Excellent Underhill article on how much defenses crowded the line vs. Drew (1 Viewer)

[Saint Spud]

Don’t want to give away too much since it’s a pay article, but Underhill compared common games from 2016 and 2020 to see how much closer defenses played to the line as Drew’s arm declined. The results were pretty crazy to me.

NewOrleans.Football

neworleans.football

 

[meily]

It was pretty clear to Teams and fans alike that Brees could no longer consistently push the ball down the field and was less of a threat in that regard to opposing defenses. I do expect a more explosive passing game with Payton having a QB with a liver arm whether that be Winston, Hill or eventually Book.

 

[MV2]

I said many times that when you can see all 11 defenders on your TV screen that's not good. We knew from our couch there wasn't any deep threat left in that arm so I know defenses weren't even worried about it. It's a testament to how great Drew was that he still managed to find ways to productive with his limitations.

 

[DavidM]

Observations:

It’s a real testament to Brees that he was able to be as efficient and productive as he was under the circumstances. And a nod to Payton for always innovating the offense to play to his QBs’ strengths and minimize weaknesses.

The level of difficulty increased for the WRs having to play in tighter spaces. Hopefully the offense can open up more and will lead to growth and greater consistency out of Smith, Callaway, and the other young guys.

 

[LouieD]

I do expect a more explosive passing game with Payton having a QB with a liver arm whether that be Winston, Hill or eventually Book.

If Winston, I feel it’s his job to loose, can play within Payton’s system and not force the rock into risky places the defenses won’t be able to stack the line like we’ve seen over the previous 3-4 seasons. This said, the underneath spaces will open up and allowing for some serious YAC. It’s going to an exciting season. WHO DAT!

 

[LUX]

Nothing surprising to me. It's been that way for several years and why many of us knew Drew's time was coming to an end. We just never got a good enough draft pick for replacement because of Drew keeping us in playoff contention. Drew never expected less and wanted to go all out. His arm just couldn't get downfield as much as Drew, the team, and we all wanted.

 

[JWDtrey3]

I keep forgetting I have a subscription to him. That was a lot of articles to catch up on.

 

[Nutria]

It seemed like the team was playing a red zone offense for the entire game.

 

[DavidM]

It seemed like the team was playing a red zone offense for the entire game.

Came up in another discussion, but watching some of the throwback games that aired this off-season to honor Drew, it really stood out how much explosiveness the passing game lost over these last few seasons. Not just the deep shots, but the volume of intermediate range passing, also.

 

[los226]

It’s been noticeable for a while and is mostly the reason that the offense sputtered in the playoffs.

In the playoffs the refs let’s the DB’s get physical and that’s a big problem when you’re a timing offense and constrained to within 10yds of the LOS while most of the defense sits in that area of the field.

Fans here kept saying that the solution was a legit WR2, but the real issue was forcing the defense to defend the entire length of the field. Drew’s lack of arm strength was the reason that the defense didn’t do so, not lack of a WR.

 

[LouieD]

With opposing defenses crowding the line and with Bressus’ declining arm strength the Saints were still a 13-3 team. Nine of which are attributed to Bressus. Plus an additional playoff victory. This goes to show how exceptionally cerebral his command of the game was. He will surely be missed but let’s start getting on the Payton Train and rally behind his successor.

 

[los226]

With opposing defenses crowding the line and with Bressus’ declining arm strength the Saints were still a 13-3 team. Nine of which are attributed to Bressus. Plus an additional playoff victory. This goes to show how exceptionally cerebral his command of the game was. He will surely be missed but let’s start getting on the Payton Train and rally behind his successor.

It also shows how talented this roster was and that will be sorely missed. The team went 8-1 without Brees the last two years with two mediocre QB’s running the offense.

The 2017-2020 roster will be one of the most complete rosters to never make it a SB. So sad

 

[truthbtold]

I said something similar to this a few years ago and got hammered to no end. I decided not to post anything else about Brees because it caused too much contention and not open minded discussion. I'm glad someone Underhill put it in a language that most people can feel comfortable with. What Brees did in his last few years was otherworldly considering that he was always in "Red Zone" offense like someone else wrote. I remember a pass to Aaron Stecker that Brees directed Stecker and flung the ball a long way down the field . Those type of passes were a thing of the past but reminded me of Brees in his prime. I hope that every blade of grass gets attacked again in this upcoming year. Those of you going to training camp this year(I usually go on the first Friday but won't make it this year) be careful and help start the new QB's off right.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

The physical limitations of Brees were evident to all. I am concerned about the 2021 season. But the reason is our free-agency losses, which were horrendous, not the retirement of Brees. Drew was a great player, but he should have retired earlier.

 

[big screen D]

The physical limitations of Brees were evident to all. I am concerned about the 2021 season. But the reason is our free-agency losses, which were horrendous, not the retirement of Brees. Drew was a great player, but he should have retired earlier.

Aside from defenses no longer having to respect the deep ball, defenses could utterly disregard any threat of Drew running. Hill, and to a lesser extent, Winston does.