Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

METAIRIE, La. — For much of his time in New Orleans, Mark Ingram received more than he has given.

He earned little praise from the fan base, which booed him early in New Orleans’ game against Dallas this season.

But he never lost faith and his teammates never gave up on him.

And against Philadelphia, he finally gave more than he received. In the season’s biggest game, he ran for 97 yards and a touchdown, pacing the Saints to 185 on the ground in a two-point win.

The Saints (12-5) will need a reprise of that team rushing performance Saturday against No. 1-seed Seattle (13-3) in the NFC divisional playoffs.
It might just be what New Orleans has to do anyway, what with the weather expected to be stormy with high winds.

“I think you pay close attention to that,” coach Sean Payton said. “How long can you make the quarter last when you are with the wind. How quick can you make a quarter go by when you are against it?”

The problem is Seattle’s defense is better than Philadelphia’s. The Seahawks have held two of their past three opponents to 25 yards or less on the ground, helping them end the regular season as the league’s best total defense (273.6 ypg).

The last time the two teams played, Seattle held New Orleans to 44 yards on the ground and just 188 total on Dec. 2.

The good news for New Orleans, however, is that it’s running the ball better.

The Saints gained 126 yards in the regular season finale and 98 against the Bucs. In a win over Carolina on Dec. 8, the Saints averaged 4.1 yards per carry in a big win.

Ingram finished the season with a 4.9 yard-per-carry average while rookie Khiry Robinson was at 4.1

“I think even going into the Philly game we felt really confident that those guys are all good running backs,” right tackle Zach Strief said. “They all kind of bring something different. That’s the design of having this running back by committee.”

Read more: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him | wwltv.com New Orleans

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Just smash the Seahawks in the mouth!!

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Too bad numerous so called fans did.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Well, it's not like he did not deserve it based on his early performances. What is this, his third year? I was admittedly one of the doubters, one of many. But I am really, really happy for him... and the Saints. Hope he keeps it up. We need him.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

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Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

I was another doubter, praying that we would trade Mark, I thought he was a bust and a major waste of a pick. But now my feelings toward him are uncertain, if he shows big in Seattle I will wear my Ingram jersey and smile brightly.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

I am not, yet, a fan of Mark Ingram. So there. We will see how he does in Seattle. He could redeem himself with me with a 150 yd. game. :-) Otherwise, we will see how he plays next year -- if he is with us next year. He has taken WAY TOO LONG to develop.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

I think when he had turf toe he had a long hard look at film of himself and something snapped, he gets it now.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Are you calling Bama football players intellectually challenged? :mrgreen:

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Nobody is happier that Ingram's playing great now than I am but come on man, at one point this season he was averaging around 2 yards a carry, while PT and Sporles had almost double that. And in the past two seasons he had the lowest ypc of the three of them. Maybe it's just me, but questioning Ingram's ability was perfectly understandable.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

I do not remember if Mark came out of Alabama a junior or senior but you have to understand where he came from was also a " carry by committee" too he had Richardson and Lacy sharing the backfield with
him at Alabama! So that means he just has not had the time in to set himself to be a featured back. I think we will see the Mark Ingram we saw on his last year at Alabama from here on out. Just needs to stay healthy and get atleast 15 to 20 touches a game. Good luck, Mark!!!

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

I think he has improved greatly, but I'm not completely sold yet. I personally can't just flip a switch from "he's okay" to "he's great". Over time I hope that changes, but I just can't jump on board fully yet....but I AM riding on the running boards.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

http://cdn.denimblog.com/b/bd/bdb6d8...alkintome2.gif

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

There's a huge difference in questioning his ability and calling him a bust, worst RB in the league, Mr 1 yard carry, Horrible, trade him for a bag of chips, etc.

His 3.9 wasn't nearly as "catastrophically bad" as many made it out to be. Many reasons were stated as to why his average wasn't quite as good as PT's and Sproles. Many chose to overlook the real issues and just label him a total bust.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Some times we see what we want to see.


