the VG board football thread
Holy Zombie Jebus, but do we have some whiny fans. We lose one freaking close game to a division rival on the road at the end of 3 game road trip where our head coach and play caller gets his leg broken in the first quarter, along with some bad calls from the officials, and the *****es start questioning Drew Brees, the offensive scheme, how we use our running backs, Malcom Jenkins, run pass ratio, the defensive scheme, trading Ingram to Detroit, etc. I'm guessing that Thomas Morstead and the long snapper are up next for criticism.
There are a bunch of people out on ledges. That happens. It's all the tiger fans, imo. They're at least tigerbaiter-like in their expectations.
How-eva, there are some problems with this team, and it's not unreasonable that those become more apparent after a loss. It's also not unreasonable to want to talk about them. I agree with you that the tone in which they are discussed is sickening, and it makes anyone who is reasonable shy away from engaging in those conversations.
But I'm a bit concerned about some things, too, I must admit. I keep going back and forth about whether these things can prevent us from winning a championship. My first instinct is to say yeah, they can, but then I think about Green Bay from last year, who lucked into the playoffs and went on a run. I guess the answer is that as long as we have Brees, we can win a championship.
The things that bother me are listed below, in no particular order:
1) The use of our running backs is frustrating. It's too specialized. Modern NFL be what it may, but a running back needs some semblance of riddums. It's only going to get worse when Ivory gets back.
2) It makes me want to explode when we blitz lots of people and still don't get there. On the long TD pass yesterday where Shanle let that dude run right inside of him, we blitzed many yet Freeman had all day. That's frustrating, and it makes me mad at all Gregg Williams' fancy words.
3) As good as Jimmy Graham is, I like our offense when the ball is spread around. Brees is looking for Graham too much. Yeah, I know the "targeted" stats show plenty of looks for plenty of people, but in crucial situations we are looking too much to Graham and Sproles, imo. Let the offense run its course and hit the open man. That's what makes Drew Drew, and his tunnel vision may hurt us in the long run. I want Drew to be the Drew of old. Quit wearing out the new toys.
4) There must be some tell on our offense. Teams seem to know when we're running the ball quite easily. Maybe a guard's stance is subtly different. Maybe Drew's call is different. Maybe it's a combination of personnel and something physical like the above. But something is going on that's tipping our hand. I think this happened with screen passes all last year, and we finally cleaned it up. It now seems to be happening with running plays.
5) In short yardage situations, we need to stop giving the other team a break by taking most of our weapons off the field. We need to spread the field with Meachem, Colston, Moore, Graham and Sproles all perceived as threats. If I'm a fan of the other team and it's 4th and 2, and the Saints line up in the I with two tight ends, I breathe a sigh of relief. Conversely, if they line up in the Shotgun with Sproles in the backfield and Graham, Colston, and Moore out there, I **** my pants.
6) We have no linebacking, and no ability to fix this problem this year.
7) I've never really liked Roman Harper, and he seems to be getting worse. He's not that great a blitzer like everyone says he is. Sure, when he's unblocked he gets there, but so could I. When he's accounted for he doesn't even rush aggressively. In coverage, he can't turn around to see the ball, and I think it's due to his huge neck. Not kidding. It doesn't allow him to spin his head without moving his whole body. The plays where he appears to break up the pass almost all look like pass interference to me. To him to, because he generally looks for a flag before celebrating the break up. He can't cover without holding, spinning, or bumping the intended receiver. Then yesterday, he totally shied away from hitting Ernest Graham in the hole. He had him lined up, and shrunk like a daisy. If he's not going to do the one thing he's good at, then what's the point.
Of course, yesterday was the 3rd game of a 3 game road trip. They say that's hard. I guess it is, but why? It's not like these dudes have to walk from New Orleans to the away games. Riding on a plane to Tampa wears you out? You miss a day of preparation, okay. But there are 8 road games every year. They should be used to it. Why do the previous two weeks affect the third? Is packing carry on luggage for your private plan so harrowing?
The team looked tired against Tampa. They were trying, but it just wasn't there. Losing Payton had to be huge. I'm not too bent out of shape about the loss.
I just wish we seemed more poised to win a championship. The '09 team looked drastically better than the people we played, and it was still very tough for that team to win the NFC championship and the super bowl.
But the truth is, I'm happy just being competitive. I remember not being. I remember when it seemed like I cared more than the team did. They were getting paid and mailing it in. Under Payton, we might have to endure a goofy play call or two, but we won't have to endure his team not caring, or not trying hard.
Right now I think we are playoff team. We're going to need some things to go our way to be a championship team though. With Brees, there is always a chance.