SaintsBro

I know what you mean, ridiculous that they did all that from the 6, but that is what Atlanta ALWAYS DOES to us -- they hang around until the very end, and often get a bunch of points, in desperation, borderline garbage time. They're like the Monty Python "But I'm not dead yet" guy.

Specifically against Atlanta, the problem is that the Saints need to figure out how to "STEP ON THE NECK" and keep that separation, once they get it. And that's both offense and defense.

This has happened plenty of times now -- the Monday night game in the Superdome in '09 the Saints were up 28-14, really starting to take charge, and still it came down to the wire, because the Falcons kept chugging away. It might have not been the red zone but it was close, at the end of the game Ryan was still chucking the ball to our goal line, hoping for a cheap flag or a miracle -- same deal. The December game in the Georgia Dome late last year was kinda similar as well -- we had the lead and the Saints were just about to separate and pull away, when Drew threw that kooky pick 6. And then the Saints defense took away the Falcons' weapons and HELD them again when it really counted, TWICE. It's always like this against the Falcons, folks, and we still win 9 out of 11 of these games!

The defense can certainly improve, NO DOUBT about that. But the real problem is not firing Gregg Williams or Scott Shanle, it's these lapses that happen at what should be crucial "STEP ON THE NECK" moments -- like the Marshawn Lynch run, the Harry Douglas One Man Show, or that other play on Sunday where there were 7 Saints flopping around who couldn't make the tackle on that one guy. Fix THAT, get some more turnovers, and I think this defense would suddenly start to look a LOT more like the '09 defense that everybody loved. And they need to re-learn how to STEP ON THE NECK on offense, too.