How bad are we really on defense? (7 Viewers)

[Tee08]

I would love to see Rankins/Fairley and Breaux/Webb on the same field.

Don't forget about Ellerbe. This dude is a difference maker when healthy and playing.

 

[LombardiGras]

I'm not sure about Kikaha's injury, but if even healthy I don't see him as the missing piece this defense needs. Kikaha isn't quick enough to be dominant as pass rushing DE. I think his best role is as a valuable locker room presence and rotational player who also contributes on special teams.

 

[Eman5805]

Silly me. I was thinking Kikaha could come off the PUP at some point this season. He's basically on IR.

 

[blotch1]

Don't forget about Ellerbe. This dude is a difference maker when healthy and playing.

Once upon a time...

 

[dvdman]

As the old saying goes stats are for losers and they can be misleading at times. In our case the stats speak for themselves. We have given up the most points in the NFL....enough said. We would be 4-1 with a half decent defense. Right now we are one the worst if not the worst defense in the NFL. I'm hoping with the return of Rankins ad Breaux we can improve some. Until then we will have to continue to depend on Drew and the offense to win shoot outs for us.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

Good enough that we are 2 plays away from being 4-1.

 

[blackadder]

Points allowed per game.

2014- 26.5
2015- 29.8
2016- 33.6

Occam's Razor.

Thank you.

 

[NorfolkedSaint]

The defense had an INT in the end zone last game to go along with a bunch of QB hits and sacks. What are you not seeing?

We are also giving up over 30 points a game and over 400 yards a game. That combination will not help us in the long run, I'm hopeful things get better on defense. I'm not saying they're not playing hard but again, stats don't lie.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[OldTimeGamer1966]

Well the defense hasn't been great but just wait. We have some dudes out there lurking and healing. When they come back this defense could be absolutely adequate at least!

I think the fact that we actually do have a good defense and it looked so promising in the off season,then the injury bug hit. Without the injuries we are in the drivers seat in our division and maybe the NFC. Personally that was the biggest let down was the fact that we lost key players every day it seemed. Anyone can say what they want to but the Payton had this team ready to do some damage, it's the injuries that made this a very tough year.

 

[MatthewV]

At the end of the day, we cannot lose sight of this.

Saints Top 5 Cornerbacks At Beginning of Training Camp

1. Delvin Breaux
2. Keenan Lewis
3. Kyle Wilson
4. Damian Swann
5. PJ Williams

All five aren't playing due to injuries.

Throw in that we've lost two safeties -- Sanford and Harris -- and it's a pretty remarkable record of injuries for the secondary, even for the NFL.

There has to be some asterisk when beating up on the Saints defense given this unusual circumstance. That's not mentioning that we lost a starting DE (Kikaha) and DT (Rankins), as well.