jnormand

I'm gonna bring it up. Several people have also noticed. Dude wtf is wrong with Drew?

The last 3 or 4 games he has been off. I'd say maybe his shoulder is sore, but he hasn't really thrown it that much.

I get it, we're spoiled having an elite QB like him, but he seriously seems to be playing different. Some of his throws are just terrible.

Age? Is he injured? Personal problems?

Whatever it is, I hope he gets it figured out. Every game the last few weeks, I keep hoping to see him have a game that is more Brees-like. It's not happening.

And while this is going on, our offense can't get going in the 1st half. Can't score points.

I'll say this, good thing our defense has been so good. They've saved our ass the last month.

K Major

Injuries & the lack of depth at WR & TE is more of the issue.

The Saints O will play a lot better at home.

leilung

You beat me to posting almost the same thing.
Is Drew playing injured? Post game he mentioned 'stupid mistakes' in play. We all see the mistakes, but we also see the difference in his play.

Are the WR's not running the routes properly? He used to just hum it to a spot on the field and WHAM the WR's were there to catch it. I've seen several plays in the past few games where the WR's are in the same area, which is obviously not by design.

ChrisXVI

No Armstead, rookie WR’s, and Father Time. He’s going to be 40 next month. He was bound to slow down eventually.

73Saint

He looked off, but he also threw some dimes. The pick wasn't his fault, it should've been caught. I think it's a lot of moving parts, so to say something is wrong with Drew, I just don't think that's the case. This Offense is so predicated on tempo and rhythm, that when it's out of whack, it's like trying to ride a 10 speed in sand. Just doesn't work the same.

K Major

Noticed that too.

Do you think SP is playing "vanilla" on O?? I want to believe that coach is saving a LOT for the playoffs & playing in that dome. He's too good of an offensive mind.

O line must get healthy though.

SaintsBro

It's the O line. 3 key line players are out with injuries (2 of them happened last night) and for most of the game he had the normal right tackle switched over and playing left tackle last night. That's not normal, folks.

I'm surprised we need to still have this conversation, after so many years, but let me point this out -- in case you didn't notice, Drew Brees is a little tiny guy. A little guy, whose shoulder injury happened in San Diego on a play when he was diving for a ball and got trucked by a couple of big guys. Little guys like Drew, generally do not like getting trucked by big guys. Or blindsided, or having their helmets ripped off, chin strap twisted around, pads flopping outside of their jersey, etc etc... You get the idea.

And Drew's passing mojo, and in fact most of his terrific Drewness, is built off of split second timing, and it comes from Drew being CONFIDENT that he's not going to get trucked by the big guys.

What you're seeing the last couple of games is almost entirely psychological. He just doesn't have the normal amount of CONFIDENCE where he KNOWS in his gut what is happening around him, and that he knows in his gut that the O Line is going to be okay -- and that affects his throws, his accuracy, his timing, his movements in the pocket, all of that.

The thing people always say about Drew, is "he sees stuff before it happens, he plays with instinct" -- it's like he knows what's going to happen. And the same is true for the guys on the O line -- he knows what those guys are gonna do, he knows exactly what those guys can and can't do, the same way he knows what routes or moves the receivers are gonna do.

When there's pressure, when there's big ugly guys on the defensive line in a normal game, Drew hears the footsteps, just like any normal person would. Now, if Drew KNOWS the guys blocking for him, if he's worked with them a lot, if he has that rapport, if he trusts them and has that chemistry with them -- then you get the amazing "good Drew" we all like to see. Even with pressure.

He can work with pressure -- he can move, he can roll out, he can speed things up, he can change the play at the line -- he can do all these things only if he IS COMFORTABLE with the guys he's got blocking for him. But when things change suddenly, or new guys come in, well, sometimes in the middle of a game Drew gets that wild, skittish look about him and his throws get janky. And the only things that really heal or fix it, is TIME and FAMILIARITY and LET THE MAN GET COMFORTABLE. Or, to get the regular O Line back for him. Which hopefully will happen.

Think of it like your own job, whatever your job is (if you have one). You can do your job, under normal conditions, you're humming along, right? But when things change suddenly, when someone calls in sick or you get stuck working with a new guy, or they want you to do something you're not normally used to doing, or there's a problem or obstacle with some part of your job, they change stuff up on you -- it gets a lot tougher, right? Things that are normally easy to do, are harder than normal for Drew and the Saints, temporarily, right now. And it's because of the O Line injuries.

turbo_dog

On the two point play last night, Kamara ran back towards Drew when he started scrambling, instead of going to the back of the endzone, since Thomas was running just inside the line on the same track as Drew. Unfortunately, that also brought Kamara's defender towards the ball and put him in position to intercept.

I think other teams recognized how inexperienced most of our receivers are. They blanket Thomas and rely on the youth to make mistakes like not getting in and out of breaks on time or not finding the hole in the zone.

GeauxForMore

I agree Drew has not been playing to his standards. I think its a combination of a hurt O-Line and no 3rd option to catch the ball.

MT and AK are our only recieving threats. I also think we need to run the ball with Ingram more, but I been screaming that for the last couple of weeks, my throat is now sore.

In the defense of the O we played a very good Dallas D and then played 2 back to back division opponets who know how to defend Drew.

I mean did your hear Luke Kuechly say "hey I got a good feel on how these guys operate". All in all he knew exactly what we were doing.

Now we are back home against a team that is not familar with us, so I expect a solid outing from Drew and the rest of the O. If not I will be hitting the panic button.

WhoDat!656

I think he is frustrated at the WR situation; he was probably salivating over having Dez to throw too and now the Saints have released Brandon Marshall.

I am wondering if possibly SP and or Carmichael are throwing too much info at these young WRs