Pass coverage lapses is the difference between 2-2 and 4-0 (1 Viewer)

[SaintStephen1]

The thing is, the NFL is kind of a made-for-TV sport where, intentionally, most games are close, and decided in the last few minutes. It's not like HS or the NCAA where some games are just uneven mismatches before kickoff. There's a salary cap, and the total huge amount of money involved means that the coaching and management ranks are highly optimized. All of that makes for better ratings.

If your defense cannot hold up in the final minutes, you're going to lose a lot of big games.

Great point. With a coach who has brain farts at the end of half and games week after week and year after year, a team starts every game bind the 8 ball.

 

[SaintStephen1]

Did the OP make a typo, didn't he mean to say HC end of game brain farts instead of lapses in coverage?

 

[saintsmarchin]

Injuries are the difference between 2 - 2 and 4-0

We can't stay healthy

Also you can't expect CBs and Safeties to have flawless games when the QB is sipping tea in the pocket.

 

[Elvis]

The defense was the reason they dug out of that deficit both because they held them to only 9 point until the last kick and also because after the offense couldn't score with 4 chances inside the 10, the defense held Atlanta to a 3 and out and got the offense the ball back at the 50. The defense bailed the offense out over and over again against Atlanta and never really broke. I mean the game winning kick was 58 yards.

And, against Philly, it was the Saints offense that has 50 seconds to drive for a score but Carr threw a bad interception. The offense had the last possession and failed to close it out. So I don't see how you can blame the defense for both of those.

In both games, the defense gave up the other teams winning score in the last minutes of the game. They aren't finishing games. They play well for a good chunk of the game and then they don't.

 

[St. Widge]

In both games, the defense gave up the other teams winning score in the last minutes of the game. They aren't finishing games. They play well for a good chunk of the game and then they don't.

And if both games the offense really struggled all game long. You can't win games if all your offense does is gets a score in the last few minutes. And the Saints offense had a chance to finish and win the game last week just like Atlanta had a chance last week. Atlanta got that done this week whereas our offense threw a bad interception to end the game last week.

But the bottom line is no matter how much you want to analyze the situational defense and question it, the fact is that when a defense only gives up 12 points you should win the game and blaming the defense for a loss in that situation is really over critical. They aren't perfect and they should do a better job at the end of games, but it's way down on the list of reason why we lost the last two games.

 

[Elvis]

And if both games the offense really struggled all game long. You can't win games if all your offense does is gets a score in the last few minutes. And the Saints offense had a chance to finish and win the game last week just like Atlanta had a chance last week. Atlanta got that done this week whereas our offense threw a bad interception to end the game last week.

But the bottom line is no matter how much you want to analyze the situational defense and question it, the fact is that when a defense only gives up 12 points you should win the game and blaming the defense for a loss in that situation is really over critical. They aren't perfect and they should do a better job at the end of games, but it's way down on the list of reason why we lost the last two games.

I know the offense has to do better. We all know that they need to do better. But the offense was as thin as a sheet of paper before the season started and it was widely known that the defense was going to have to carry the team if they were going to win. We were expecting a top 5 defense and maybe a middle of the pack offense.

So now there are a LOT of injuries on the offense and they are STILL getting us the lead at the ends of games and the defense just isn't finishing. It wouldn't be fair to blame the defense if both sides were equal, but they aren't equal. The defense has a higher bar and has to do more because they have talent and depth the offense doesn't have. The offense got us the lead late in both games and it was the defenses job to hold it. They couldn't.

 

[DaveXA]

I know they didn’t play crappy. They played well for 58 minutes and crappy for the last 2.

Well, the last drive was literally one PI. Their offense did diddly poo that drive. That PI won the game.

 

[DaveXA]

I think this is the most important point. Despite not having a great game, the offense did what they needed to do at the end to win the game and the defense simply didn't.

For one freaking fluke play on the last drive. The defense stoned them every other play that drive. They netted zero, yes, zero yards but for the PI.

 

[Nolan]

We have a head coach who unfortunately doesn't know how to call plays in 2 minute drives. Reality of our situation.

 

[Nolan]

For one freaking fluke play on the last drive. The defense stoned them every other play that drive. They netted zero, yes, zero yards but for the PI.

It's just not a fluke play, though... It's a high percentage play in all reality given the coverage. It was a no brainer for Kirk to throw that ball. If we're in a playcall that respects the gameclock (30 seconds) and their timeouts (zero), we can't be in a situation to be beat or flagged for PI. Drop back, play soft zone, no backs to the quarterback. If we make a tackle in bounds, the game is very likely over.

 

[DaveXA]

It's just not a fluke play, though... It's a high percentage play in all reality given the coverage. It was a no brainer for Kirk to throw that ball. If we're in a playcall that respects the gameclock (30 seconds) and their timeouts (zero), we can't be in a situation to be beat or flagged for PI. Drop back, play soft zone, no backs to the quarterback. If we make a tackle in bounds, the game is very likely over.

I don't buy that. It's a fluke. You think they call that on the Cheifs or Cowboys? If you honestly do, I'll have whatever you're having.

 

[Elvis]

For one freaking fluke play on the last drive. The defense stoned them every other play that drive. They netted zero, yes, zero yards but for the PI.

They got 5 yards on a short pass to McCloud on the first play of the drive, so there is that. Given that we also gave them the ball on the 30 yard line by kicking it into the endzone, a 30 yard PI was enough. And Adebo had already been flagged for PI twice but both were declined due to long gains and that was his 3rd. Hardly a fluke.

 

[Nolan]

I don't buy that. It's a fluke. You think they call that on the Cheifs or Cowboys? If you honestly do, I'll have whatever you're having.

What are you talking about? What do other teams or ref bias have to do with this?

When it comes to winning football games, you do not call that coverage when your opponent has 30 seconds and no timeouts. You open yourself up to getting beat deep for either a completion or a chunk flag, which is exactly what happened. We're talking about situational football here in late game deciding situations. We run that defense all game, and rightfully so, but it's a crime to call it in that situation. You play 10 yards off of receivers and force them to throw it in the middle of the field. It's pretty textbook.

 

[gtaz21]

Injuries and bonehead plays. Today the defense did not give up a TD. Yes, Adebo pulled a boner with a 30 yd PI that gave them the game winning FG. However, fumbled punt FAIR CAUGHT ON THE 2!!! And deflected pass (Carr must lead the league in deflected passes) turns into a pick 6 with a bad pretend tackle from Olave.

 

[DaveXA]

They got 5 yards on a short pass to McCloud on the first play of the drive, so there is that. Given that we also gave them the ball on the 30 yard line by kicking it into the endzone, a 30 yard PI was enough. And Adebo had already been flagged for PI twice but both were declined due to long gains and that was his 3rd. Hardly a fluke.

That 5 yards was back to 2nd and 10 due to an Atlanta penalty on the next play. Hence the 0 net yards.