Drew Brees Almost Never Throws Deep Anymore. Is That A Problem For The Saints? It hasn’t been so far. (1 Viewer)

RKNSaint

Vaxxed; 2x Pfizer
Joined
Oct 1, 2016
Messages
2,792
Reaction score
3,083
Offline
Pretty decent read. No bashing of the short throws - just some data and a lot of accolades.


Drew Brees Almost Never Throws Deep Anymore. Is That A Problem For The Saints?
It hasn’t been so far.

Brees is a lot better than the typical short passer
Highest total QBR in a season among passers with fewer than 7.0 air yards per attempt and fewer than 8 percent of passes traveling at 20+ air yards, 2006-2020

Despite his lack of arm strength and disinclination to throw any deeper than 20 yards downfield, Brees has added value through sheer accuracy and ability to read defenses. It has been a magic act worth appreciating.
 
Here's a reason for optimism about Brees and the Offense, and maybe the pass defense. Suppose the Saints make the playoffs and have max 1 guaranteed home game (not Seed 1 or 2 in the NFC, who each are guaranteed two this year if they win one).

If we get hit with a second wave of COVID plus a bad flu season, and maybe a third disease to emerge out of China's wet markets, it is possible that the playoffs will be played with no home fans. So it might not matter as much if the playoffs run, though, e.g., Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia in January, it's just conditions, not a home crowd.

The Saints have built a team with great special teams, a strong run game and short passing game, and great run defense.

They lack the two things, deep passing and deep-pass defense, that could easily be shut down by the elements in an outdoor Northern stadium in January.
 
I had this discussion last week. The only issue I see with no deep passes is the Saints are not taking advantage of pass interference calls. The way the refs call PI, that most times favor the offense, you better believe most teams definitely use it to their advantage. Correct me if I’m wrong, but most saints TD drives are long, multiple play drives where they have to have no mistakes. Again, the PI calls are absolutely an advantage that the Saints rarely have
 
I had this discussion last week. The only issue I see with no deep passes is the Saints are not taking advantage of pass interference calls. The way the refs call PI, that most times favor the offense, you better believe most teams definitely use it to their advantage. Correct me if I’m wrong, but most saints TD drives are long, multiple play drives where they have to have no mistakes. Again, the PI calls are absolutely an advantage that the Saints rarely have

Like we would get those calls anyway. It's one thing that the PI penalty is the worst aspect of the game, it's another that teams use it for a quick 40 yards and it's yet another thing teams rely on it against the Saints.

Want to see what OPI looks like? Have Drew throw deep.
 
I had this discussion last week. The only issue I see with no deep passes is the Saints are not taking advantage of pass interference calls. The way the refs call PI, that most times favor the offense, you better believe most teams definitely use it to their advantage. Correct me if I’m wrong, but most saints TD drives are long, multiple play drives where they have to have no mistakes. Again, the PI calls are absolutely an advantage that the Saints rarely have

The only problem with this take is the assumption that the refs will actually consistently call flags in our favor. Survey says...They will not.🤣
 
Honestly Brees is playing a lot like a better version of what Teddy did last year but people ley the age control the narrative. There areplenty of QBs who would be having career years and being praised by the sports media if they were playing like Brees is.



No we are going deep anymore but that also has the benefit of less turnovers. It's only really a problem when we are down and need to score quickly.
 
Does anyone think there is a correlation between the unwillingness/inability to throw deep on offence and the defence not getting enough practice on deep balls in practice?
 
Does anyone think there is a correlation between the unwillingness/inability to throw deep on offence and the defence not getting enough practice on deep balls in practice?

No. I’m sure Jameis and Taysom launch deep balls in practice. Also, outside of the run, our defense is giving up everything- deep balls, intermediate balls and dinks.
 
Honestly Brees is playing a lot like a better version of what Teddy did last year but people ley the age control the narrative. There areplenty of QBs who would be having career years and being praised by the sports media if they were playing like Brees is.



No we are going deep anymore but that also has the benefit of less turnovers. It's only really a problem when we are down and need to score quickly.
And that's a huge problem because it means we will likely lose some of those games.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom