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Balance no longer lip service for the Saints
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Kristian Garic (WWL Radio):
http://www.wwl.com/Kristian--Balance-no-longer-lip-service-for-the-Sa/5292568
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Kristian Garic (WWL Radio):
Read more...We've heard the mantra of balance before, but we hadn't seen any evidence until now. Saints fans grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of balance on offense last year. It was hard to argue with the success of the Saints offense considering they were the league leader in almost every offensive category except rushing attempts and rushing yards per game.
In 2008, the Black and Gold ran 1,034 plays from scrimmage, 398 running plays to 636 passing plays. I'm not a mathematician, but even I can see that's an almost two to one pass to run ratio. Most NFL teams want to achieve 60% pass to 40% run ratio. The Saints averaged 4.0 yards per carry on the ground last year, for a total of 1,594 yards (28th in the NFL).
This season, through the first two weeks, the team is averaging 145 yards a contest on the ground (8th in the league) with a 4.5 yard per carry average. More importantly, they've assembled good balance between the run and the pass. Saints Coach Sean Payton has dialed up 64 running plays and 68 passing plays, almost an even split.
Do you think it's a coincidence that the offense is lighting up opposing defenses like a pinball machine?
http://www.wwl.com/Kristian--Balance-no-longer-lip-service-for-the-Sa/5292568