GumboBC

Stop the run, that's the key!!

You stop the run, gang–tackle, stay fundamentally sound, and fly to the football.


After watching Tampa Bay win the Super Bowl against the formidable aerial assault of the Oakland Raiders and noticing the previous year how New England silenced the Greatest Show on Turf, the entire NFL seems hell bent on finding great defensive backs that are speedy and can stop the spread offense which has become the predominant offense across the NFL.


But, the opposition may be swinging too far toward defending the pass. I think by going with the tried and true method of ball control (stopping the run), the Saints may find a way to get one step ahead of the pack.

Stop the run, that's the key. I hate to sound like a broken record, but that's the key to most games in the NFL.

I think it's so much easier when an offense can run the ball rather than HAVING to pass the ball. When you have an offense that can consistently run the ball it provides the offense with balance. It keeps the quarterback from having to go back 35 times, 40 times throwing the ball where you have more of a chance of sacking the QB. Point being, you allow the offense to play it safe and you never really put the offense in a situation where mistakes are likely to happen.

When you allow a team to have a successful running game, that really helps the quarterback.

If we stop the run then we will convert offenses and make them one-dimensional and then we’ll get after their quarterback and their passing game WILL suffer.

That's why Venturi needs to put so much emphasis on stopping the run. The formula should always be the same: force the opponent into obvious passing situations then set their sights on the quarterback and try to force turnovers with such pass-rushers like Darren Howard, Charles Grant and Will Smith.

Just to have some relevance on how important stopping the run is. Consider this:

The Bucs, you see, are 2-22 since 1996 in games in which an opposing back runs for 100 yards. It's not that the Bucs have ever had great corner-backs. It's just when they can stop the run it helps their secondary out so much as evidenced by how many games they lose when they allow a back to rush for 100 yards.

It seems to me Venturi was committed to stopping the pass last year instead of the run. And it worked for the most part. But, teams were able to slowly kill us with the run and we led the league in giving up running plays of 20 or more yards.

I don't know about you, but I'd just as soon have teams pass the ball on us than having them run it down our throat. At least if they are passing the ball they have more of a chance of making mistakes.

However, this year seems to be different. The coaching staff has seemed to finally grasp this concept. It's about time.

I'm not convinced that it's going to work. But, I am convinced they have the right plan.

Danno

Its a shame some people don\'t get it. How many times do you have to prove it? How many facts do you have to throw at them Billy?

If they don\'t know, they never will.

I love the argument..
\"Our CB\'s looked good only because we sucked versus the run, so we should fix the CB\'s first!\"
If we had Champ Bailey and Charles Woodson and still sucked versus the run we\'d still be an 8-8 team.

Fix the run defense 1st

St.Shrume

Gumbo, you should write for a sports mag, really. Well written post.

I think our LB\'s have to step their play up for us to consistently stop the run. I felt last year our LB\'s were the major problem. That\'s when a 5 yd run turns to 20 and our safeties and CB\'s have more tackles than our LB\'s.

Danno

I\'m no sports analyst but has been said that our LB\'s struggled in part due to offensive linemen beating the D-line and engaging the LB\'s.

Pease is working early on instrucing the D-line that they don\'t necessarily have to beat their man, just stand their ground and let the LB come into the hole and blow up the RB.
I was also kinda surprised that this concept was new to some of our DT/DE.

[Edited on 24/6/2004 by Danno]

WhoDat

I agree stopping the run is very very very important. I have one caveat to this though - speed.

Stopping the run is great, but you could, hypothetically, do it with huge bodies. Bruisers. However, if that\'s what you\'ve got, you WILL be killed by speed in this NFL. Even if you force a team to pass, if you\'ve got a bunch of Fred Thomas\' in your backfield and Norman Hands rushing the passer you will get chewed up. Period.

To me it\'s 1. Team Speed, 2. play well against the run, 3. Rush the passer. In that order.

\"Excuses, excuses, excuses. That’s all anyone ever makes for the New Orleans Saints’ organization.\" - Eric Narcisse


\"Being a Saints fan is almost like being addicted to crack,\" he said.[i]\"You know you should stop, but you just can\'t.\"

WhoDat

PS - don\'t encourage him St. Shrume!!!

Saint.tastic

I agree, I think the key to a good football team starts with both line, offence and defence. If your d-line can tie up the O-line so the LB\'s can roam freely to stuff the run that makes the DB\'s job alot easier. And it also forces the offence into 3rd and longs which turnovers are more likely.

Just my opinion.

JKool

Exactly who is it who thinks that we should not have \'stop the run\' as a serious priority?

I thought the main \"opposition\" to Billy\'s idea was something like this: we have the guys to stop the run (what with our exciting new LBs and all AND our dominant looking DLine), so lets get some guys who can pass protect. When we put these two together we won\'t be sitting around next offseason saying, \"wow, we finally stopped the run, but they threw for 6-8 yards a play!\"

WhoDat, I mostly agree. Speed and run stopping in combination are GREAT. However, the combination of guys on the line make a difference if not every guy is fast and run stuffing. I can imagine one really big slow guy (like Ted Washington) being the key to run stuffing - the guy who clogs up the middle and can require two (and maybe an RB) to actually keep him from killing an outside run before it even starts. I realize you said TEAM speed, but it is of note that speed is less important at some of the positions than power, leverage, and burst (which you probably agree with).

"... I was beating them with my eyes the whole game..." - Aaron Brooks

WhoDat

I do agree. My point was very similar to yours. I said that you can have run stuffers and stop the run, but if your team is slow, it means your D-linemen can\'t get to the QB and your LBs and DBs will get burned in coverage. I\'m not saying a 300 pound DT should be able to run a 4.5 40 (though it wouldn\'t hurt), but you also can\'t have LBs running 5.5 40s.

Team speed, right now, is paramount.

JKool