Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Sarcasm my friend, sarcasm. Settle down Beavis

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Reasons to be optimistic........Sean Payton and Drew Brees.
Reasons to be pessimistic.......Patrick Robinson and Malcolm Jenkins.
Everything else is a wash. :smile:

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I'm also very skeptical about players transitioning to a new linebacking position, although I'm admittedly a bit ignorant as to the technical aspects of the transition.

My hope is that in the Falcons game our defense comes with an element of surprise. They're not used to playing us in this way and maybe we can capitalize on that.

But I have a very sinking feeling that we're going to see some major running lanes in the defense as they try to figure things out.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I think this is easily the most significant year of the Sean Payton era. IF these new guys on D turn out to be any good, or really good, then we know we are set -- that we have them locked in at low low Brees-friendly prices for the next 3 or so years to grow and get even better. If they're bad, then we know we are looking at continuing on squandering and wasting the next 2-3 years of Brees' talent, and the whole window starts shutting very rapidly. It's make or break.

The defense last year was the worst in history....I get that Poydras and everyone else is frustrated and skeptical, because of that....but here's the deal. Part of that was lack of big-play talent, yeah...but a BIG part of that, specifically to Poydras's fears, was it was bad last year because the unit GAVE UP on Spagnuola, as per the anonymous Saints defender who spoke out around New Years' Day.....they stopped believing in him, they basically started tuning him out. He pissed off the other coaches (according to the anonymous player), he couldn't make adjustments, it wasn't working, and one by one they slowly gave up and lay down on him....

So for most of the latter part of the season, that means Spagnola is there in the team meetings and he's up there at the podium going WAH WAH WAH WAH, like the trombone parents in Charlie Brown, and no one is listening to him....plus there was no REAL head coach to step in and say "WHAT THE ____ IS GOING ON?" when the defense under-performs week after week.

If you go back and read the actual quotes from the "anonymous player" you will see the whole year EXPLAINED in great detail. From the perspective of a player. I just re-read the interview with fresh eyes, and it's a real eye opener to read it NOW with some distance on it.

So in short: yes, the defense last year was really miserably bad. But it actually was WORSE, than it really truly was.

New Orleans Saints player: Steve Spagnuolo should be fired as defensive coordinator | NOLA.com

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I am not trying to sway your realism, maybe just add a little perspective.

Preseason, base, bland, defense with 1/4 of your starters not on the field is not exactly a good sample size to evaluate what the season will look like.. is it?

Preseason is the 4 game period in the season when you try things, not prove things. Had we dominated in preseason I will still be playing the same fiddle trying to temper enthusiasm as we would have dominated against vanilla offenses trying things..

Look brother youve been around long enough to know that what separates 1st and second string is .15 of a second in speed... As small as that is, its huge on the field, its the difference between a sack and a 50 yard TD pass. We have had a good bit of starters on both sides of the ball (key people) watching from the sidelines.

What I am doing is taking that into account and also understanding that Defenses are always behind Offenses during regular season in regards to catching up. So, if we look like total crap in week 4 I will panic besides you.. Until then I am going to let things develop naturally as they will do anyway.

That my friend is my realistic view of the Saints so far in 2013.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I agree, I believe what scares most people is the lack of experience on Defense.. If I recall Seattle did pretty good with a very young defense last year didn't they? A youth movement is not a negative, its just an unknown.

1/2 of their team has 2 years or less of NFL experience.
Seattle Seahawks 2013 Roster | Seahawks.com

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Thanks, Danno. You just saved me the time of typing the very same response!

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Looks like I need to try harder...

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Well, remember it's a world of only .15 seconds between the starter and the backup!

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Constructive criticism is fine if its based on realism. His was not.

