djshag
Rookie
Offline
I know Sean Payton has been known to script the first x number of plays to identify tendencies of the opposing defenses (I recall it being 14-15 plays but may be wrong).
With this tidbit in mind, I have always attributed slow offensive starts to this, and throughout the years, you can definitely see a moment where the offense seems to kick into a different gear, and typically starts producing at the level we've all come to expect-- to me, that signals that Payton has ascertained the tendencies he was looking for, and then starts calling the plays to take advantage of them-- simple.
This year, the offense, as has been pointed out frequently, has seemed a bit more sluggish. Obviously, no pre-season/reduced training camp, no OTA's, etc... definitely contributed significantly to this- Drew never got the reps with the receivers he's used to getting, and the coaches weren't in the same position to evaluate the chemistry/strengths either-- and the Saints are far more technical and timing based than pretty much other Offense, so it really does impact them more than most teams. There is every reason to believe that much of this will improve over the season, as they get that timing down (the last 2 games really seemed to show this is starting to occur, as reflected in Emmanuel Sanders last 2 performances).
My question, though, assuming Payton still scripts the first several plays, wouldn't it be possible for a good defensive coordinator to use those scripted plays against the Saints? In other words, create 2 basic game plans for the defense--- 1 designed to show "fake" tendencies to Payton to help guide the playcalling for the remainder of the game, and the other designed to take advantage of an offense trying to take advantage of those tendencies?
As a really simple example of what I'm talking about--- let's say that during the first several plays, the defense shows a tendency to be playing zone coverage. The pattern is established well enough that the Saints start calling plays that explicitly seem targeted at beating that zone coverage--- makes sense. Couldn't a defense then switch to man coverage, disguising it, pre-snap, as zone, to keep the ruse going?
Obviously, adjustments are a big part of coaching generally, and figuring out how the opposing team is going to call a game against you is always a chess match, but I'm wondering if being known for having scripted plays to start games over all these years could actually be allowing better defensive coordinators the opportunity to take advantage of Sean's tendencies, instead.
Thoughts?
With this tidbit in mind, I have always attributed slow offensive starts to this, and throughout the years, you can definitely see a moment where the offense seems to kick into a different gear, and typically starts producing at the level we've all come to expect-- to me, that signals that Payton has ascertained the tendencies he was looking for, and then starts calling the plays to take advantage of them-- simple.
This year, the offense, as has been pointed out frequently, has seemed a bit more sluggish. Obviously, no pre-season/reduced training camp, no OTA's, etc... definitely contributed significantly to this- Drew never got the reps with the receivers he's used to getting, and the coaches weren't in the same position to evaluate the chemistry/strengths either-- and the Saints are far more technical and timing based than pretty much other Offense, so it really does impact them more than most teams. There is every reason to believe that much of this will improve over the season, as they get that timing down (the last 2 games really seemed to show this is starting to occur, as reflected in Emmanuel Sanders last 2 performances).
My question, though, assuming Payton still scripts the first several plays, wouldn't it be possible for a good defensive coordinator to use those scripted plays against the Saints? In other words, create 2 basic game plans for the defense--- 1 designed to show "fake" tendencies to Payton to help guide the playcalling for the remainder of the game, and the other designed to take advantage of an offense trying to take advantage of those tendencies?
As a really simple example of what I'm talking about--- let's say that during the first several plays, the defense shows a tendency to be playing zone coverage. The pattern is established well enough that the Saints start calling plays that explicitly seem targeted at beating that zone coverage--- makes sense. Couldn't a defense then switch to man coverage, disguising it, pre-snap, as zone, to keep the ruse going?
Obviously, adjustments are a big part of coaching generally, and figuring out how the opposing team is going to call a game against you is always a chess match, but I'm wondering if being known for having scripted plays to start games over all these years could actually be allowing better defensive coordinators the opportunity to take advantage of Sean's tendencies, instead.
Thoughts?