Register All Albums FAQ Community Experience
Go Back   New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com > Main > Saints

Key to Saints' success: A little patience

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; METAIRIE, La. – Part of the reason why I picked the New Orleans Saints to win a tough road game at the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night is because I think they’ve been better than ever this year at sticking ...

Like Tree8Likes
  • 1 Post By WhoDat!656
  • 1 Post By Rugby Saint II
  • 1 Post By SaintSproles
  • 2 Post By SloMotion
  • 1 Post By TheOak
  • 1 Post By AsylumGuido
  • 1 Post By RaginCajun83

Closed Thread
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-29-2013, 08:58 PM   #1
10000 POST CLUB
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Shreveport,Louisiana
Posts: 16,046
Key to Saints' success: A little patience

METAIRIE, La. – Part of the reason why I picked the New Orleans Saints to win a tough road game at the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night is because I think they’ve been better than ever this year at sticking with the kind of smart, patient approach it takes to win games like these.

The best example was a victory at Chicago in Week 5 against a Bears defense that thrives on forcing turnovers. Saints coach Sean Payton defied his aggressive nature in that game, using a methodical approach filled with check-down passes and short runs.

But the Saints (9-2) have shown similar patience and resiliency in recent victories over the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons – where they confidently stuck with their game plans even when they were trailing or winning by a slim margin.

The Saints lead the NFL in time of possession this year, at 33:04 per game. That’s the most of any season in the Payton-Drew Brees era. They’re also tied for fifth in the league in fewest turnovers, with 13.

“I think patience is part of it,” Payton said after the Saints won the turnover battle 1-0 in a 17-13 victory at Atlanta last Thursday night. “There’s an old saying, ‘It doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing to be effective.’ At times, that’s just being smart.”

The Saints’ approach isn’t a drastic change from years past. They’re still taking plenty of shots downfield with the NFL’s No. 2-ranked passing offense (317.3 yards per game).

But as running back Darren Sproles said, the Saints haven't been “pressing” or taking unnecessary risks, even when they’ve been down in games. And that is certainly a noticeable change from last year when the Saints and Brees seemed to be constantly pressing while playing from behind most of the year.

Saints offensive tackle Zach Strief said he believes Payton noticed things like that while he was studying the Saints closely from afar during last year’s season-long suspension.

Strief also said he believes that Payton has been flexible in his approach because of how much confidence the coach has in the Saints’ defense.

“As long as the defense is playing so good, I think there can be some patience,” Strief said. “And there can be some – I don’t want to say conservative, but I think smart football. To say, ‘Let’s play a complementary game.’

“Coach Payton, he’s very good at analyzing and kind of diagnosing what his team is good at, at that time, who’s got the hot hand, who to lean on, who to give a break. He’s been really good this year in being flexible in, ‘This is how this game is going, this is how we’re gonna play it, this is how we’re gonna win it.'”

The Saints haven’t had the balance between passing the ball and running the ball that they were striving for heading into the season. But they have steadily improved in the run game while sticking with it. Over the past month or so, Payton has been relying on veteran running back Pierre Thomas as much as ever before -- as that kind of “hot hand” that Strief was talking about.

And the Saints have done a great job all season of using Thomas and Sproles as short-range receivers as well as runners to create that offensive balance.

“I think we’ve done a very good job this year with our balance and the fact that we’ve stuck with that through the course of game,” Brees said. “I’d say it’s been very balanced. Our ability to take care of the football throughout the season has been very good. Certainly it could be better, but I’d say our overall efficiency on offense and our ability to play complementary football with our defense has been as good this year as ever.

“It has definitely been a conscious effort. It was something we talked about. You could look back at our Super Bowl year in 2009 and say that was one of our best seasons, or 2011, that was one of our best seasons offensively. What made us so effective? We were throwing the ball well, but, man, we were running the ball well, and the complement of the two was really good.”

The Saints will likely have to rely on the run game, the short passing game and weapons like Thomas, Sproles, tight end Jimmy Graham and physical receiver Marques Colston as much as ever on Monday night at Seattle – where they’ll be facing a stingy defense, an overwhelming Seattle crowd and possibly nasty weather conditions.

The conditions and the style of opponent brings to mind some of the Saints' past struggles at Chicago from 2006-08 or against San Francisco, both on the road and at home in 2011-12. Turnovers helped almost all of those games unravel.

