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METAIRIE — In the aftermath of the New Orleans Saints’ meltdown Sunday, when they surrendered a 24-6 third-quarter lead and dropped a 27-24 overtime decision to the Kansas City Chiefs, no one was harder on himself than right tackle Zach Strief.

The 6-foot-7, 320-pound Strief stood tall in front of his cubicle in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to bare his soul to a large group of reporters looking for answers to the team’s third straight loss to open the season.

Strief, a seven-year veteran who was elected one of the team’s offensive captains just before the season opener, didn’t have all the answers.

But he was blunt in taking responsibility for allowing two of the four sacks the Chiefs’ defense registered against Drew Brees, who was under pressure for much of the day.

“I know that the guys in here have my back, and I knew that when I said that,” Strief said Wednesday after the Saints returned to the practice field. “I knew the guys would defend me. I have no problem jumping on the sword.

“If it takes three more minutes out of the coverage of the Saints to put the attention on me instead of somebody else, I’ll take that,” he added, “because I know I can handle that type of pressure.”

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QBREES9

Zach Strief is a good guy, and a will be a great Right Tackle.

ChrisXVI

Agreed. Strief is the man... We just need to let Bushrod walk in free agency after this season and get us a quality LT in the first round of the draft. However, I will say that Strief doesn't really get any help on passing downs because when Jimmy Graham is lined up next to him Graham doesn't exactly help with blocking because he's not expected to like most tight ends. Graham runs routes like any receiver instead of helping with a little block and then getting downfield.

Saintaintso

Hopefully he can stand tall this sunday , Kid was getting destroyed consistently last week SMH

dizzle88

Bushrod wasn't the problem last week, strief was

Serviceable at best in my opinion, we need both tackles replacing

Cruize

Strief is a mauler type. Better suited for the run game. Above average in the passing game. When the defense KNOWS what you're going to do, PASS, it makes it tougher on the o-line. Plus, the Saints all-world TE does not add anything in the blocking game by performance or scheme.

Ashley

Zack might be a great guy, but he gets beat all the time, he is needs to take a back seat to someone else.