Saints-Jets Analysis: Payton v. Mora

Good post RJ. The whole physical vs finesse thing can be very stereotypical. Usually teams with good defense are seen as physical and teams that rely on their passing game are seen as finesse.

The Saints have been soft on defense the last few years and therefore are considered not physical. They also have not run the ball well the last few years and running the ball is another attribute of a physical team.

A lot of times one or two players can change the perceived indentity of a team. Put ray lewis in the middle of any defense and it will appear more physical. Put Polamalu in a secondary and that defense looks more physical. Put Brnadon jacobs in your backfield and your running game appears more physical.

The Jets do have a good defense. Its a coaching mentality, as you say. Rex Ryan is Buddy's son. My guess is the Jets spend a lot of time and money on that side of the ball. Sean Payton loves his offensive toys. The identity of these teams is very much reflected in their head coaches.

Payton is a smart guy and has recognized that for the Saints to succeed they needed to run the ball better and play better defense. They are doing both. On the defense side it started with the acquistion of Vilma, who is a tackling machine. They got a new coordinator and revamped the weakest hitting secondary in football. The corners are suddenly a strength of this team and the safety play has improved.

The Saint's offense is way more physical than before. Colston, Shockey, Henderson and Meachem are all very physical receivers. Henderson was a running back out of high school and a way more physical player than some think. On the line, Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans are physical players. Heath Evans is an upgrade and a great lead blocker. Thomas and Hill run very hard.

The Jets probably do have a more physical defense than we do. They are ranked high and give up few yards. Ours is improving. But we have a more physcial offense than they do. Its not just a finesse offense as some casual followers of the saints might think. I was at the Philly game and saw them push a very good defense around. They ran over Buffalo when they needed to.

The Saints should win Sunday. The biggest difference, aside from what will be a rabid crowd, is Drew Brees v Mark Sanchez. Sanchez has been impressive, but he is a rookie and Brees is the master. Its a huge advantage to the Saints.