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By Mike Triplett, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
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on August 06, 2013 at 6:57 PM


It's hard to identify the lowest point of the New Orleans Saints' 2012 season, with so many worthy candidates. But the 91-yard touchdown run by Kansas City Chiefs tailback Jamaal Charles in Week 3 is a strong contender.
The Saints were leading 24-6 at home late in the third quarter, when Charles' run around the left end ignited a stunning comeback/epic collapse (depending on your perspective).
On the Chiefs' next drive, Charles again busted loose around the right end for a 40-yard gain to set up a field goal. He finished with 233 rushing yards.
Fortunately for the Saints, a repeat performance Friday night will be unlikely when Charles and the Chiefs return to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Since it's the preseason opener, Charles will probably be done by the end of the first quarter.
More important, though, the Saints have made it a top priority to go the entire 2013 season without a repeat performance.

It's one of the key reasons why they switched to a new 3-4 defensive scheme. The top run defenses around the NFL in recent years have almost all used the 3-4 as their primary alignment.But even more than scheme, Saints inside linebacker Curtis Lofton insisted the most important change will come in the defense's "attitude."
"We gotta have this sense that no matter who we are going against, no matter who it is, we have to stop the run. And as a man, you measure yourself against the run," Lofton said. "I don't really feel like we did a good job of that last year. And this year with a new system and new scheme, we gotta improve our attitude."
The Saints allowed the most rushing yards in the NFL last year (147.6 per game). And the blame was shared by every level of their defense.
According to the Football Outsiders' 2013 Almanac, the Saints finished 31st in "adjusted line yards," "second-level yards" and "open-field yards." Football Outsiders wrote that's "a trifecta that points an accusatory finger of blame at every defensive position group."
Big plays, big problem
The Saints actually weren't that bad up the gut. Defensive end Cameron Jordan was outstanding against the run. And others like end Will Smith, defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley and Lofton were decent. They routinely came up big in goal-line situations.
It was the cutback runs around the edge that were killers all year long, though. The Saints' outside linebackers and defensive backs, especially, either took poor angles or missed tackles -- leading to huge gains.
The Saints finished 29th in the NFL last year in percentage of broken tackles on all plays (6.9 percent), according to the Football Outsiders. Safety Malcolm Jenkins tied for fourth in the NFL with 12; Lofton tied for 18th with 10.
"It was the big plays," Smith said. "If you look at the way we played, we were good in a lot of situations.

"But we gave up the most big plays in the league, which led us to have the worst defense."
There was the 52-yard touchdown run by the New York Giants' David Wilson in Week 14, runs of 65 and 54 yards by the Carolina Panthers' DeAngelo Williams in Week 17, a 40-yard burst by Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in Week 2, among many others.
The worst of them all, however, was Charles' 91-yard run.
Saints end Martez Wilson and Lofton both got sealed off by blocks (Wilson appeared to be held by left tackle Brandon Albert -- but that would have been a lucky break for the Saints since Albert had great position on Wilson before his arm slipped around Wilson's back). Fellow linebacker Will Herring took a poor angle, and no one in the secondary was near Charles once he turned upfield.
"That run was disappointing. I think it was 98 yards or whatever," said Lofton, whose nightmare recollections of the run are even worse than the reality. "And there's no reason for that, because the edge wasn't set on that run. I mean, it's stuck in my head.
"So I'm looking forward to going against Jamaal Charles. He's one of the premier backs in this league, so it's gonna be a great test for us."
In theory, the switch to a 3-4 defense should help the Saints be more sound against the run.
They'll now fill more gaps by being stretched wider across the field with four linebackers. And they'll now have three big bodies up front in their base defense. Defensive line coach Bill Johnson said the best thing about the new scheme is that it "keeps an edge on the defense" - something he believes can help against read-option quarterbacks as well as dynamic tailbacks.
Lofton said it's harder for offenses to identify what specific front a 3-4 defense is in, and the Saints plan to shift and move around a lot to add to that confusion.
And Saints offensive linemen have always said it's harder to run against 3-4 defenses.
The numbers around the NFL back that up. Last year, five of the top seven run defenses ran a primary 3-4 scheme (six if you count the Denver Broncos' hybrid scheme). The year before that it was six of the top eight. Before that, six of the top seven.
'Overpopulating' the ball
"It's a completely different kind of set of techniques as a lineman," offensive tackle Zach Strief said. "There are a lot of gaps filled up and you have big bodies in the front of it."
Several Saints players also pointed to the addition of massive defensive end Kenyon Coleman and the emergence of second-year lineman Akiem Hicks as two guys who will help improve the run defense up front.


Defensive end Akiem Hicks during morning practice at Saints headquarters in Metairie on Saturday, August 6, 2013. (Michael DeMocker, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune)Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
"Akiem is becoming a monster," Jordan said. "You know, he was sort of a monster unleashed last year, just wild and strong and doing serious damage. And this year he's more focused and (more sound in his technique)."
Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is new, too. And with him comes the more aggressive, attacking style that served the Saints well under former coordinator Gregg Williams.
As safety Roman Harper said, Ryan also preaches the idea of "overpopulating" the ball.
"Then missed tackles don't look so bad because someone else is flying right behind you," Harper said.
"Rob kind of teaches that you go in and take a shot. And it's not your fault for missing a tackle, it's the guy that wasn't running," Lofton said. "So now it's putting it on us as a group. Everyone go take a shot, go try to knock the guy out, and if he cuts back, then everyone else is right there to make the tackle."
There will almost certainly be some missed tackles Friday night -- there are always missed tackles in the first preseason game. But the Saints hope that their renewed approach will also be on display.
Jordan said he personally didn't think Charles' run specifically left a lasting imprint on the team last year.
But he said, "somewhere within the last season we lost our identity. And that's what we have to establish Friday."


Jamaal Charles' 91-yard run is a nightmare New Orleans Saints defense doesn't want to relive this season | NOLA.com

Danno

That run should never have been allowed. That was a blatant hold (or tackle) on Martez Wilson. Ridiculous.

BTW: If anyone can watch that and still think Roman Harper is slow, they're an idiot.

Lord_Saint83

Thats what happens when you got hack officials that cant tell that albert had molested wilson on that play or the interception that was called a td in that seattle game. Easy calls to make but who am i.


The end is nigh

dizzle88

Exactly! Roman was the last guy chasing him and was literally an inch away from taking him down

Blatant hold on Martez wilson on the right side

But still there were plays like this all season, too many!

Mardigras9

Not to mention Jenkins trying to pull the flag off of Charles belt instead of attacking the legs. One of the many defensive plays from last year we hope to forget.

skymike

terrible memory. there we were 0-3 all of a sudden, and we were dying.

Rugby Saint II

"Rob kind of teaches that you go in and take a shot. And it's not your fault for missing a tackle, it's the guy that wasn't running," Lofton said. "So now it's putting it on us as a group. Everyone go take a shot, go try to knock the guy out, and if he cuts back, then everyone else is right there to make the tackle."

Rob Ryan had better not be telling these guys that it is ok to miss a tackle!

I thought that his philosophy was exactly the opposite..........miss tackles and you miss playing time.

What the Hell good is great coverage and schemes if you can't tackle?

Don't make me come down there!

homerj07

AHHHHHHHH. Bad memories man - bad memories.