But this time, the Saints might just have the patience to pull it off.

Key to New Orleans Saints' success: A little patience - ESPN
SloMotion likes this.

"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."
WhoDat!656 is offline  
Old 11-30-2013, 03:11 PM   #2
Bounty Money $$$
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 5800 Airline Dr. Metairie, LA.
Posts: 24,052
Re: Key to Saints' success: A little patience

If we win the turn over battle we should win the game.
SmashMouth likes this.
Rugby Saint II is offline  
Old 11-30-2013, 06:22 PM   #3
Site Donor
Drew Brees GOAT
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 342
Blog Entries: 1
Re: Key to Saints' success: A little patience

Saints 26, Bears 18

Go back and watch that game.

That's our game plan for Monday night. No turnovers. Take what they give you. Dominate the TOP.
savoyk likes this.
SaintSproles is offline  
Old 12-01-2013, 10:15 AM   #4
5000 POSTS! +
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 6,776
Blog Entries: 15
Re: Key to Saints' success: A little patience

This is a good read, IMO, and exemplifies best what I've been thinking about the game ... do we like this Triplett guy (I forgot) or does he typically get the 'voodoo doll' like Pat Yasinskas?, .

In a close game where teams are evenly matched, it comes down to coaching ... and who has the best coach? .
SmashMouth and WhoDat!656 like this.
SloMotion is offline  
Old 12-01-2013, 12:29 PM   #5
1000 Posts +
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,469
Re: Key to Saints' success: A little patience

METAIRIE, La. – Part of the reason why I picked the New Orleans Saints to win a tough road game at the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night is because I think they’ve been better than ever this year at sticking with the kind of smart, patient approach it takes to win games like these.

Really?? Like against the Pats and the Jets imparticular?? I hope and pray you're right but I'm not so confident. I think we'll win the game, but more than likely with a last second FG at the end. :-\
Marlboro Man is offline  
Old 12-02-2013, 08:35 AM   #6
10000 POST CLUB
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Cypress Tx.
Posts: 19,026
Re: Key to Saints' success: A little patience

Originally Posted by SloMotion View Post
This is a good read, IMO, and exemplifies best what I've been thinking about the game ... do we like this Triplett guy (I forgot) or does he typically get the 'voodoo doll' like Pat Yasinskas?, .

In a close game where teams are evenly matched, it comes down to coaching ... and who has the best coach? .
Triplett just left NOLA.com to go to ESPN. He is solid.
SloMotion likes this.
TheOak is offline  
Old 12-02-2013, 10:31 AM   #7
10000 POST CLUB
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Bossier City, LA
Posts: 26,220
Re: Key to Saints' success: A little patience

Originally Posted by TheOak View Post
Triplett just left NOLA.com to go to ESPN. He is solid.
Triplett was the only T-P/NOLA.com writer that really supported the Saints stance throughout the Goodell witch hunt. He is nobody's pawn.
SloMotion likes this.
AsylumGuido is offline  
Old 12-02-2013, 10:53 AM   #8
Site Donor
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Franklin, Wisconsin (knee deep in melted cheese sauce)
Posts: 615
Blog Entries: 1
Re: Key to Saints' success: A little patience

My friends, tonight will come soon enough.
My gut is in knots and I am scared for no reason.
I need to follow sage advice of patience.

This song needs to become the soundtrack of tonight.
Until that time comes when we are asked if we are ready for some football?



And I copied The Oak's avatar of Drew and it is now on my screen.
It calms me.
MaggieMayTB is offline  
Old 12-02-2013, 12:11 PM   #9
Hou Saints Fan
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Houston, Tx
Posts: 5,050
Re: Key to Saints' success: A little patience

Triplett is good people, let's just hope he never gets brainwashed by ESPN
SloMotion likes this.
RaginCajun83 is offline  
Closed Thread


Posting Rules

LinkBacks (?)
LinkBack to this Thread: https://blackandgold.com/saints/62390-key-saints-success-little-patience.html
Posted By For Type Date Hits
The Latest New Orleans Saints News | SportSpyder This thread Refback 11-29-2013 09:25 PM 3
Key to Saints' success: A little patience This thread Refback 11-29-2013 09:11 PM 28


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:01 PM.


Copyright 1997 - 2020 - BlackandGold.com
no new posts