All 22 Defense Thoughts (1 Viewer)

[saints4life25]

So I watched every snap, some multiple times, tonight from the coaches film. Couple things stuck out.

Ridley smoked Williams on every route he ran on him. Literally, every one. There were a few that Ryan didn't look his way or the pressure got to him, but he toasted Williams every time they lined up.

The dline created a lot of pressure. Cam, in particular, dominated. They had 4 sacks, and easily could have had 2 or 3 more, but Ryan was tough to bring down. Davenport, in addition to the sack, had 2 other pressures, by my calculations. They also can't get too much credit for the run defense. They're dominating the LOS.

There is a lot of confusion in our zone concepts. Guys are passing guys off that aren't getting picked up. Mainly between corners and safties. The deep PI to Ridley that we jumped on Crawley about was 100% on Williams. Ridley stuttered, Williams stopped his back pedal to come up and try to jump the route, Ridley blew by. We were in Cover 3. Crawley was there because he saw it happen, but no doubt on Williams. Same with the Julio bomb. Cover 3 concept. Crawley passes him to the safety. Neither one picks him up. Frustrating to see.

Shon had a good game. 2 catches for 20 yards. I was interested to see if he covered well or if the Ryan was just picking on others, but he blanketed his man all day. When he switched on Ridley, he disappeared.

The LBs also are struggling with communication. Late in the game, Ryan started checking down to RBs because a couple LBs were following 1 player and leaving another open. Something you hope to see fixed as they play together more.

All in all, I saw some positives. The Falcons actually punted quite a bit more than I thought. Saints had them off the field twice in the red zone, one with a bad PI call that extended the drive and then the dumb penalty by Onyemata. They will look much better this week. Atlanta did a lot of good things on offense.

 

[St.Fury]

Your point about the Dline, that’s what I thought I saw, too.

 

[saints4life25]

Your point about the Dline, that’s what I thought I saw, too.

They brought pretty constant pressure. Only time when Ryan really had time to hold the ball was when we would rush 3, including the 3rd TD to Ridley, when neither Jordan or Davenport rushed.

 

[Taker597]

They brought pretty constant pressure. Only time when Ryan really had time to hold the ball was when we would rush 3, including the 3rd TD to Ridley, when neither Jordan or Davenport rushed.

Still trying to figure what cute bullshirt was that... I would fire a coach for something like that in my play book on an NFL team against an accurate QB.

 

[saints4life25]

It

Still trying to figure what cute bullshirt was that... I would fire a coach for something like that in my play book on an NFL team against an accurate QB.

It wasn't the only time Cam dropped in coverage. Allen uses it fairly often, I just don't like not having at least one of your best rushers rushing. Would prefer to see Davenport drop instead of Jordan, but he wasn't on the field.

 

[Alaina]

I saw pretty much the same thing in regards to the DL getting more pressure and collapsing their line. However I think Atlanta's line is actually weak this year when I saw them against Philly. The run D has actually tightened up a whole lot since week 1.

PJ Williams is simply not fast enough to be a corner, either. I saw exactly that when Ridley blew by him multiple times. It looked like a Volvo racing a Mustang. The most frustrating thing about the defense is the secondary is never in a position to make a play on the ball. It seems like when they are, it's such a surprise that the refs are inclined to throw a flag. Communication problems sound like a real possibility. They need to practice with crowd noise I think. Maybe develop a more intuitive hand signal language between each other. Something needs to be done. I'm still suspect of defensive scheme though. I think our corners, minus Lattimore, are too slow for good receivers so when they face teams like Tampa and Atlanta, playcalling needs to be tailored to make sure there's always a blanket to keep their offense from getting behind us.

 

[rsmith2783]

I don't know what it is, but we have not been a good zone defensive team. I know you can't run man every play, but it appears the same issues follow no matter who's the coach or player.

 

[saints4life25]

I don't know what it is, but we have not been a good zone defensive team. I know you can't run man every play, but it appears the same issues follow no matter who's the coach or player.

I was pretty frustrated with the coaching yesterday. Turned on the film and that changed. As cliche as it sounds, guys just need to do their jobs.

 

[BreesIsMyFather]

Nice review. The DL won in the trenches and we know it all starts there.

Some turd face posted, "our Oline is playing like bunch of trannies!"

Whatever that means.. I bet transsexuals are offended.

 

[rsmith2783]

I was pretty frustrated with the coaching yesterday. Turned on the film and that changed. As cliche as it sounds, guys just need to do their jobs.

I agree. The coaches can't block or tackle. However I do question if they are putting the players in the best position to succeed. Last year we didn't have as many problems with the secondary. So either something changed, or everyone decided to fall off.

 

[Goatman Saint]

Sorry. Guys just need to do their jobs means the coaching staff isn’t putting them into situations where they can go out and play to their strengths. Sorry, but when people say that it’s 100% on coaching or you have a bunch of rookies who have no idea. Not the case here.

 

[saints4life25]

I agree. The coaches can't block or tackle. However I do question if they are putting the players in the best position to succeed. Last year we didn't have as many problems with the secondary. So either something changed, or everyone decided to fall off.

They were primarily a Cover 3 concept defense last year as well.

There is a fine line between being average and being terrible on defense. All it takes is one guy being out of position on a few plays throughout the game.

I would point to a few things as well, however. We didn't run a gaunlet of great offenses last year. We actually had it fairly easy. This year, Fitz played out of his mind and Ryan and the ATL offense ran like a well oiled machine, imo. Even with as well as Ryan played, if the terrible PI on 3rd down isn't called and Onyemata doesn't decide to smack the center for no reason, they give up 8 fewer points, which puts the Falcons at 29. Not great, but better.

I don't think they're far off. Have to get better play from #2 corner, although I didn't think Crawley had a bad game.

 

[saints4life25]

Sorry. Guys just need to do their jobs means the coaching staff isn’t putting them into situations where they can go out and play to their strengths. Sorry, but when people say that it’s 100% on coaching or you have a bunch of rookies who have no idea. Not the case here.

Negative. You call a Deep 3 concept, and your FS let's a guy run right past him into his deep 3rd, that's not on coaching. It's a simple zone concept. Stop trying to be a hero and do your job.

 

[new city champ]

My big question from the All 22 is where the hell is training camp all-starMarcus Williams? I mean literally where is he,? Because I don’t even see him in the frame while these QBs are dropping more bombs on us than the Japanese navy did on Pearl Harbor. Isn’t he supposed to be the ball hawking last line of defense back there.? What is he doing?.?

 

[saintmike23]

They were primarily a Cover 3 concept defense last year as well.

There is a fine line between being average and being terrible on defense. All it takes is one guy being out of position on a few plays throughout the game.

I would point to a few things as well, however. We didn't run a gaunlet of great offenses last year. We actually had it fairly easy. This year, Fitz played out of his mind and Ryan and the ATL offense ran like a well oiled machine, imo. Even with as well as Ryan played, if the terrible PI on 3rd down isn't called and Onyemata doesn't decide to smack the center for no reason, they give up 8 fewer points, which puts the Falcons at 29. Not great, but better.

I don't think they're far off. Have to get better play from #2 corner, although I didn't think Crawley had a bad game.

The Falcons went for two points on those two drives. That’s 10 points. It would have been 27-30 and we would have to end the game with a drive to put them away instead of a TD to tie. They knew what was coming that’s why they went for 2 twice.

Deep down they know they deserved the L