Triplette - Saints Mailbag

saintsfan1976 · 12-14-2014, 08:38 AM

Thought all the questions this week touched on recent topics here - cap issues, tanking the season and general performance of all three phases.

New Orleans Saints mailbag: Why the anemic offense? - ESPN

@MikeTriplett why does the offense seem so anemic relative to the last 8-9 years? Colston has been a non factor this year.

@MikeTriplett: I completely agree with the question -- even though I can't find many numbers that actually support it. The Saints' 421 yards per game are the second most in the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era, and their 6.1 yards per play are about average in that era. Brees is still on pace to throw for about 4,900 yards with 34 touchdowns. Some of that has come in "garbage time," but not much.

The one area where I feel like the Saints are lacking most is the downfield passing game. It seems like defenses are forcing them to check down more than ever, and their success has come from chipping away (they lead the NFL in first downs per game, completion percentage and third-down conversion rates). Clearly longtime vets like Marques Colston and Robert Meachem are having down years. And Jimmy Graham isn't catching nearly as many balls deep down the field as usual -- which is why his catches and touchdowns are normal, but his yards are down. At least I thought that was the obvious answer to this question. But I was surprised to see that Brees' numbers on passes of 20-plus yards in the air are pretty close to normal, as well, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He's on pace to complete 30 of them for 1,041 yards this year.

Over the past five years, he averaged 31 of them for 1,119 yards. Honestly, the biggest difference is probably the Saints' awful starting field position (roughly the 24-yard line, which is second-worst in the NFL to the Oakland Raiders). The Saints' defense and kick-return games rarely give the offense the ball back on a short field. So they have to work extra hard for every score. It was the same case last year. In 2013, the Saints averaged only 25.9 points per game. This year, it's 25.6 points per game. And the two offenses have been similar in many ways -- both strengths and weaknesses.

They just got away with it more last year because the defense was playing so well.

12-14-2014, 08:38 AM	#1
saintsfan1976 10000 POST CLUB Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Atlanta Posts: 10,555 Blog Entries: 3	Triplette - Saints Mailbag Thought all the questions this week touched on recent topics here - cap issues, tanking the season and general performance of all three phases. New Orleans Saints mailbag: Why the anemic offense? - ESPN @MikeTriplett why does the offense seem so anemic relative to the last 8-9 years? Colston has been a non factor this year. @MikeTriplett: I completely agree with the question -- even though I can't find many numbers that actually support it. The Saints' 421 yards per game are the second most in the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era, and their 6.1 yards per play are about average in that era. Brees is still on pace to throw for about 4,900 yards with 34 touchdowns. Some of that has come in "garbage time," but not much. The one area where I feel like the Saints are lacking most is the downfield passing game. It seems like defenses are forcing them to check down more than ever, and their success has come from chipping away (they lead the NFL in first downs per game, completion percentage and third-down conversion rates). Clearly longtime vets like Marques Colston and Robert Meachem are having down years. And Jimmy Graham isn't catching nearly as many balls deep down the field as usual -- which is why his catches and touchdowns are normal, but his yards are down. At least I thought that was the obvious answer to this question. But I was surprised to see that Brees' numbers on passes of 20-plus yards in the air are pretty close to normal, as well, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He's on pace to complete 30 of them for 1,041 yards this year. Over the past five years, he averaged 31 of them for 1,119 yards. Honestly, the biggest difference is probably the Saints' awful starting field position (roughly the 24-yard line, which is second-worst in the NFL to the Oakland Raiders). The Saints' defense and kick-return games rarely give the offense the ball back on a short field. So they have to work extra hard for every score. It was the same case last year. In 2013, the Saints averaged only 25.9 points per game. This year, it's 25.6 points per game. And the two offenses have been similar in many ways -- both strengths and weaknesses. They just got away with it more last year because the defense was playing so well.

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