Our O-Line is our Achilles Heel (1 Viewer)

[crawfish2010]

You are absolutely correct. The offensive line is the Saints biggest problem. The Saints don't run the ball well and I don't think Carr trusts the offensive line enough to go through his reads.

 

[Noble Saint]

That was only for a quarter and half and JW was actually getting the ball out more decisive allowing the OL the few secs they need to block. Not looking downfield like Carr does which is funny Bcas JW seems to have learned his lesson from that. Maybe watching Carr fail doing so

Thought you were focused on point production and all the same variables from last year. Don’t blame you for crawfishing.

 

[Noble Saint]

You are absolutely correct. The offensive line is the Saints biggest problem. The Saints don't run the ball well and I don't think Carr trusts the offensive line enough to go through his reads.

Bottom 5 in yards per rush. We really need to have that threat.

 

[Doug B]

Brees used to call the blocking assignments in the huddle. Right?

Or am I misremembering that.

You're remembering right that Brees called the pass protections. Not in the huddle, though -- pre-snap, at the line, once he checked out the defense.

 

[Wheelo]

Even though I don’t think highly of our coaching staff, they aren’t the main issue. I think going into the season everyone knew our O-line was by far the weakest part of our team. It’s not possible for an offense to gel and have much success with such poor play up front. It’s an extremely hard obstacle to overcome. Especially when every team in the league knows this and exploits it.

I just think all of this criticism of everyone else on the team and staff has gotten out of control. Sure it would help if we had Brees out there compensating with quicker decision making and Payton exploiting more mismatches and making better adjustments, but I still believe if somehow we get a good upgrade or two up front we can be a really good team in the very near future.

Somehow it feels fans and media have lost sight of what our major concerns were coming into the season. All we are seeing is those concerns being justified.

Don't think I can give the coaching as hard of a pass, but the O line is definitely the main culprit. Our RB's so far this year have 146 carries with a total of 492 yards... that's 70 yards a game with an average carry of 3.3 yards... That is abysmal. Our longest run of the year is 19 yards.

 

[LoE]

You're remembering right that Brees called the pass protections. Not in the huddle, though -- pre-snap, at the line, once he checked out the defense.

That's right. Thank you.

I have to wonder if that level of execution is still happening.

 

[fishing4food]

IMO, My order of the Achilles Heel for the Team
1. Carr - Bad decisions and holds on to the ball
2. 1st down offensive play calling;
3. O-Line as a whole

 

[Saint Taysom]

Peat has been injured too much for our tastes, but he's far from a bust.

He was drafted 13th overall as a LT prospect… he failed there.. failed even worse at RT, and only salvaged his injury-riddled career after he was moved inside to OG.

His colossal whiffs got Brees hurt on many occasions, and his pro bowls were a farce.

 

[GeneHansen]

He was drafted 13th overall as a LT prospect… he failed there.. failed even worse at RT, and only salvaged his injury-riddled career after he was moved inside to OG.

His colossal whiffs got Brees hurt on many occasions, and his pro bowls were a farce.

many... (from Merriam-Webster) consisting of or amounting to a large but indefinite number / being one of a large but indefinite number / a large number of persons or things

Shoulder, Sept. 2015​

Brees suffered a second shoulder injury in the Saints' loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 20, 2015.

In that game, there were two hits that could have aggravated Brees' shoulder.

The first came in the first quarter when defensive end Jacquies Smith maneuvered past tackle Zach Strief and ran into Brees' arm while he was winding up to throw.

The other came in the second quarter, when Smith came at Brees from the right side, hitting him while he was throwing. The ball came out and was ruled a fumble (the Saints recovered).

Thumb, Sept. 2019​

The Saints were facing the Los Angeles Rams in a Week 2 game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum when Brees suffered his first injury that required him to miss multiple consecutive starts.

In the first quarter on Sept. 15, 2019, Brees' hand slammed into NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald — resulting in a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the thumb on his throwing hand.

Donald rushed Brees from the right side, getting the edge on guard Andrus Peat. Brees got the ball away in time to avoid the sack, but his hand collided with Donald.

Chest, Nov. 2020​

Brees knew something felt off as soon as he tried standing up. Moments after San Francisco 49ers defensive end Kentavius Street sacked him in the second quarter of their mid-November contest, Brees reflexively touched his ribcage.
(This one was on Ruiz.)

*******************************

So Brees was injured once by a guy Peat was blocking. And he didn't even hit Brees on the play. He was just close enough to get his hand up and Brees' hand collided with his hand.

When we drafted Peat, we had a young Terron Armstead at LT. Armstead remained our LT for 7 more seasons after we drafted Peat.
While he may have played LT at Stanford, but considering we already had Armstead at LT, we drafted Peat to play OL, which he as done, taking over at LG during his rookie season where he's been an 8 year starter and a farcical 3 time Pro Bowler.

He hasn't been an all-time great, but he hasn't been a bust... and deserves his credit.

Keep up the hot takes.

 

[meily]

New QB, 2 second year receivers, questionable offensive line unit spells growing pains.

 

[Jeff Miller]

wait, mike florio said it was all Carr's fault, the oline is playing well obviously,

 

[Winter]

Its all 3. Poor scheming and play-calling leads to plays needing more time to develop and defenses being able to predict and react. This leads to Carr holding on to the ball longer which leads to the line struggling to block for that extra second or two. The lack of motion and mis-direction makes the run game predictable, thus making it harder for the line to stay on their blocks and move defenders to create the running lanes. Carr is not Brees. He needs a better approach to each play. The O-line is hobbled and shuffled. You add to that a young receiver room and a jumbled TE group and things get messy all over the place.

The main thing I see is lack of scheming against our opponents, lack of creativity, and a lack of motivation across the board. This offense has no confidence and no attitude to it. The guys are in the room, but its all dysfunctional. Thats 1000% on this coaching staff. I'm still playing at the ripe old age of 34 and will say that Dennis Allen and Pete CarMichael are the least motivating figures in sports today.

 

[DSnfla]

Nooo I’d have to disagree with this. You’re still living in the past as in the first couple weeks yes. But the last 3 weeks or so they been doing much better giving him time in the pocket. He’s just not comfortable. One day you guys will hold him accountable for his bad play. Can’t keep blaming everyone else but him. Remember this is the same OL, same OC from Last year yet we put up bigger numbers on Offense.

Sorry te OL play has just marginally gotten better and only last game SMH

 

[liveoakh]

To take it a step further, I think our play in the trenches is our Achilles heel, meaning both O and D lines. I agree with you - the O-line is a huge problem but I also find that opposing QBs have too much time and space to make plays.

I think the O line is personnel, and the D line is coaching. We are vulnerable to fleet footed QBs, but this is very fixable. The O line has only 2 real starters to keep. McCoy and Ram. (Knee) but still good. The rest need to be replaced. Ruiz got a new contract, and next game gets blown up by Frankie LuVu of the Panthers. Pete is old, but gave his all in the Jags game. But needs to go next year.