Every fan of the Saints has likely spent part of this week wondering if Sunday’s defensive performance was a fluke. They looked…good, surprisingly. The front-7 of the Saints looked flat out dominant. We discussed in the grades that the secondary struggled, but everywhere else was solid. Atlanta was possibly the best offense that they’ll face all season and although it was just one week, it was quite refreshing.
Tampa Bay’s offense picked up where they left off in 2012. Struggling. The play of quarterback Josh Freeman has been wildly disappointing after a good rookie season. The Buccaneers themselves seem to have grown frustrated, selecting North Carolina State rookie Mike Glennon with a 3rd round pick in this year’s draft. They feature two very good weapons in Doug Martin and Vincent Jackson, but their offensive flow all revolves around Freeman’s performance.
The Saints will look to provide constant pressure on Josh Freeman.
The Buccaneers offense went from one extreme to another in their two meetings vs. the Saints last year. In the first meeting, Tampa Bay scored 28 points and moved the ball very effectively. In the second meeting, they were shut out by the Saints and made everyone forget that the Saints were a record breaking bad defense. If you think about it, New Orleans’ defense set those records in essentially 15 games. Let’s not get in to last year too much, though. Those times are behind us…hopefully. I’m expecting a bit of a mixture of the past two match-ups, as the Bucs offense looks to bounce back after a rough Week 1 performance, while the Saints defense looks to prove that their first outing was no fluke.
Pass Defense
This is the one area that struggled a week ago for the Saints. The secondary allowed some wide open receivers that Matt Ryan was able to find, even with pass rushers breathing down his neck. Speaking of pass rushers, Junior Galette and company were at the top of their game. They were all over Matt Ryan and provided a sight Saints fans haven’t seen in a long time. The pass defense sits at 20th in the NFL coming in to this week.
Tampa Bay’s pass offense looked pretty bad in their first outing. Josh Freeman was ineffective, aside from an early touchdown pass to Mike Williams. He completed less than 50% of his passes and was sacked three times. Nearly all of his yards went to Vincent Jackson, who finished with 7 catches for 154 yards. If you remember, Jackson torched the Saints in their first meeting last year for over 200 yards. The Bucs pass offense finds themselves sitting at 23rd in the NFL entering Week 2.
The Saints will look to get out to an early start against Freeman. If they can get some early pressure and not allow any big completions, he will find himself with a lack of confidence. Freeman is one of those quarterbacks that doesn’t seem to have the ability to turn things around in the middle of the game. From my experience watching him, he’s either good from start to finish or just flat out bad. If New Orleans can knock him or a couple of his passes down early, he’ll bet rattled from the start. The Saints secondary will need to do a good job covering Vincent Jackson, as he is the number one factor in Freeman’s success.
Rush Defense
Possibly my favorite aspect of the Saints defensive performance last week was that of the rushing defense. After letting running-backs slice through them with ease a year ago, they gave the Falcons a ton of trouble on the ground. The stats are skewed by one 50 yard run from Steven Jackson, in what otherwise would have given them top-10 numbers. Instead, they sit at 19th in the NFL, which actually could be just good enough if they can sustain it throughout the year.
Tampa Bay’s run game is much better than what they showed vs. New York last week. A 65 yard performance from Dough Martin has them ranked 25th in the NFL in that aspect. Martin is the heart and soul of the rushing attack, behind a talented, but often injured offensive line. Our old friend Carl Nicks missed the majority of last season with a toe injury and already missed Week 1 of this year with a staph infection in his foot. He is questionable to play vs. the Saints this week.
I believe what we saw from the secondary and the pass rush is very much what we’ll see throughout the year, but I’m a bit more perplexed when it comes to the run defense. While they looked great against a good running-back last week, I’m trying to stay reserved because I know Atlanta’s offensive line is poor. The Bucs will certainly try and get their young running-back going, knowing Josh Freeman is not likely to lead their offense single-handily. If the Saints can slow down Martin early, they’ll have a much better chance of getting Freeman off of his game from the start.
Players to Watch
Cam Jordan
Jordan is a player to watch, because he is effective in both aspects of the game. He thrives in run defense, but he has been exceptionally good in pass rush. After an 8 sack season as a 4-3 end last year, his transition back to the 3-4 went very smoothly. He provided constant pressure and played great in run defense. I think he’ll play a bigger part in the Saints chances of stopping Doug Martin, than rushing the quarterback, but you never know. He’s shown to be well worth of being selected in the 1st round in 2011 so far and he will only get better.
Junior Galette
I’m very excited to see the emergence of Galette as a solid pass rusher. No one has ever questioned that he has the talent to be a nagging pest for offensive lines and he’s finally in the right spot. His sack in Week 1 was a small sample of his potential and I expect that he’ll get many more throughout the season, starting this week.
Player Matched Up on Vincent Jackson
Whichever player finds himself lining up across from Jackson, may be the most important player on the defensive side of the field for the Saints on Sunday. He is Tampa Bay’s best and possibly only chance to get Josh Freeman going in the passing game, so the corner-backs need to come prepared. If they can lock down Jackson, Freeman will have to look for other targets or will end up forcing the ball, possibly causing turnovers.
As I mentioned last week, I will be traveling to Tampa Bay for the game this weekend. I look forward to checking out my 3rd road stadium and will certainly share my sights with you. I will be tweeting all weekend from @DCBilliotJr6 and as usual, will provide my in-game thoughts and observations. I hope you all enjoy the game, as we root on the black and gold to a 2-0 start!
Who Dat?!
