44Champs

This was a tired Saints team. 3 games in 12 days. That's a lot.

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Budsdrinker

Only problem with that reason is the cowgirls played the same amount of games in that span

SaintsBro

Actually, no, he's right, because if both teams are tired, it still favors the defense. I'm not making any excuses here, I'm just explaining the science of it.

Think of it as, the difference between hitting and getting hit...hitting always is easier to do than being the one getting hit. If you are the defense, reacting to the other guy, or to the ball, and the other guy is just as tired as you are, it is always going to be easier for you, if YOU are the one reacting rather than having to be the one acting. It's just the nature of the game. The Saints offense relies on spit-second timing and finesse as well as power; if any of that timing gets thrown off even by a few fractions of the second, or by poor concentration, it can spell trouble. Which is exactly what happened, especially in the first half. But even though there is a lot of brain work and schemes involved in defense, the defense is basically still just the art of motoring to the quarterback, or trucking the guy with the ball before he trucks you, or wrapping up tackles or deflecting passes...all these things are easier to REACT to, than they are to be the one ACTING, if that makes any sense. A sharp cut or a turn on a pass route, is a lot easier to react to, if the other guy is running slower than usual, isn't it? Even if you're the DB and you're also running slower, the reaction times are closer., so that gives you an edge if you are playing a tired defense against a tired offense. Does that make sense? I'm trying to explain it.... the Cowboys were MUCH more physical in that game than the Saints, to their credit, I'll give them that; but it's a lot easier to be a power/physical team, if the other team you're playing against is flat or tired, or not moving at 100% speed. If both teams are tired, it still ends up favoring the defense. it's basically the same reason as bad weather or extreme field conditions, mud or sloppy grass, will favor the defense over the offense, every time.

Also the Cowboys offense did not look *that* good, either. They were held to only 13 points. Their offense looked flat and listless in places, as well. If the Cowboys had truly dominated the Saints, they would have translated that into more points, but they actually gave up a high number of sacks and turnovers as well. It really was not a good looking game for either team.

dizzle88

True but it's not like they torched us, both defenses dominated, we just had slightly less grabby Cornerbacks than they did.

Danno

But their 3rd game was at home.

Unger mentioned they felt tired and sluggish.
It was obvious we looked slower than usual.