Triplett says Saints Interest in Chris "Beanie" Wells is "Bona Fide"

SaintsFan7 said
Football is a complex science my friend stats alone won't tell you the entire story. A fast car is great in a Nascar race but when you need to put miles on a car and handle the day to day task of life your not gonna drive the number 3. ( at least the number 3 Dale drove) You need something solid, something dependable you want to feel secure.

Your running game sets the foundation of a secure offense. No one cares that the Saints are sexy or a fast car . All you need to be able to do is out last them. Payton knows the Defense is weak he is the head coach and a " Offensive Guru" he has known that since he has been here. What he had in 06 was balance that Defense was not great that year, his play calling however protected that. Great coaches understand their teams weakness. Why keep a bad defense on the field, sending them out mulitiple possessions and countinue to hope that your offense can play perfect football. That is unrealistic. Compound the problem with bad special teams play and you have what we have had here the last 2 seasons an avg team.

No one has a perfect team anymore,no one has a GREAT Defense and a GREAT Offense. You must manage your pieces effectively to create a perfect balance. Those teams that do, win Superbowls in this era. We all would love 11 probowl players on Defense and 11 on Offense but reality tells us, it is not going to happen.

You better be able to run the ball on 3rd and 1 and not be looking for GO GO Gadget plays. That to me defines the Number 1 Offense. Too many times last year we saw the sexy car, in got to have it situations not start. I believe our coach has turned the corner he wants to win and this team will be balanced in 09.

Yes I understand that football game strategy is complex but the simple fact is that a good defense will improve the running game more than a good running game will improve the defense.
Look at this

When we see two things that appear correlated, it is natural for us to say that one causes the other. The runs come during the game, and the win comes at its conclusion. Therefore most fans and analysts assume the running causes the winning. The problem is, it usually doesn't. It's the winning that causes the running. Teams that are ahead, and likely to win, run the ball to take time off the clock and to minimize the risk of a turnover. Teams that are behind, and likely to lose, abandon the run in favor of the pass. Statistics can measure the correlation, but it can't determine the direction of causation.

http://www.advancednflstats.com/2007/07/what-makes-teams-win-part-1.html

Running backs are most useful when their football team has a lead and they can run and use the clock. A team that runs a lot in the first half to establish the run will not be successful in the NFL. Here is a good article that busts the establish-the-run myth.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/michael_lombardi/05/14/nfl.myths/index.html

Also, running success is one of the lowest factors when it comes to winning. Passing success is actually more important.

So we should focus more on our Pass Defense. I will concede that more rushing attempts means fewer pass attempts and that will increase the chances of winning slightly. But that does not warrant choosing a RB in the first round. Just run 5 more times a game.