WhoDat!656

Of all the professional sports, the NFL is the one where coaching matters the most. Baseball managers generally loaf around for 162 games and basketball coaches are at the whim of their star players. But football coaches generally earn their keep.

That was never so apparent as it was in New Orleans yesterday. As the Saints played their first of 16 games without head coach Sean Payton patrolling the sidelines, it was clear early that no number of interim head coaches will be able to replace Payton’s value to that team. As the Shanahans’ schemed on the opposing sideline, head coach Aaron Kromer and new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo were outcoached and outmatched throughout the game. Even after a dramatic pre-game appearance from Jonathan Vilma, the poster boy for the bounty scandal, and the return of Will Smith across on the defensive line, New Orleans was always one step behind the Redskins throughout the day.


The biggest concern in the Big Easy has to be on the defensive line. The pass rush was non-existent and frequently manhandled by Washington’s offensive line. On offense, the team was predictable. After going down 20-7, the Saints threw the ball almost exclusively. This led to the Redskins winning the time of possession battle by a 2:1 ratio.

One loss doesn’t mean that it’s time to start abandoning ship in New Orleans. The team lost by 8 points to open the season last year, albeit to the defending Super Bowl champions. But Sunday’s performance means that the Saints are going to miss Sean Payton far more than they probably thought they would.

TDC Rewind – Week 1 | Third Down Conversion

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

QBREES9

you've got a point.

RailBoss

Absolutely Coach Payton is a huge factor in the teams success, almost goes without saying.

Halo

Let me ask this question again:

How good are the Patriots without Bill Belichick?

Think about it...

TheOak

I do not agree totally.

Bear Bryant him self couldn't have done better when the players are just not playing to their own personal level.

No Matter Your Game plan, when:

Receivers drop +50% balls.
Referee calls keep the opponents drive alive.
Your Defensive secondary is limping.

There is not much a Head Coach can do.

Yes, Payton would have run the ball more but that would have done nothing to slow the Skins offense.

darstep

We are not done seeing the effects of Sean Payton's suspension.
I just hope we can sip it and not have to choke down a BIG GULP.
I'm hoping it's a little thing we overcome this week,
then another little thing the next week (a different thing),
and they learn week to week how to become self-correcting.
Little things can pile up if not nipped in the budd.
That will be an ongoing challenge this season without Payton at the helm.
Then Joe Vitt walks back in fresh from vacation and takes the reigns of a team dynamic
that has transformed into something different than he left it, then here we go again.
It all ends up in the place where Payton left it - everybody do your job!
Each player mans-up on his assignment(s), every play of every posession.
I think some good things will happen if we can get that done.

**SaintSince67**

Rugby Saint II

So very true....