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Film review: Breaking down the Saints' big day against the Panthers
By Nick Underhill -- Advocate
The Saints knew how to take advantage of the Carolina Panthers.
It’s possible there were holes all over the field during New Orleans’ 41-38 win on Sunday, and perhaps the evidence is circumstantial, but it looked like it knew exactly how it wanted to attack Carolina’s defense. And then did so ruthlessly.
It was clear that that New Orleans could put its wide receivers in positions where linebackers would cover them, and find other weak spots in the Panthers’ zone coverage.
This started on the very first snap when Brandin Cooks lined up in the slot and was covered by Shaq Thompson on an out route, which he pulled in for a gain of 10 yards. And the vulnerability remained throughout the game, as Cooks later ran up the seam for a gain of 49 yards with Thompson in coverage on Drew Brees’ 39th attempt of the game.
Overall, Cooks lined up in the slot 24 times. While it isn’t atypical to see him there -- 12 of his 32 targets through the first four games came from the slot -- his usage in that area was high. And in a game where the defense was often playing deep zones with its defensive backs and allowing the linebackers to cover things underneath, it created a lot of good and easy looks for the offense.
“I think we just game-planned pretty well with that, and just knowing who I was going to get,” Cooks said. “You have to be patient and pick the right time to call stuff. I think coach did a great job with that. The scheme just worked well, and everything just seemed to fit together.”
MORE -- Advocate
Film review: Breaking down the Saints' big day against the Panthers
By Nick Underhill -- Advocate
The Saints knew how to take advantage of the Carolina Panthers.
It’s possible there were holes all over the field during New Orleans’ 41-38 win on Sunday, and perhaps the evidence is circumstantial, but it looked like it knew exactly how it wanted to attack Carolina’s defense. And then did so ruthlessly.
It was clear that that New Orleans could put its wide receivers in positions where linebackers would cover them, and find other weak spots in the Panthers’ zone coverage.
This started on the very first snap when Brandin Cooks lined up in the slot and was covered by Shaq Thompson on an out route, which he pulled in for a gain of 10 yards. And the vulnerability remained throughout the game, as Cooks later ran up the seam for a gain of 49 yards with Thompson in coverage on Drew Brees’ 39th attempt of the game.
Overall, Cooks lined up in the slot 24 times. While it isn’t atypical to see him there -- 12 of his 32 targets through the first four games came from the slot -- his usage in that area was high. And in a game where the defense was often playing deep zones with its defensive backs and allowing the linebackers to cover things underneath, it created a lot of good and easy looks for the offense.
“I think we just game-planned pretty well with that, and just knowing who I was going to get,” Cooks said. “You have to be patient and pick the right time to call stuff. I think coach did a great job with that. The scheme just worked well, and everything just seemed to fit together.”
MORE -- Advocate