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Mark Ingram invites other teams to focus on stopping the New Orleans Saints' rushing attack.

If that's the primary goal of opposing defenses, Ingram knows quarterback Drew Brees could take advantage.

"If you just want to stack up the box and forget about No. 9, he'll torch you, I'm sure," Ingram said Thursday (July 27).

For much of Brees' tenure with the Saints, they've had one of the most pass-happy offenses in the NFL, but in 2017, they featured the league's most balanced attack, ranking fifth in both passing and rushing.



In the first half of the season, the Saints benefitted a bit from the element of surprise. Few people around the league -- including, admittedly, Saints coach Sean Payton -- expected rookie running back Alvin Kamara to be so effective as a runner.

With Kamara's efficiency and Mark Ingram having a career year, the Saints suddenly added a lethal rushing attack to what was already one of the most feared passing units led by Brees and budding superstar receiver Michael Thomas. Even after the surprise wore off, teams still couldn't slow the Saints run game without leaving holes in the pass game.

Now, heading into 2018, teams are well aware of what the Saints can do on the ground, but that won't make the well-rounded offense any easier to stop.

Shoot, even Kamara doesn't know what he would do if he had to defend the Saints.

"How do you?" he said. "You got to account for Mike, you got to account for Drew, you got to account for Mark, me, (wide receiver) Ted (Ginn Jr.). It's hard. There's so many playmakers."

Typically, the chief goal of a defense each game is to stop the run, regardless of who is playing quarterback. Against Brees, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and others, that concept might seem counterintuitive, but even the best quarterbacks struggle sometimes when their offenses become one-dimensional.

However, Kamara said one team -- he wouldn't say which -- focused more on limiting the run last season, and it didn't work.

"Drew killed them," he said.

"That's very dumbfounding to me. You got Drew Brees at quarterback, and you're worried about stopping the run more than you are the pass. It's good for us. Whichever way you want to stop us, the other one will beat you."

Thomas, coming off back-to-back seasons with 1,100-plus receiving yards, expects the offense to exploit whichever holes defenses decide to leave open.

"We kind of just treat it like a tag team," he said. "If they stack the box, then we know as receivers that we got to get open and make the plays. And then (if) they back up off, we can hand it to the guys in the backfield. That's team football, and that's what we're doing."

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