Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Frankly I'm tired of this argument. The point is moot, they are not bringing in new receivers, unless we get some nasty injuries. It's too late to trade, and the market place doesn't have much on the shelves. People can doubt the legitimacy of our WR corps from here till the cows come home but I saw Cook make some great catches (not good, great) and Ginn produced when called upon. Records, wins, Super Bowls, I'll take em all.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

I saw Klein compared to Shanle by a poster I don't remember during the game. It was meant as a slight, but Shanle was voted by Saints players as the defensive MVP.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Does the rookie split snaps with anyone?..... Because since Trey has came back Davenport is being rotated. Why? idk it does concern me a bit too....granted Trey has been in the the league longer, I'm not ready to pass on as some of you are though

Preston Smith is balling with the Packers and the Redskins are looking like the losers all because they couldn't be patient.

Cameron Jordan wasn't the Cameron Jordan we know today his first 2 years

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

If you're tired of it, then don't debate. This is a forum to discuss football good and bad. I'm not going to sit back and agree with everything a poster says on the team.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Kiko Alonzo ...

Money. Made some solid tackles.

Week after week, he's getting more familiar with the system and has been capitalizing on those snaps.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Purely speculation but could Marcus be playing hurt/injured?

I know this is year 3 for his teammate Trey H but he has "explosion" off the line. Kind of easy to see why he's getting so close to the QB. I've noticed that MD is a half step behind here.

Get it together. We'll need both down the stretch.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

MD get off does seem a little slow and he seems to still only be using the bullrush. But I think it comes with time.

Like I said Preston Smith is doing his thing and he took some time and he was a higher rated player than MD.....The injury may be hindering some, but we'll see by seasons end

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

We have Butler and Lil'Jordan unsigned on the sidelines if we need to. Surprised Butler wasn't signed to the practice squad. And we use the RB as a WR. Kamara's hands are golden.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Agreed. It does take time to master the technique.

I noticed he was bottled up quite a bit on that "bull rush" yesterday. Also when Jameis was running for his life, Davenport was chasing but simply didn't seem to have the jets as he usually does.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

From what I hear from coach/ player interviews, radio talk etc he is
Just kind of slow as far as catching on to technique and more importantly he needs to be more instinctive. They rely on his pure physical freakishness for the bull rush but that’s about all he’s got right now.
Talent is great and all but only gets you so far when you are around so many other talented players. Intelligence and instinct separate the men from the boys.
I had hoped to see more.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

He look likes a thinker....like he's thinking on the go instead of trusting his eyes and playing free... because when he does OMG when he does you see why they drafted him. Trey was the same way, but he's coming along he has more moves and counters....I still believe the kid can prove to himself and the doubters what he's truly capable of

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Observation: we've all seen Drew make the other team jump offsides with his hard count, it's one of his great tricks as a QB....but I don't know if I've ever seen him do it TWICE IN A ROW, like that, before. There was that sequence when it went from 3rd and 17, to 3rd and 12 and then 3rd and 7, all off of Drew getting them to jump. He literally psyched them out twice in a row, on back to back snaps. That was awesome.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

- Control time of possession (we won in this category by a lot)
- Balance
- Play good defense

Recipe for a dubya.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Good observation. I am still very high on Davenport and if he can make a jump like Hendrickson has he will be special because his physical abilities are crazy.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

I think he’s the opposite. He tries too much to just go 100% and maul people because he didn’t HAVE to think as much in college. He was just stronger, faster, tougher than anyone else. Now he can’t rely purely on his physically, he has to play smart because of the level of competition.
Maybe now he’s trying to overcompensate now and thinks too much.
Once he gets it and has the combination of both...look out. Just hope it happens.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Post game, Rev Deuce mentioned that their could have been several reasons on the limited snaps for Davenport ...

1. Wanted to keep him "fresh" throughout since TB is a pass team first.
2. The brace on his arm may have limited him on technique.
3. Trey Hendrickson provides more consistency from the pass rush.
4. Not using Davenport on stunts as much with Rankins back & see TRex as the better edge presence right now.

All good talking points though.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Drew still has the it factor.
Kamara is back from his ankle injury and looks good.
The D-line showed up to play this week.
The team was highly motivated after last weeks loss.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Gotta appreciate how our D played yesterday. Something that may have gotten overlooked is how they held the #1 and #2 receivers in the league yardage wise, to 11 yards going into the 3rd qtr. That’s without our top corner.
Eli maybe the biggest CB signing we’ve ever had. The guy is playing with so much confidence.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Tampa Bay rushed the ball eight times for 36 yards. That's a very respectable 4.5 yards per carry. If they would have rushed the ball seven more times they would have won the game. They stupidly abandoned the run.

Right?

:confused:

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Any one catch Sean Payton on the sideline sitting next to Alvin Kamara chopping it up on his playboard talking X's and O's? I don't think I've ever seen coach do that before.

