Danno

Three to Focus on – Buccaneers @ Saints, Week 9 November 4th, 2011 | Author: Gordon McGuinness

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1) LeGarrette Blount vs. The Saints’ linebackers

... Of the Saints’ top four linebackers, only Scott Shanle has a positive grade against the run. All four of them have missed at least three tackles so far, and both JoLonn Dunbar (-5.6) and Johnathan Casillas (-5.9) are ranked amongst the worst five 4-3 outside linebackers against the run. Believe it or not, no middle or inside linebacker in the league has a worse grade against the run than Johnathan Vilma (-7.7 against the run). It all potentially adds up to a long day for the Saints as they try and stop Blount.

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2) Michael Bennett vs. Zach Strief

Bucs defensive end Michael Bennett (+19.5) has produced two of the best weeks of any player in the NFL this year. Strief didn’t exactly light things up before his injury, so it will be interesting to see how he handles Bennett on his return to the starting lineup.

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3) Drew Brees vs. Josh Freeman

After a fast start to the year, Josh Freeman (+10.8) has struggled recently. He was terrible in London against the Bears, finishing the game with an overall grade of -4.4. He’s particularly struggled going downfield, where he has completed just five of 16 passes and of his 10 interceptions, seven have come when he’s thrown the ball across the middle of the field. By contrast, Drew Brees is having a fantastic year. Using our signature stat, Quarterback Accuracy Percentage which takes into account dropped passes, spiked balls and throwaways, Brees’ accuracy for the season so far comes in at a staggering 76.5%. He trails only Aaron Rodgers in that regard. And in terms of his full grade, Brees is our top ranked quarterback and leads the league by nearly 400 yards in terms of passing yards. It’s safe to say that Brees will show up on Sunday, the question is which Josh Freeman will be on the opposite side?
Rest of article: Three to Focus on - Bucs @ Saints | ProFootballFocus.com

DJB76

The Saints better get Jimmy Graham involved. He's their impact performer...

NFL RedZone Report Week 9 : The XLog

strato

Vilma might not play with that sprained knee..might be Dunbar in there trying to stop Blount..better be our front four..

Danno

Martez Wilson was the number 1 ranked MLB in the 2011 draft.

I'm just sayin.

strato

Yeah i know..would be nice to have him in there eventually..

dizzle88

Vilma hasn't seemed like himself recently, it's probably the injury but I've seen replay after replay of him diving for the tackle and the runner being 2 steps ahead, he used to make those tackles

iceshack149

I would argue that the Saints need to get Graham less involved. He's played pretty well and Colston and Sproles are great but why isn't Brees throwing to Meachem, Moore, and Henderson more? Spreading the ball around is something he used to do a lot more but he sure seems to be looking for one specific guy each time he throws the ball.

Budsdrinker

The problem is more often then not nobody else is getting separation so he is throwing it up for grabs to his taller receivers in Graham and Colston. Besides the last int in the Tampa game when Meachem was open in the left side of the endzone, no one else has separated from their defenders and actually been open.

dizzle88

Plus meachem just tips the ball up to defenders around him, thinks he's playing volleyball.
Moore needs to get "moore involved" cuz he's our best WR.

SaintsBro

I think one of the key matchups that needs to be discussed has got to be coaching -- Raheem Morris vs. Sean Payton straight up is a no-brainer (Payton wins) but if Payton is not able to coach effectively from the booth or call the right plays, it's like a gift from the gods falling into Raheem Morris' lap. Raheem Morris as head coach versus no head coach at all on the Saints sideline, with Payton injured in the locker room watching it on TV -- well that was actually a pretty even matchup, a pretty even game, as we learned last time. No Payton on the other sideline makes Raheem look better than he is.

Whenever Sean Payton has coached against Raheem Morris in the past, he's consistently clobbered him, unless some other factor came into play, like pulling starters or closing the Saints playbook completely in the second half because of the approaching playoffs, freak missed field goal or a freaking BROKEN LEG. That's the only thing that makes this series between them interesting. Every "normal" game between these two coaches, with both teams healthy, has pretty much ended up a Saints romp. So, the impact in this game of head coaching, X's and O's, and Carmichael's playcalling, adjustments, etc. is going to be huge.