It's Not The Players, It's The Coaching/Scheme

[StudioSaint]

Originally Posted by Swimmer

This^. GW used one-side overloaded blitzes at key moments in the win against the Vikes that caused the Porter interception on Favre and again on Manning to cause the TD interception to lock the SB.

GW used that same scheme incessantly this year, not sparingly, and other O-coordinators have that defended flush. On all but one of the big plays to Vernon Davis, it was a result of one-side over-loaded blitzes leaving the huge athletic Davis in single coverage on a safety or undersized CB. GW lost this game in the last 4 minutes. And I agree with you, it's mainly arrogance with major inflexibility added in.

The specific arrogance was that Alex Smith couldn't make a great throw against man coverage. Even if you give him a pass on the 49ers' second to last possession and Smith's first great throw to Davis. He should have taken note and adjusted on that last possession. This is not an issue isolated to just this game. It's happened a lot. There's smart arrogance and stupid arrogance.

[DomeDude]

I agree 100% with the OP. We have plenty of defensive talent, but it never pays off. We play way off receivers on short yardage, giving them the first down. That is 100% coaching. Tonight, I cant blame the defense 100%, given all the stupid turnovers, but when you fight through it and your team goes ahead with 1 1/2 minutes left, and you cant stop the most mediocre offense from driving down and scoring, something is wrong. We have spent plenty on talent, and yes I do realize our LB's are undertalented, but that is life in thee NFL, you deal with it or you are sent packing. I wish GW all the luck in the world, but I really hope he is not offered a new contract, I want some more SB's before Drew retires, not more excuses.

[DomeDude]

Originally Posted by birdog

We're circling the wagon here.....We have lots of money tied up in the offense, but today, that offense had all kind of problems....once PT had to leave the game, our pass protection started to deteliorate....we could clearly see that our WRs were AWOL for the most part, save Colston. I have seen 2-3 times Devery falling down...heck the INT of Brees was exactly b/c Henderson fell on his butt before the ball got there.....and where the heck is Meachem during the game? I was wondering that between the 2nd & 3rd qt....

And the OL?.....Bushrod was pushed around again, and the 9rs knew how to pressure Brees....right up the gut.

The fact is, our high priced offense did not produce against a great 9rs D....that much was evident.....now is quite clear why our running game became non existent....the OL couldn't open up holes for anybody.....they are not quite as good as we believed before....the 9rs D manhandled them...

Our offense scored 32 points despite turning the ball over 5 times. With the tiniest bit of defense in the last 5 minutes we are waiting for the result of tomorrows game to see if we are playing at home or going to Lambeau. Instead we are talking about what to do this offseason. Thanks GW. Please dont re-sign with my beloved Saints.

[flipp812]

What good is blitzing so much if we can not get to the quarterback?

[fastfreddy]

We have a player in Romeus next year him and Jordan will be beast on DL. We have two linebackers in Wilson and Bussey that are only going to get better but thats next year,last night the refs let the defense play almost like the year New England mauled the Colts receivers in that playoff game. GW didn't adjust his db's to knock the crap of the receivers like the 9ner's were hitting us.