hagan714

My two biggest takeaways after reviewing the tape of the New Orleans Saints' defense: The tackling was just as bad as advertised, but the cornerback play wasn't as glaring a concern as one might expect.

The Saints allowed a franchise-record 445 passing yards in a 37-34 overtime loss to the Atlanta Falcons Sunday. But they rarely got burned over the top by big-play threats Julio Jones and Roddy White. The only two times the Saints got beat deep were a 35-yard pass to Devin Hester and a 27-yarder to Jones, both against cornerback Patrick Robinson.

The bad news was that the Saints were repeatedly burned by the underneath stuff, and they didn't get enough pressure on quarterback Matt Ryan. Most of the Falcons' yardage came via those missed tackles, too many big cushions in zone coverage, pick plays and screen plays.

Here are some more observations:

Missed tackles: Yikes. Pro Football Focus credited the Saints with 16 missed tackles -- and many of them were costly.

Film study: Reviewing New Orleans Saints defense - ESPN

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"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

Danno

Tripp is right

dizzle88

Patrick Robinson guesses too much in man coverage, when he guessed wrong he gets completely turned around and about 3 steps away from the receiver leaving him wide open

I really want the guy to do well, but if his technique in coverage doesn't improve this season I think he is gone

TheOak

How could one possible get burned over the top playing 6 miles off the receiver?

Danno

Because you let the WR get to full speed as you start to turn and run. You've lost the race two steps into it.

You only play that far off in zone, then you expect safety help after the WR leaves your zone.

Reminder: We suck at zone.

NonieT

And why Rob Ryan thought it would work when it didn't work for Spags is beyond me.

Utah_Saint

Probably because playing Julio Jones, Roddy White, Harry Douglas and Devin Hester man to man was asking too much so they played a lot of zone.

Luckily, there aren't many receiving corps in the NFL that are that deep.

NonieT

When we we play them again, what's gonna happen? NO MORE ZONE!!!

As someone already said: "We suck at zone."

TheOak

Well, that is when that whole insignificant tackling thingy comes into play.

195 yards after the catch.

TheOak

It was more tongue in cheek. When Atlanta has the ball on their 30 and Byrd is in our endzone like he is waiting for a kickoff..... Not gonna get burned is obvious.

Then again, maybe Tripplett was laughing when he wrote it.