No one seriously thinks were unstoppable and everything is honky dory. There isn't a team in the league that's unstoppable.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I don't mean to sound like that over reacting/pessimistic fan

I just don't Like a few players on defense that all my problem is
Malcom Jenkins Is just down right awful
Vilma and W.Smith Past his Prime and taking too much cap space
R.Harper I love the way he is Aggressive and hits. I just wish he could strap a jetpack on his back my Gramma runs faster
I just miss the sacks and turnovers I guess if we were able to get more of them id be happy

Special team is a worry but understand that changes yr to yr with young guys given there shot to play

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I don't like several players on defense either. There are a couple on offense I'm not thrilled about either. Every team has a few mediocre role players. That doesn't mean the team is gonna have a disaster season.

(BTW: Vilma and Smith aren't on the roster)

My only real concern is that we get hit with either key or excessive injuries. Thats really the only thing I see derailing a playoff run. THATS what I think is a valid concern, especially since we lost several key pieces to our defense even before pre-season was over.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

... now that's just f'ing funny right there, :rofl: ... it's good to consider all possibilities and poydras IS the Team Doctor, but this is a 10-win team ... it may not be pretty, there'll be bumps in the road and you may lose a few fans from heart attack along the way, but when all's-said-and-done, there gonna' be at least 10 in the win-column ... bet. :mrgreen:.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I can't deny those last8 games has me nervous as hell especially the 6 after the bye week

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Y'all are moaning about this and that player, but it comes down to matchups and play calling. If the strategy and tactics don't correlate to the personnel matchups, bad things happen. If teams exploit our weaknesses and we can't/won't adjust, and us for them, it will be a long season.

We are likely better on offense now than on defense. It remains to be seen if the defense catches up.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I'm just hoping and praying for the best out of our defense.
It would be nice to have a few guys play out of their shoes.
We are still slow to the ball, still don't tackle very well,
still can't seem to actually catch an INT, didn't seal the corners very well.
OK, it was pre-season...vanilla packages and all that stuff.
That's no excuse for bad angles or not making receivers pay for crossing routes.
Williams, Spagnuolo, or Ryan still has to have guys that make it happen.
None of the guys have to make every play. Just the ones in "their moment":
that 3rd-and-7 stop for just 4 yards; something more than "almost" a sack.
Doesn't matter to me how it happens (if it happens);
Inspiration, configuration, or determination, I just want to see it.
That would take a lot of pressure off of the offense to have to score 30 every week.
So far, in the pre-season, I haven't seen it.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Thank you I could not agree with you more and that's all I have been trying to say for a couple of days now.
I was beginning to think I had to make a eye exam cause I was watching a different games then everyone else was or if I had glaucoma lol

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

My only response is, Gallette and Martez and Harrylson hasn't played a down yet this year for us. Let's see what they can do and go from there.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Clearly the place has gone to hell.

:red:

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Someone always has to be a negative Nancy .... C'mon man !

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Just you put on your shades young lady - the future is bright and the sun rises on Sunday. Don't make me have to get all "choupique" up in here before we even play our first game.

Nobody likes me when I'm angry...

:bng:

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Simmer down Betty
http://davidgonos.com/wp-content/upl...6/snickers.jpg

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

hahahahahahahahaaa...

At first I didn't get it. Now I get it. You suck. LMAO

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I get that. I get exactly what you're feeling. But here's the thing: last year, in the early part of the preseason, under Spagnowedon't, we DID that kind of stuff on defense. We had an interception or two. We had a sack in the end zone, or a safety, we even solved Arizona's QB controversy for them, by knocking out one of their QB's! We sacked Tom Brady for a fumble. The Patriots never even made it across the 50 with their starters. If there was such a thing as a to-do checklist -- Safety, sack, interception, fumble, strip, etc. etc. -- last year's defense did a little bit of EVERYTHING you could ask a defense to do, early in the preseason games.

I thought at the time, hey, this looks pretty good, we might actually be able to beat these suspensions and the missing coaches, the defense could actually be OK. Turns out I was WRONG. I was basing it too much on "big plays" by the defense.

So you can't judge it completely like that. The "3rd and 7 stop for just four yards" -- they definitely had a couple of those against the Texans... I'm too lazy to go back and look it up but they made some stops and held the Texans to some looong field goals out there, instead of what would have probably been easy waltz-in 7-point touchdown drives last year, where they score and the camera cuts to that "oh %$^%$" grimace from Brees on the sidelines.