For the 2013 Regular Season
Look at PTs game logs. He hasn't AVE more than 2.9 YPC since week 13, and 8 of his 16 games were less than 2.9 YPC.
Pierre Thomas: Game Logs at NFL.com

4 of Sproles games have been less than 2.9 YPC
Darren Sproles: Game Logs at NFL.com

Ingram has had 4 less than 2.9 YPC as well.
Mark Ingram: Game Logs at NFL.com

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

I was a fan of his coming out of Alabama but I lost faith a long time ago. A couple of good games doesn't change my feelings that much. I don't like the way he prances around the field like his runs were done all by himself.
If we trade him that is great.....if we keep him and he continues to develop then that is fine with me too. If he relapses I will puke.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Not sure what you mean by "Some times we see what we want to see."?

You didn't notice Ingram's sub par performance for 2 and a half years?

After the first quarter of this season,
Sproles was averaging 4.2 yards per carry
Thomas was averaging 3.4 yards per carry
And Ingram who had already missed two games due to injury by that point was averaging 1.8 yards per carry.

When was his first good game this season? Week 10 against the Cowboys?

In 2011 and 2012 Ingram averaged 3.9 yards per carry
Sproles and Thomas averaged 5.9 and 4.8 yards per carry respectively.

Hard to miss that kind of contrast.

Like I said, it's great that he's been playing great lately and everyone's really happy about it, and we're all hoping he's the next Adrian Peterson but anyone that questioned his ability early in the season had good reason to do so. None of us wanted to see it but it was hard not to.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

He's on fire now ... What happened yesterday don't matter ... Heck he's better on the road than Brees is ...

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

You have to admit that he really did nothing for anyone to say he looked good with the overall body of work he did. Up until a few weeks ago he has started to show what he can do. I'm o.k with him being a late bloomer as long as he keeps bloosoming so to speak but he has to keep it up. His draft status #28 in the first round was pretty high and to give below average # , you get what I'm saying.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

You made my point for me brother. That which is quoted is what you see.

What I see is a player that was drafted in the first round and was locked out of any preseason training camp his rookie year. Where do you think Vaccaro would have been without a preseason to learn?

I see a second year player that had no head coach through preseason and had injuries throughout the season. Injuries have made more than one good NFL player look less than average.

I see a third year player that aggravated an injury and was fully go after the bye week. It also didn't help that the o-line made all of our great RBs look less than average so it would take one with an injury and make him look worse.

I don't make any excuses for Ingram, it is what it is. I am actually pretty damn hard on his less than average performances and if anyone on these boards is familiar with our RBs stats it is me.

Why would I ever limit myself to an Adrian Peterson? ;P some people have visions of grandeur, I don't. The leap from college ball to the NFL is huge and not everyone makes the transition well. This is one of those we have him now let's see if he even makes the cut.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Well summed Oak

MI may have found his niche in this offense. To me it's now less about gaudy stats and more about doing your job when your number is called.

Speaking of, I think "Dance" Lance Moore is a matchup problem for Seattle today.

Re: Mark Ingram never lost faith and teammates never gave up on him
 

Umm... OK

You were one of the most vocal questioning his performance.

http://blackandgold.com/saints/60333...we-do-him.html

TheOak 9-16-13 06:34am
"Look brother, is he horrible? No

Here are my issues with ingram:

1. We is a 1st round draft pick getting out run by Undrafted Free Agents.
2. He is "supposed" to be our punch it through short down, goal line back.. He is not getting 1st downs and he is not getting TDs.

Here is a question for you, Its the NFC Championship game, Saints 9 Falcons 14 we have ball on the 3 yard line with 5 seconds left on the clock.

Is Ingram your guy?"

That's just one quote, there are many more.

Looks like you made my point for me back in September brother.

Guess some of us just remember what we want to remember.