Hello everyone. I’m Jake. I’ve lived in New Orleans for eight years and, as Joe mentioned, the Saints are my second favorite team. Since moving to New Orleans, I’ve followed the Saints very closely (I think it is sacrilege not to in New Orleans) and I’m very excited to bring another perspective to Saints247. Let’s do this…
That was a fun way to open the season. A high scoring, big play shootout that went right down to the last second. I hope the rest of the season is like that…just with fewer losses for the team. Saints fans seem to be looking at the game from a glass half full perspective. At this stage in the season that is the right attitude because there were a lot of positives. The offense looked like one of the more dangerous in the NFL. Drew Brees again proved he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the league. Unfortunately, the defense was absolutely shredded. There is no crisis yet, but there are definitely aspects which should cause concern.
First and foremost is the defense. Man coverage, zone coverage, nothing worked against the Packers. I know this was against one of the top passing offenses in the league but Aaron Rodgers is a career 65% passer. On Thursday he completed 77% of his passes. The defense seemed nervous and Patrick Robinson, who was burned multiple times, even admitted as much. As the season progresses the defensive unit should settle in, but the Saints plays some pretty good quarterbacks this season and the coverage must get better.
This looks like the Saints defense from Thursday
Even when defenders were in position to bring down the ball carrier, they broke out the ‘Olay Tackles.’ It was like a matador letting a bull run right through the red cloth. Combine that with a lack of pass rush and the Saints defense could be in for a long season. I think the worst case for the Saints the season is an early-2000’s-Colts-type of season: a top offense and suspect defense requiring 25+ points per game in order to win. That formula will get you 10 to 12 wins, but come the playoffs it usually leads to an early exit. Hopefully for all you Saints fans, the team makes some adjustments quickly.
And then there was the coaching. Look, I’ve been a huge Sean Payton fan since he took over the Saints; in a league filled with conservative play calling and wimpy choices to punt, Payton’s bold decisions are fun to watch. But there is a fine line between bold and stupid play calling, and tonight Payton was on the wrong side. The decision in the third quarter to go for it on 4th down from the seven yard line (a field goal would have made it 30-35) was a poor choice. I get the concept that if you don’t score you leave a long field for the opposing offense. However, the Saints had been unable to slow down the Packers for nearly the whole night. It was a call that showed how much faith Payton has in the offense, but also one that ignored every other factor of the game. In that situation you have to take the points.
Another example was on the final play of the game. On the one yard line with no time left, what do you do? This is a hard call. I don’t necessarily mind running the ball with Ingram, but I don’t really get the call in relation to some of Payton’s other choices in the game. On the 4th down play I mentioned before, Payton went with a play action pass because Ingram was stuffed on the 3rd and 1 prior. So, on a 4th down play with the game close you don’t trust Ingram to run the ball, but on the final, game tying play you do? I might be over analyzing these couple of plays, but tonight Payton’s play calling was like Les Miles gone wrong. The 4th down call was cutesy and reeked of desperation while the final play was a confusing choice.
The hardest game of the season is over, Saints fans, and it was winnable right until the very end. A couple of tweaks here and there and this team is going to be very hard to beat. Even if the defense continues look horrible, Brees and the offense will be able to keep the team in every game. If it makes you all feel any better, my team plays the Saints this season and I’m very worried.
Let us know your thoughts on the game, or take a guess at my favorite team in the comments below! And don’t forget to follow Saints247 on twitter @nolasaints247 and me @nolajake.
The suspense mounts as to who Jakes’ favorite team is. My guess is the Jaguars.
I going to guess Indy!
I’ll guess Tampa bay Bucs
I’m going with Red Sox.
That was a funny guess!
I dislike the questioning of Payton’s play calling because the calls at the time they were made were the right calls. The first one with the busted bootleg/pass was something completely off the wall in a situation where the whole world was expecting Ingram off tackle. Unfortunately the guards and center got blown up and Brees had a major rush in his face from the center of the line. The play flat out failed. The call at the end of the game was gut check time. If you can’t pick up a yard with the game on the line you don’t belong in the game. If he got cute there and failed it would have been the bonehead call of the year. Like the double reverse on 4th and 1 back in 2008 against Tampa that knocked us out of playoff contention. The coaching/play call questions are irrelevant. If the execution is there then it’s genius. The problem came with the vaunted all-star combo of Nicks and Evans getting pushed back and Krutz not even showing up to play. Pressure in the most unexpected place (coming right at 3 pro-bowl players) destroyed the chance of either play working. Taken further in the 2009 NFCG in a critical short yardage situation against the Vikings Payton called the same run play he called at the end of the Packer game. That time PT smashed the ball over the line and picked up the first down. That time the call worked because the line got the push to make it work against a way better Vikings D-Line. Again it is not about the call it is about the execution. If you can’t get one yard when the whole world knows you need the one yard then you don’t deserve the win. We failed.
As for the defense especially on the matador tackles I couldn’t agree with him more. I would argue that this is not a Saints only problem you saw it all weekend. Especially on the kickoff returns. I would love to compare the statistics on plays over 20 yards last week to any other week in NFL history. I have noticed defenders are just not as aggressive league wide. They are shying away from contact. It’s hard to pin down the cause on this. I want to just blame the lockout and the lack of offseason conditioning and lifting programs but a part of me thinks the reasons behind this are more financial. With the league office in NYC handing $50k fines against defenders like free candy in addition to the enhanced rules in regard to what a defenseless player is. I think defenders are backing off a bit. They don’t want to pick up the 15 yards for a potential helmet to helmet hit and they really don’t want to get called up to New York to get $50k jacked from them either. There was 14 QB’s throwing for over 3oo yards this past week and 8 TD returns for touchdowns. That shouldn’t be happening but alas the NFL knows potent offenses and big plays up the TV ratings and as a result I think they are creating a league where defenders are scared to come up and pop folks like they used to do. This gives them the big plays and 906 yard prime time games.
I would say you’re onto something Ryan. The eight combined return TDs, 7,842 total passing yards, fourteen different 300-yard passers, and four 400-yard passers were all records for a single week in NFL history. The 89 touchdowns were the most in an opening week of a season. (per Bleacher Report). I’m not sure how 20-yard or more plays factor into that, but its a lot of yardage through the air regardless.
On the flip-side, though, the 89 sacks this weekend were the most ever on opening weekend (per USA Today). What to make of that?