saintfan

Take a look at our Defensive numbers as a whole last year while Howard was out and then compare them with the same numbers after he came back. I think the msg is clear.

BlackandBlue

What would your definition of a \"fact\" be?

Stats are deceiving in some instances and don\'t always paint a true picture, recalling information from various games that you\'ve watched is subjective on too many different variables (ie personal bias\', the ability to know what you are evaluating, etc), as are columns by various sports writers and analysts.

GumboBC

True! I won\'t deny that. Like I said nothing can be proven at this point. I\'m not saying we had a good secondary last year and I\'m not saying we had a bad one.

What can you say with some certainty? Not much.

We can say we don\'t have the type of CB\'s we need. But I know for a FACT that they didn\'t get any help from the D-line and offenses were able to dictate to our defense what they wanted to do. (Run or Pass)

I know Fred Thomas can get the job done. I know Ambrose probably doens\'t need to be our 2nd CB.

I know we have some guys behind Ambrose (Craft, Fakir, Craver) that sound promising. Of course, nothing is proven at this point with those guys.

Bottom line: Neither side of the arguement can\'t prove anything really.

They tell me teams didn\'t pass that much on us last year (which isn\'t true) but if that\'s the case, then how do they know the secondary will not hold up? They only allowed 54.4% passes completed. And teams passed on us an average of 30.3 times per game.

And it\'s not like this hasn\'t been posted 100 times, but here are the pass att. per game against defenses last year:

Pass Att. Defense
Indianapolis 27.8
New York (A) 28.4
Oakland 29.2
Tampa Bay 29.7
Washington 30.2
Pittsburgh 30.2
New Orleans 30.3
Dallas 30.8
Denver 30.9
Arizona 16 31.1
Cleveland 31.4
Houston 31.6
Buffalo 31.8
Cincinnati 31.8
Atlanta 31.8
St. Louis 31.9

Now, if someone can explain to me how our defensive stats were skewed because teams didn\'t pass on us, I\'d SURE like to hear it. Somebody? Anybody?

It\'s just frustrating as HELL to keep hearing this without someone bringing some accurate facts to the table.

WhoDat

Billy\'s ability to remain objective - F

C\'mon Billy - Pease SEEMS to be doing a good job. I like him too. Giving Venturi credit just makes me shake my head. In any case, you\'re saying that coaching, attitude, and talent have all improved and you haven\'t seen a SINGLE live snap against another opponent yet. Yeah, that\'s the Billy I know.

biloxi-indian

Finally, some very good observations. Talent is one thing, getting talent to produce to its full potential is a TOUGH JOB. I am afraid, the Saints coaches have little in common with getting the full POTENTIAL from the current roster of players.

We hear a lot about key players, injuries, and speed. But the fact remains, they ALL must work in a SYSTEM. If the SYSTEM is flawed, then all the other factors are meaningless.

A SYSTEM is where all are working in a coherent progression toward a common end...cohesion, teamwork, and fullfilment. NOTE; I did not say a winning season...that is left to the intangibles that we, as fans, are clueless.

I maintain we are at least two to three years away from OUTSTANDING performance from the SAINTS...that is if we have LEADERSHIP changes in Coaching and MANAGEMENT.

I welcome your comments. However, don\'t shoot the messenger...only the message for they are my own. IMHO.

Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over, over, and over again...and expecting a different outcome!

CheramieIII

Won\'t need coaching changes after this season. Saint\'s did well tonite for the first preseason game and the defense will only get better the longer the play together, DB\'s are alot better than everyone thought, we know what the offense can do, our pass rush is going to be the bomb, Sully is coming around, linebackers were questionable tonite, Bockwoldt maybe a keeper not PS, Sullivan would start for alot of other teams, I respect Pathon alot more, the O-line did well, the D-line did well after the first series, we held them to under 50% completions, Jet\'s rushing average was about 3.5 per carry and finally consistency is what Haz has been preaching and that\'s why we have kept alot of the same players over the last 2 or 3 years with little movement in free agency. The end of your 2 to 3 year plan is this year, but good for you too, you won\'t have to wait another 2 or 3 years.

Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at them.
Jimmy Demaret