Can De La puente and the O-Line duplicate last weeks performance vs 49ers??
Not likely.
Going from playing the worst defense in the league that was banged up to one of the best defenses in the league who just got back their best player who should have been suspended by the NFL.
For the first time all seasom at home, we will need to be careful protecting the ball in order to win the game. San Francisco will not come away with victory unless they win the turnover battle. That should be our #1 priority this week, just like our game plan going into the Chicago game.
I disagree somewhat...the OL needs time to gel, but once they gel, they can replicate the previous game's success. The trick is to play as a unit, and not as individuals, but once they figure it out, they can play at almost the same level in every game.
Now its true....the 9rs D is better than the Dallas D, but the Saints OL still has to do the same plays over and over again. Individually the Dallas players on D are every bit as good as the 9rs players, but they struggle as a unit, while the 9rs players play at a very high level as a unit. So clearly the advantage is on the 9rs side, compared to the Cowboys defense. But that has little to do with the execution of the Saints OL. If the Saints OL opens up holes, the Saints RBs will have a good day running the ball, if they don't execute properly, then the Saints won't be able to run the ball. Pretty simple actually.
I think the fact that the Saints play in NOLA will help the OL to play better. Every one of them knows exactly what has to be done, and I'm hopeful that the Saints will be able to play a balanced attack. But even if the running game isn't working as they expect, the Saints passing attack should be able to pick up the slack. the short passes to either Sproles or PT, or even MI should be enough to make the running game working, and keep the 9rs D guessing. No I don't expect them to run over 200 yds like they did against Dallas, but they can run enough to keep the 9rs D on their heels.
I agree about the turnovers. We simply can't afford to turn the ball over...PERIOD!