regards to the effectiveness of the running game, would be needed to build a more solid foundation to this line of thought, but I'm just not up for it at this point.

Sorry for going off like this... its just the disease that controls my life.

"I'm not bashing people, I'm bashing their opinions because in my opinion their opinion is wrong" - Danno

Saint_LB

All I know is that Marino never won anything while amassing all those yards. Sometimes passing yardage is higher because you don't run as much.

It can often be misleading. While Cam Newton was tearing it up early in the year, in the games where he had his most yardage...he lost. In the one game where he had around 165 yards passing...he won. I'm not sure what his yardage was in his last win, and I'm not saying that a lot of passing yards always equates to losses.

Passing yardage can be misleading, though, and the teams that are successful more often than not are the ones that have a balance between the pass and the run. JMO, though.

Whether you think you can or think you can't...you're right!

jeanpierre

Several players had drops (and bad routes) during the game but Marques Colston had a drop near the end that would have done it...

And it was the last play that Lance Moore stopped short of the route for fear of being crushed, while he could have easily completed the route he likely would have been hit such he may not have hung on to the ball...

jeanpierre

NFL Videos: NFL GameDay Scoreboard: Panthers vs. Saints highlights

This should help...