WhoDat!656

Think the Saints' offensive line isn't getting the job done?

The metrics from Football Outsiders say quite the opposite.

* On "power" runs -- third or fourth down and 2 yards or less to go, or any down from the 1- or 2-yard line -- the Saints have a 94 percent success rate. Through six games, no one in the NFL is better.

* Saints running backs are "stuffed" -- tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage -- only 16 percent of the time, which is the fourth-lowest rate in the league.

So if the offensive line is doing its job, does that mean the Saints' lack of production is the fault of the running backs?

Again, the numbers from Football Outsiders say probably not.

When adjusted for opponent and game situation, Mark Ingram is the 10th-most productive back in the league. Backup Khiry Robinson is also well above league average in adjusted yardage, and would be in the top 10 if he had enough carries to be eligible.

So if these numbers suggest everything is fine, why are the Saints nearly last in the league on the ground?

The biggest culprit is lack of explosive plays.

The Saints' longest run all season is 17 yards.

There have been 117 runs of 20 yards or more in 2015. The Saints are the only team without any.

That explains why the Saints are dead last in open-field yards (rushing yardage gained beginning 10 yards from the line of scrimmage).

The good news is that the season is still young and an explosive play or two could bring the Saints back closer to the league average -- and perhaps impact a game.

If C.J. Spiller's dramatic 80-yard touchdown in overtime three weeks ago had been a run instead of a short pass, the Saints would instantly move from 31st to 21st in the NFL in rushing. They'd be just ahead of the New England Patriots.

Recent history suggests the Saints have the personnel in place to turn it around.

The Saints were No. 2 in the NFL last year in adjusted line yards, a metric that seeks to measure offensive line run-blocking. Both Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson were rated highly in adjusted yards. And the Saints eventually finished No. 13 in overall rushing per game and tied for sixth in rushing yards per carry.

Making a leap like that might seem like an impossibility. In reality, it will probably just take a handful of the big plays that have been uncharacteristically absent so far in 2015.

"We're going to keep working," Strief said.

What's wrong with New Orleans Saints' run game? Perhaps not as much as you think | NOLA.com

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

halloween 65

If those stats would be correct, we should pound the ball to set up play action. I have a hard time with watching a live game and believing what stats say. My eyes say our O-line is shakey and gets man-handled, the stats say different. I'll believe what I see instead.

AlaskaSaints

Our Win / Loss record do not line up with that "metric".

hagan714

hard to say with an OL as beat up as ours

SaintsBro

I don't know, but it could be possible that the lack of "explosive plays" is due to changing the running backs every other play. We've all seen it. Robinson will power through and get 10 or so yards, then Ingram comes in a couple plays later, and gets barely 1. Then when Ingram busts a big gain, 7 or 10 yards, you can see he's all pumped up, he's excited, and then the Saints run a bunch of guys in and out of the huddle...next thing you know the next running play goes to Khiry Robinson, and he gets tackled and stuffed behind the line. This happens A LOT. And of course a certain number of these touches also go to Spiller, who has done little if anything of note other than the one TD pass in OT.

I don't know if anyone else saw it, but the Falcons had assistant coaches on the sidelines watching the substitutions that the Saints offense sent in, then they would tell their certain package guys to run out on the field, based on who the Saints already had in the huddle. You could see groups of the Falcons players waiting around for the coaches' signals, they'd read the jersey numbers in the Saints huddle and THEN run their defensive guys out to the field. It was very obvious.

burningmetal

In reading that, I feel like I actually just witnessed someone trying to explain how the moon is really made of cheese. How can anyone take this crap seriously?

I guess if someone thinks long enough about something he'll convince himself that water is dry and fire is wet. This article was nothing but a long-winded way of saying that nothing is actually what it appears to be.

Crusader

I agree fully. This is what I meant when I'm in another thread advocated running Ingram more. We need the consistency.

SaintGup

[QUOTE=SaintsBro;67689
I don't know if anyone else saw it, but the Falcons had assistant coaches on the sidelines watching the substitutions that the Saints sent in, then they would tell their certain package guys to run out on the field, based on who the Saints already had in the huddle. You could see groups of the Falcons players waiting around for the coaches' signals, they'd read the jersey numbers in the Saints huddle and THEN run their defensive guys out to the field. It was very obvious.[/QUOTE]

And that turned out real well for them.

jnormand

We run so many screen passes and not enough PA. We should be pounding the rock. I remember when Ingram would be running the ball last year and he'd get all fired up and they'd give it to him again and ran through the hole like his hair was on fire. Pumping his fist and getting angry.

We don't ever see that anymore. Why? Like someone said before...switch switch switch.

Idk.

I'd like to see more PA though. Less screens.

Rugby Saint II

Our running game is inconsistent(nonexistent) and our packages are predictable.