SaintsBro

It's not that turnovers aren't important. They're very important. But I think ScottF is sorta on to something there. I think people get lulled into thinking that the Saints' defense is REALLY BAD, because they don't have those spectacular amazing plays that make us cheer like they did in '09. But they're NOT really bad (okay, they're not really great either, but when the defense WORKS, it's good enough).

This year there were a lot of dull, uninteresting STOPS where we got the ball back, got the other team's offense off the field, shut a team's particular favorite weapon down, etc. There weren't as many spectacular Sportscenter-type highlight reel plays, just ordinary plays like:

- Jenkins' 3rd down open field tackle on Chris Johnson
- stuffing the falcons on 4th and 1 (huge play)
- porter breaks up the pass on the next-to-last Titans play
- Houston's four drives inside the 20 that resulted in only field goals
- holding the Buccaneers to only 6 points in the whole 2nd half (in the game we lost when Payton went down with the knee)
- the first Carolina game where Cam's final drive stalled out around midfield, giving us the victory
- Will Herring's interception for a TOUCHBACK in the Giants game (somehow, an INT for a touchback is not as sexy as one with a return)

You could do this list for every game... It's like, they made a lot of plays, but this year's plays just weren't as many REALLY AMAZING plays as they had in '09. You don't leave the ramps of the Dome after the game, pumping your fist in the air and cheering wildly about that boring Eli Manning incompletion, on some 3rd down in the 2nd quarter. But that's how we won.

And all year long, the other team would end up having these head-scratching, "what happened to Michael Turner?" "Why didn't Calvin Johnson get any TD catches?" "Where was our GO-TO GUY all day?" type moments. But I think the lack of BIG PLAYS this year, means some people have a hard time getting pumped up about this defense.