My take on why our secondary struggled (1 Viewer)

I think there is an issue where some of the people here assume the Saints have the most elite of the elite of the elite players at every position and if they ever fail they should be immediately cut because there is no way anyone else in the NFL could ever be as talented or more talented as them.

DeAndre Hopkins is considered by many to be one of, if not the best Wide Receivers in the NFL. Will Fuller when healthy has absolutely insane stats and is a legitimate #1 Wide Receiver. Kenny Stills was pretty dang good in New Orleans, and now that he is out of the disaster called Miami, he's still pretty dang good.

I feel like some people would rather just say "oh man the Saints secondary sucks" and not just acknowledge that elite players exist outside of New Orleans.
 
I disagree...

Yes there were some good catches but 99% of Texans catches were from DB out of position. Every season we have the same positions being picked on. Every season the opponent drives down and scores in less that 60 seconds.

I do think players will pick it up. Anzalone, PJ, Apple, MW. I think PJ had his worst game of the season. Hope to see him improve and play to the level he was at last mid season
 
If your theory is true, then wouldn't the Texan's have played much better since everything would have slowed down for them? IDK, maybe they'd just get a ton of PI calls from being early. Or maybe a lot more interceptions...

Most likely it was just they played a pretty darn good team who made some plays.
 
Lots of great answers; can't argue against most of 'em.

I read all answers up to post #21, and I haven't seen anyone bring up this point (which may not be a major factor, but could still be significant in what happened in coverage):

When you have a very mobile QB like Watson, LB'ers and secondary occasionally keep peeking into the backfield. Sometimes, that's all it takes to be the difference between being in great position to make a PBU... and merely being NEAR the receiver to possibly make a play.

Not only that, but this was Week 1. We dodged a bullet.

Dennis Allen makes great adjustments; we'll be ready for the Rams.

:gosaints:
 
Yeah hopefully Apple and PJ play better next game against the Rams. Cause you got Cooks, Kupp, Woods will be trying to take those guys over the top. Got to put pressure on Goff. That will eliminate alot by getting to him.
 
Well, he does’t throw 40 mph... If you want to be that literal, I don’t know what to say.

If you think that there wasn’t a difference between ball speed between Brees and Watkins, I don’t know how to help you.


Saints’ QB Drew Brees was clocked at 52 MPH in a “Sports Science” segment for ESPN.

Deshaun Watson, Clemson, Texans- 49

Granted I think that sports science segment was several years ago
 
I think there is an issue where some of the people here assume the Saints have the most elite of the elite of the elite players at every position and if they ever fail they should be immediately cut because there is no way anyone else in the NFL could ever be as talented or more talented as them.

DeAndre Hopkins is considered by many to be one of, if not the best Wide Receivers in the NFL. Will Fuller when healthy has absolutely insane stats and is a legitimate #1 Wide Receiver. Kenny Stills was pretty dang good in New Orleans, and now that he is out of the disaster called Miami, he's still pretty dang good.

I feel like some people would rather just say "oh man the Saints secondary sucks" and not just acknowledge that elite players exist outside of New Orleans.

But what about players like PJ Williams who gets torched consistently such as in the ATL game by ridley three times...Ridley isn’t Hopkins.

Why do players like him get a pass because he makes a few plays here and there that masks and makes us forget and forgive his inability to cover WRs.

The commentators even said last night they wanted to target PJ Williams-and I have heard that same saying in multiple games throughout the seasons

I don’t assume every player on our D should be elite, and if not they should be cut or whatever. But cmon man, you can’t deny when you consistently see players like him get burnt.
 
Well, he does’t throw 40 mph... If you want to be that literal, I don’t know what to say.

If you think that there wasn’t a difference between ball speed between Brees and Watkins, I don’t know how to help you.

You're right, that could be a factor, but our DB's also practice against Teddy and Hill.
 
Pj should not be on the field on 3rd and longs period.
 
They have a really good passing game and they're going to get some, my only real gripes were the two deep passes to Hopkins and Stills at the end, shouldn't happen twice in a row in that game situation...
 
They have a really good passing game and they're going to get some, my only real gripes were the two deep passes to Hopkins and Stills at the end, shouldn't happen twice in a row in that game situation...

Or at least they should be been kept in front of the DBs and also inbounds.
 
There were so many passes that made it over the defense last night.... Why? Is it talent, coaching, execution, normal slow start? I don’t think so. I truly think our secondary is use to seeing balls take a little longer to reach the target. The balls leaving Watson’s hand were moving 3 times as fast as what they are use to seeing from Brees in practice. (That is not a knock on Brees). When your contact timing to the receiver is a second off, it equates to being burnt. Add the speed from Hopkins, Fuller, and Stills based to what they practice against (Not a knock on our receivers. They are two totally different styles of receiver groups), was on a different level. Their speed, with having to keep Watson in check makes man to man a hard task.

I say all that to say, they will be fine. They won’t face a mobile quarterback with that arm strength and receiver group again for a while. Happy for that hard fought win. It was pretty gutsy.
Eli Apple and P.J. Williams are the weakest links.
 

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