Originally Posted by CheramieIII (Post 846862)

Well be even better this year.

Originally Posted by 44Champs (Post 846849)

Looking to 2019 there is a good chance the Saints defense will outshine the offense. For anyone who's been a Saints fan over the last decade that is not something you would expect to hear. In recent times the Saints have statistically fielded some of the worst defenses in NFL history. Finally that has all changed.

https://www.laredzonereport.com/post...defensive-unit

XLIV CHAMPS

Originally Posted by CHA_CHING (Post 847238)

Good podcast, but I disagree. Will offer my sentiment -

Defense wins championships only when you have an offense that achieves a positive net ratio on yards, first downs and ANY/A yardage and don't turn the ball over. Teams like the 2000 Ravens and 2015 Broncos where the defense does 90% of the hard work to win the SB are incredibly rare and both of those teams were "at the right place, at the right time" to put it, in circumstantial situations.

I'll give you the best example - the 1985 Bears. Their offense is shockingly underrated in terms of historical value. 1985 was the one year that Chicago had an above average passing game (they ranked in the top 5 all year on passing stats and had a better than average ANY/A ranking). Most people just assume Walter Payton was their entire offense, but that was not true in 1985. The one year Chicago has a legit offense, they won the SB. They same couldn't be said for 1984, 1986, or 1987. The old Ditka Bears are a great example of having the possible GOAT defense and GOAT running back, still not getting you anywhere without a legit passing game.

I can also point to Baltimore for examples. In 2006 they had a defense that was arguably better than the 2000 team and had played a much tougher slate of QBs. Their 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2017 teams also had elite defenses ranked in the top 5 but in the playoffs, they all lost to teams that could also keep up with them defensively and limit mistakes. People love to say the Colts defense carried Manning in the 2006 playoff run, but the difference was, he actually moved the ball down the field, while McNair and the Ravens couldn't even muster a TD that night. Go through all those playoff losses with Baltimore's elite defense and you'll see where they lost due to the offense being lackluster or making big mistakes (Joe Flacco's dumb interception vs New England in 2014).

Our offense tanked last year beginning with the Dallas game and they were carried by the defense the rest of the way. We lose to Tampa, Carolina and Pittsburgh if not for the defense trying to move heaven and earth to bail us out. My point here is, if our offense didn't regress, we wouldn't have had to rely on the defense.

They scored 20 and 23 points in the playoffs. I think what gets lost in all the talk about the non-call is that we let Philly linger around in a game where the defense dominated them for 3 quarters, all cause the offense couldn't stop committing dumb penalties and not executing drives into TDs.

If the defense plays the same from last year, I'm not concerned about them. I'm concerned about the offense having another lack luster year or having some peak and then crashing hard.

Originally Posted by CHA_CHING (Post 847238)

Good podcast, but I disagree. Will offer my sentiment -

Defense wins championships only when you have an offense that achieves a positive net ratio on yards, first downs and ANY/A yardage and don't turn the ball over. Teams like the 2000 Ravens and 2015 Broncos where the defense does 90% of the hard work to win the SB are incredibly rare and both of those teams were "at the right place, at the right time" to put it, in circumstantial situations.

I'll give you the best example - the 1985 Bears. Their offense is shockingly underrated in terms of historical value. 1985 was the one year that Chicago had an above average passing game (they ranked in the top 5 all year on passing stats and had a better than average ANY/A ranking). Most people just assume Walter Payton was their entire offense, but that was not true in 1985. The one year Chicago has a legit offense, they won the SB. They same couldn't be said for 1984, 1986, or 1987. The old Ditka Bears are a great example of having the possible GOAT defense and GOAT running back, still not getting you anywhere without a legit passing game.

I can also point to Baltimore for examples. In 2006 they had a defense that was arguably better than the 2000 team and had played a much tougher slate of QBs. Their 2009, 2011, 2014 and 2017 teams also had elite defenses ranked in the top 5 but in the playoffs, they all lost to teams that could also keep up with them defensively and limit mistakes. People love to say the Colts defense carried Manning in the 2006 playoff run, but the difference was, he actually moved the ball down the field, while McNair and the Ravens couldn't even muster a TD that night. Go through all those playoff losses with Baltimore's elite defense and you'll see where they lost due to the offense being lackluster or making big mistakes (Joe Flacco's dumb interception vs New England in 2014).

Our offense tanked last year beginning with the Dallas game and they were carried by the defense the rest of the way. We lose to Tampa, Carolina and Pittsburgh if not for the defense trying to move heaven and earth to bail us out. My point here is, if our offense didn't regress, we wouldn't have had to rely on the defense.

They scored 20 and 23 points in the playoffs. I think what gets lost in all the talk about the non-call is that we let Philly linger around in a game where the defense dominated them for 3 quarters, all cause the offense couldn't stop committing dumb penalties and not executing drives into TDs.

If the defense plays the same from last year, I'm not concerned about them. I'm concerned about the offense having another lack luster year or having some peak and then crashing hard.

Originally Posted by CHA_CHING (Post 847238)

Our offense tanked last year beginning with the Dallas game and they were carried by the defense the rest of the way. We lose to Tampa, Carolina and Pittsburgh if not for the defense trying to move heaven and earth to bail us out. My point here is, if our offense didn't regress, we wouldn't have had to rely on the defense.

Originally Posted by AsylumGuido (Post 847240)

Last off-season I had Demario Davis as the most important pick-up on the player front. I believe that was fairly accurate. This season I have Jared Cook as the difference maker on offense. Last season our TE's were never a real threat, thus giving the defense the ability to key upon our other offensive areas. In my opinion that will not be the case this year. The addition of Cook and the further development of the young WR's should prove to be a huge factor. And I have no worries about the loss of Ingram at RB. I loved his play ... but Murray has the ability in the Saints offense to be just as productive and possibly even more explosive at times.

Originally Posted by foreverfan (Post 847250)

NFL 2018-19 Week 16 Steelers -- Saints Condensed Game - YouTube

Originally Posted by CHA_CHING (Post 847284)

That game is what convinced me we had serious issues.

We were blowing Pittsburgh out in the first half... then in the second half, it was like someone turned off the power switch and they couldn't get a first down. It took the defense getting a huge 4th down stop and multiple turnovers to keep us in that game... and yet we still needed an egregious PI call on Joe Haden to barely get that last TD.

I give the Steelers credit for their defensive adjustments that night cause whatever they did, it halted us in the second half, when it looked like we were going to roll them early on. (BTW cool stat - we own Tomlin's Steelers. Have not lost to them since 2006 which was his first year. 3-0 vs them since then.)

The NFC title game went eerily similar to this. We had many chances to blow the Rams out but piddled around in the second half, letting them hang around in the game long enough to tie it.

Originally Posted by WillSaints81 (Post 847296)

His first year was 2007. So we haven't lost to his Steelers period.