Thing about the Texans game is, that was a top 10 last year, top 5 this year offense that the Saints were playing against. That was exactly what a preseason game between two playoff teams is supposed to look like. It was a slugfest! It was brutal! And we were actually WINNING the battles and the scoreboard when the starters all came out.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

No, you were watching the same "games", if you can call preseason games "games". The final 53 probably played fewer than 10% of the snaps as any one unit and at no time did they operate under the offensive or defensive schemes that will be utilized during the regular season. As fans, there is absolutely nothing valid we can elicit from what we saw either on TV or streaming via computer.

Any evaluation we can attempt will be tainted by what we experienced last season and THAT is about as invalid as one can get. I have every reason to be optimistic about this season because it is about as diametrically opposed to what was experienced last season as one can get.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Falcons..... We were all over the map when looking at both games, couldn't pull together stopping both in the same game.

Atlanta
Game 1 Rushing 46 / Passing 408
Game 2 Rushing 124 / Passing 159

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

The only thing I agree with about this thread is Danno

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

#8 in total Defense
#2 in Run Defense

yes, it was just the preseason but the 1s still play the 1s and the 2s still play the 2s...

We wont be that good on D this year, but I would expect to be ranked 10-20.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

I totally agree with the defensive problems. Given our schedule I dont see our record being that much better or any better than last year, even with Payton back.
I do think we will be better offensively than we ever have been barring injury. Brees is in his prime and the addition of Watson I believe has been very under rated. Even with a crappy running game we will put up serious points. Hell it wouldnt surprise me if our D is even worse.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

A love connection ^

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

10-20 is a where I see them, and hoping for better than avarage; 15-ish.
15 gets the job done, especially if the offense is still top 5.
A few plays make all the difference, and I'm talking about simple stuff,
head in the game stuff. Like a coverage guy "actually" anticipating a muff
when the returner signals a fair catch, or looking to down the ball inside the 10
if the guy let's it go...rather than waving at his peeps in the stands and the
play is not dead yet. Some guy late to the tackle ready to fall on the ball if
it comes loose. Simple stuff that becomes 4-5 extra possesions over the course
of the season. Or pin the opponent deep as opposed to them starting at the 20.
Where we fall short in ability, we can certainly make up for with discipline, and should.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lxLvvTyfxj...0/cry+baby.jpg

Quick, someone get 'em their nu-nu.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Damn sorry I am late to the party on this. We got a real pressure cooker going on here.

As a long time Saints I understand all the view points. My negative early 80's a lot of the 90's side says "the sky is falling". There is no way we can win.

Then the positive "look what we can really do" from the late 80's & 06 on, this side sees the possibilities of all the good that can happen.

I am skeptical about... Being skeptical. Because that creates an overall skeptical attitude. Which, when viewed by others, cause people to view you, well...skeptically.

:doh:

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

You lost me when you said this receiving corp. is bad, I'm hoping you were joking. This is the most talented WR corp. IMO the Saints have ever had. When you're talking about Colston, Moore Toon and Stills not to mention the TE position, yeah the WR position is not a concern.

As far as the D goes, listen it's a work in progress, but to sit here and say this D will be as bad as last year thats crazy talk. Oh And the fundation of a 3-4 defense is not the Linebacking corp. its the D-line.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Falcons just signed a RT. They are ready now.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

That's easy for you to say.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Jeremy Trueblood hasn't had a full healthy season since 2009 and the Skins just jetted him....

Probably not an upgrade to what they have now.

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

With only 4 days to go; no way

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

He was "just" cut so he had a preseason etc. and is probably in decent shape... Just probably way past his prime. 6'8" 320 can't be easy on the knees.

"Trueblood signed with the Washington Redskins on March 14, 2013. On August 27 2013, the Washington Redskins terminated Trueblood's contract."

Re: I'm afraid we're in trouble.
 

Back up to the horrible starter lol!
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100...ds-oline-depth