Chess player with a killer instinct/attitude. 2009 type fire.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

No.
Winston lead them in rushing with 23 yds. Most of that came on one play where we were caught in man coverage
and he was running for his life.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

1. Apple moving here from the Gnats was the best thing for him and us. He's showing why he was highly touted.
2. Alonzo was such a steal of a trade. He's growing into the system quickly and it shows.
3. I have no prob with MT getting majority of looks...he just makes 1st downs. Drew has shown what happens when you double cover him by hitting big plays to other receivers.
4. DLine showed up. Would like to see improvement from Davonport but TRex has been playing well.
5. OLine showed up. Easton is a better fit than Clapp at LG.
6. Good to see Williams Pick 6 Winston. DBs thrive off of confidence (see Apple), so I'm expecting our young FS to play well down the stretch.
7. 3rd and greater than 7 should be easier to stop than 3rd and 2 or less. How come I'm more confident with the D stopping 3rd and 1 but highly sceptical with 3rd and 12?

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

36 games and counting not allowing a 100yd RUSHER.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Barry, agree with all. The long 3rd down conversions is what keep game somewhat close.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Saints are 4-1 on the road thus far.

That's what Super Bowl contending teams do.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Yes, and after the game one of the reporters said it was due to Josh Hill being
out of the game with a concussion. That Payton and Kamara were going over plays that they could still run with Hill being out which to me was interesting.
I would assume he would be sitting with Taysom or someone who would fill in for Josh not Kamara.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Ok.

Wow, missed the injury to Josh. Hope he's ok. He's very important to what we do offensively.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

That was sarcasm, cmike. It was directed to those that claimed the Saints lost last week because they "abandoned the run" while the running game was working. They ignored the fact that a third of the yards gained were on two trick plays with Taysom and Ginn carrying the ball. The Bucs were forced to give up on the run for the exact same reasons as the Saints last week versus the Falcons.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

No, I was enthralled watching Ozigbo not carry the ball for a whopping ZERO yards against the Colts. Those ZERO yards forced the Jaguars to "abandon the run" :rofl:

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Not sure what any of that has to do with Tre Smith...

Nor did I say Drew throwing short is a bad thing. What point are you trying to argue?

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

AK averaged 6YPC against ATL

0-42

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

On four frickin' carries! He averaged more yards than that on his 8 catches!

And the Saints have lost 395 games when they have run the ball 15 or more times.

Once again, people that know the game FAR better than any of us have repeatedly said that the number of rushing attempts in a game has ZERO bearing on the outcome. The flow of the game and the defense, however, has a HUGE bearing on the number of rushing attempts.

Forty-two times in the 52 year history of the Saints they have lost when running the ball less than 15 times. Has it occurred to some of you that the total inability to maintain a drive (other than via pass) might have something to do with a limited number of rushing attempts? Huh?

Once again, I shared a link to the play by play from that Falcons game. I challenged any of you to go to that play by play and tell me exactly which plays should have been a run instead of a pass and your argument as to why.

How about on the 2nd and 10 after being stuffed for zero yards on the first down?

Or how about the 2nd and 9 when the first down run gained only one?

Or how about the 2nd and 8 when Murray was able to rip off the two yard romp?

Or how about on the 3 and nine after Tre'Quan dropped what would have been a 1st down?

Or how about on the 3rd and 14 after Warford committed a false start?

Or how about on the 1st and ten when Brees completed a 14 yrds pass to Thomas?

Or how about any of the final ten plays of the first half (all passes) with 1:31 left on the clock which, by the way, did lead to a field goal as the clock expired?

Or how about on 2nd and 6 when Ginn dropped what would have been a huge gain?

Or how about on 3rd and 8 when Brees picked up 13 yards on a completion to Tre'Quan.

Or how about on any of the last twelve plays of the game with 2:26 left on the clock and down 26-9?

Shall I continue? I can. Tell me when a running play should have been the choice and when the defensive alignment didn't favor a passing play, instead.

Well? Maybe you can find four or five, but there is no assurance they wouldn't end up being stuffed just like most of the other carries.

It's all good and fine to say that they should have run the ball more ... but when in hell's name was it a viable option?

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Correlation Is not Causation: Why Running the Football Doesn’t Cause You to Win Games in the NFL

Interesting article on the very subject.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

0-42

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Correlation is not causation. Why was the artificial limit of "under 15 attempts used"? Because there were definitely wins with only 15 attempts.

If a team was 218-0 when kneeling on the snap in the 2nd half does it mean that the team should kneel on every play in the 2nd half to assure winning? Equally logical to your assertion.

Attempting less than 15 runs in those 42 games did not cause the Saints to lose those games. Circumstances during the loss limited their favorable instances to choose the run versus the pass in those games.

As I pointed out, the Saints have lost 395 games when running the ball 15 or more times over that same period of time.

Once again, instead of repeatedly posting a totally meaningless 0-42 statistic, how about pointing out actual plays in the game where a rushing attempt would have been more logical than a passing attempt. If you could find four instances where we would have reached the magical 15 that would have guaranteed us the win it would be nice.

And why did the Bucs only attempt EIGHT carries against us this week? Because our defense limited their opportunities to run the ball successfully. Winston averaged 11.5 yards per carry. Why didn't they just have him carry it 15 times?

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

0 and wait for it...... 42!!!!!!!

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Was going to post this as well. I got rid of cable so I can't watch the games... THE HORROR!!!

Deuce Windham and Ellias Williams indeed made the points you typed out and also stated that Davenport doesn't seem to get off the snap quickly enough. He's apparently a step behind from the get go.

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

Re: Observations from the Saints win over the Bucs
 

"Kamara is a 3rd down back"