Afer trouncing Eagles, Saints can still get 'a lot better' - article USAToday (1 Viewer)

[kfran]

Brees: After trouncing Eagles, Saints can still get 'a lot better'

By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY PHILADELPHIA — Though the New Orleans Saints have scored 93 points in their 2-0 start, quarterback Drew Brees has an appraisal that NFL defenses may find alarming.

"Believe it or not, I think we can still get a lot better. There are still opportunities that we left out there on the field," Brees said Sunday..."

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http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2009-09-20-saints-eagles_N.htm
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[SaintsFanatic]

wow, Kolb threw for 391 yards?! I wasn't aware of this stat. I know 73 of those came on the long bomb on the first drive, but i find this stat very alarming. I don't care if it was 'lucky' or yards gained in 'garbage' time. A defense on a superbowl contending team shoudln't be allowing a green QB to throw for 391 yards.

 

[Saint Jeremy]

wow, Kolb threw for 391 yards?! I wasn't aware of this stat. I know 73 of those came on the long bomb on the first drive, but i find this stat very alarming. I don't care if it was 'lucky' or yards gained in 'garbage' time. A defense on a superbowl contending team shoudln't be allowing a green QB to throw for 391 yards.

I wouldn't worry about the yards, most of it was in garbage time and after the first two scores in the 3rd qtr, the Eagles were out of it.

 

[kfran]

wow, Kolb threw for 391 yards?! I wasn't aware of this stat. I know 73 of those came on the long bomb on the first drive, but i find this stat very alarming. I don't care if it was 'lucky' or yards gained in 'garbage' time. A defense on a superbowl contending team shoudln't be allowing a green QB to throw for 391 yards.

Are you serious? Most of those were "garbage yards" when Philly was trying to play "catchup," and our D intentionally started playing them soft (not to give up the big play).

51 attempts by Kolb (with most in the second half) says it all.

 

[moe1967]

wow, Kolb threw for 391 yards?! I wasn't aware of this stat. I know 73 of those came on the long bomb on the first drive, but i find this stat very alarming. I don't care if it was 'lucky' or yards gained in 'garbage' time. A defense on a superbowl contending team shoudln't be allowing a green QB to throw for 391 yards.

Indeed lus-un2:

 

[SuePrudhomme]

I am not worried about the 391 yards.

For one thing, Kolb is better than a lot of people claimed he was and got some pretty decent protection. If the Eagles start him next week (assuming McNabb's still hurting) it'd be the right call.

For another, most of those yards came after the game was decided and the Saints went to a squishy-soft prevent defense. That doesn't mean they weren't trying, of course--but it means they gave up a fair number of trash yards. I think it's fair to call it "trash" yardage, since all those yards didn't really result in a whole lot of points on the day for them.

For a third, a team that's two or three touchdowns in the hole is one that'll generally start trying to pull out big plays. They had to get pass-happy in an attempt to play catch-up; considering how well we stopped their running game, they had to try to do something.

In short, I wouldn't sweat that stat too much. If you want to look at numbers to tell you the story of the game, look at the numbers 48 and 22.

 

[St.Fury]

Are you serious? Most of those were "garbage yards" when Philly was trying to play "catchup," and our D intentionally started playing them soft (not to give up the big play).

51 attempts by Kolb (with most in the second half) says it all.

Yes. Very similar to us last year. When you're down by several scores, you need to be pass-happy in order to catch up. If you play prevent, you keep all of the plays in front of you. Even though they have a higher percentage of completions and more yards, this causes the clock to be eaten up. Whereas, if they get a big play, they score quicly, then they could also potentially get the ball back quicker as well.