The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

Last year three areas stood out to me as problems. On offense pressure from the inside of our offense line gave Brees fits and led to many of his turnovers.If Max Unger can live up to his pro bowl status ,this problem should be improved greatly.
On defense our pass coverage was abysmal . Lack of talent and depth at the crucial CB and a inability of our LB corp to cover . Loomis and company acquired Browmer,Breaux,and several draft picks . I commend them for addressing the problem at CB from all available avenues. We will be much better at CB I think.At safety we have the potential of being special with Byrd ,Vaccaro,and Bush . Add in the Sunseri and the others and it easy to be optimistic about this group. Rebounds by Bryd and Vaccaro could make this group special.
Turnover in our LB corp has been drastic gone is our leading tackler and pass rusher. One could not cover and the other was an ass hat. We added veterans and draft choices to improve the rush and coverage.This will be a crucial area where we need some of these players to step up and contribute.
Our front four needs to rebound from a down year. With the addition of Kevin Williams ,rookie Tyler Davidson , the key in my mind is the return to form by John Jenkins who as a rookie showed so much promise and last year struggled with weight and injury issues. Akeem Hicks in my mind needs to take the next step,if he can this will take some of the heat off Cameron Jordan.
The hiring of Dennis Allen gives Ryan a very good assist in correcting the mistakes that led to last year's near total collapse. Don't under estimate how much this upgrade to our coaching staff can help.
Coach Payton is alleged to making a commitment to the running game . I think that Peat's contribution to the improvement of our run blocking is underestimated,just how is unclear and will be intriguing how it plays out during the preseason. At the very least I see him in as third TE in short yardage and think he might even get a look at the other guard opposite Evans. We didnt give up a #1 to red shirt him. Improved run game helps our defense and takes some of the pressure off Brees.
We went all in trading a star player , spending draft picks and trading away problem players Adding CJ Spiller to replace some of the lost production is exciting and if he remains healthy there is no question of talents. There are lots of IFs this season and I am so happy to see how they play out .

Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

Front line play on both sides of the ball, along with knowing their assignments. And being less predictable(Brees to Graham) might make a big difference also.

Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

I think the key to a successful season is SP and Loomis

I just can't shake the feeling that this year is exactly like last, they expected a 37 year champ Bailey to win the starting CB job, now they are expecting our offense to be successful with wide receivers that either can't stay healthy, can't catch or are HOF'ers in preseason and total busts in regular season.

Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

Several issues have me concerned about how all the new additions need to contribute to make up for our losses. WR is an area with unproven players being counted on to replace significant production lost by the trades and cuts we made. Counting on CJ Spiller to stay healthy,Brandon Cooks to be special and Toon Coleman and Jones to make the transition from practice squad to starter . We have got to get some pass rush help from somebody or all our additions at CB won't matter.,

Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

If we don't finish above . 500 then it's time to move on from Payton and Loomis. Enough living off of past success.

Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

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Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

play for 60 minutes. no giving up on the field.

Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

Personally I think the issue at WR/TE is overrated. My feeling is as long as Brees is upright, there will be production from the receiver corps. So the offseason focus on the offensive line with the addition of Unger and Peat, and the presumed insertion of Lelito at guard actually will support receiver production more than the actual personnel in receiver positions. Cooks, Hill, Toon, and Watson showed more than enough last year to continue to give Brees targets.
I think Ingram has proved the Spiller doesn't need to be an every down back in the offense. Cooks is special. The only question there is the same question for every other player: can he stay healthy for the entire season.

My only real worry about the offense was the O-Line. I think that has been effectively addressed. Everything else will fall into line there IMHO.
That's a given. But you have to realize the defenses are holistic. Having a secondary that can cover for the 2-3 seconds it takes for the front 4 to get to the QB will improve the rush. Having LBs that can cover in the flat and cover TE in the short passing game will improve the effectiveness of pressure on the QB. Having a stout run defense improves the D-Line's ability to get after the QB by limiting the options on longer 3rd downs.

So it cannot simply be a single component on defense as a defense is only as strong as its weakest link.

And the Saints have tried to address the rush issue with the additions of Kikaha, Spencer, and Williams. Also Edebali will get more opportunities.

The defense's problem isn't specifically the pass rush. It has to be more holistic than that. If the defense can gel enough to do 4 specific things:

1. Stop the run consistently.
2. Get off the field on 3rd down.
3. Take the ball away.
4. Limit opposing offenses to FGs in the red zone.

Then the rest is all gravy. But to do that consistently, a defense has to be solid at all three levels.

We will see if Payton, Ryan, and Allen can put together a unit that can accomplish these goals.

SFIAH

Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

A lot of younger guys /rookies will have to step up this season.

This could be a good thing.

Re: The keys to a successful Saints season. IMHO
 

I have one key: Score more points than the other team.