How to beat the Saints offense

Danno · 11-04-2004, 07:39 AM

Jeff Duncan nails it with this snippet.

The book on the Saints is clear and easy to follow.

Defenses stack the line of scrimmage to stop McAllister and play deep in the secondary to prevent big plays. In the process, they force the Saints' inconsistent passing game to execute long drives. More often than not, they fail. A dropped pass. A blown route assignment. An off-target throw. A protection breakdown. Invariably, something goes wrong.

Williams, Stallworth and Joe Horn are the leading violators.

Horn annually ranks among the team leaders in mental errors. Team officials are willing to put up with such mistakes from a player as competitive and productive as Horn, but Williams and Stallworth have not attained that status. As a result, they've seen their opportunities squeezed in recent weeks.

That explains why we don't throw deep at all. Opponents are playing over the top preventing this. They are letting the Saints beat themselves. A perfect plan against a dumb undisciplined team.

There are several ways to attack this scheme. Tell me why we don't.

1. The TE over the middle just behind the LB's. Boo? Where the heck are you? Conwell? This is your specialty. Its hard to see on TV but I'd imagine we either aren't attacking the middle with the TE's (McCarthy) or they aren't getting open (Boo and Conwell) or the QB isn't seeing them (Brooks). Until we can attack the middle the "Deuce Defense" will continue to work.

2. The RB or FB releasing in pass patterns. Again, is it McCarthy? Deuce is an excellent receiver out of the backfield. How many passes are thrown his way? Karney is a solid receiver for a FB. He should see 4 or 5 per game. Think Fred Beasley when the 49 offense was working.

3. WR underneath routes. The problem here I think is personnel. The closest thing we have to a possession guy is Horn and he drops twice as many as most possession type WR's. Remember Willie Jackson a few years back? Slow as a democrat but caught just about everything within his grasp. We could use a guy who can go over the middle. Pathons is OK but he's a bit small to do it regulary.
We have too many WR's with questionable hands.

The Devery pick is starting to bother me now. How many of you wish we had stayed put and drafted Donterrious Thomas instead of nabbing Devery?

BOTTOM LINE: I think the biggest problem so far with the OFFENSE has been the TE play. They are the main reason Deuce can't get loose.

11-04-2004, 07:39 AM	#1
Danno Truth Addict Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Spanish Fort, AL (via NO and B/R) Posts: 24,748	How to beat the Saints offense Jeff Duncan nails it with this snippet. The book on the Saints is clear and easy to follow. Defenses stack the line of scrimmage to stop McAllister and play deep in the secondary to prevent big plays. In the process, they force the Saints' inconsistent passing game to execute long drives. More often than not, they fail. A dropped pass. A blown route assignment. An off-target throw. A protection breakdown. Invariably, something goes wrong. Williams, Stallworth and Joe Horn are the leading violators. Horn annually ranks among the team leaders in mental errors. Team officials are willing to put up with such mistakes from a player as competitive and productive as Horn, but Williams and Stallworth have not attained that status. As a result, they've seen their opportunities squeezed in recent weeks. That explains why we don't throw deep at all. Opponents are playing over the top preventing this. They are letting the Saints beat themselves. A perfect plan against a dumb undisciplined team. There are several ways to attack this scheme. Tell me why we don't. 1. The TE over the middle just behind the LB's. Boo? Where the heck are you? Conwell? This is your specialty. Its hard to see on TV but I'd imagine we either aren't attacking the middle with the TE's (McCarthy) or they aren't getting open (Boo and Conwell) or the QB isn't seeing them (Brooks). Until we can attack the middle the "Deuce Defense" will continue to work. 2. The RB or FB releasing in pass patterns. Again, is it McCarthy? Deuce is an excellent receiver out of the backfield. How many passes are thrown his way? Karney is a solid receiver for a FB. He should see 4 or 5 per game. Think Fred Beasley when the 49 offense was working. 3. WR underneath routes. The problem here I think is personnel. The closest thing we have to a possession guy is Horn and he drops twice as many as most possession type WR's. Remember Willie Jackson a few years back? Slow as a democrat but caught just about everything within his grasp. We could use a guy who can go over the middle. Pathons is OK but he's a bit small to do it regulary. We have too many WR's with questionable hands. The Devery pick is starting to bother me now. How many of you wish we had stayed put and drafted Donterrious Thomas instead of nabbing Devery? BOTTOM LINE: I think the biggest problem so far with the OFFENSE has been the TE play. They are the main reason Deuce can't get loose.