Random thoughts from Panthers game (1 Viewer)

[Saint_Ward]

Anzalone has caught fire too. The guy was everywhere last night, smothering offensive players. Very few YAC.

 

[Bill]

All great points st dude.

I will add that our level of offensive line health will be a critical intangible going into the post season. Once we had to start shifting linemen around last night it was obvious that our offense will simply not be the same without our starters being able to take most of the snaps. Will Drew be able to compensate if some of them are out or limited? Perhaps. But at this point it appears that at least some of our 'reduced' offensive output can be attributed to the line play. We will need Unger and Armstead back on the line once the second season gets cranked up.

 

[mr.t]

To me , it's was a typical Saints/Panthers game, except now, we have the better defense. We out pounded them in a clean way. Some Panthers are dirty for sure.

 

[jbourque]

Good Post!

The Linebacker corp has greatly improved IMO because we finally quite rotating player in and out of positions. We finally have continuity, positions are set. Same 3 players every time working together. Imagine that......wish it hadn't taken so long.

 

[JRead2]

We need our O-line to get healthy, and we need a WR (not named Thomas) and a TE to step up and contribute CONSISTENTLY.

With those items addressed, I foresee another ring.

 

[ndcc]

Vintage dotless one... well played.

Special shout out to our assistant coaching staff is also warranted. I hate to say it, but DA, Nolan, Roushar and Nielsen could be lured away with a boatload of Benjamins... well-deserved, but not too good for us.

 

[bclemms]

Good Post!

The Linebacker corp has greatly improved IMO because we finally quite rotating player in and out of positions. We finally have continuity, positions are set. Same 3 players every time working together. Imagine that......wish it hadn't taken so long.

It's a lot easier to not rotate players around when you have good players. We have a very good LB core right now and they weren't on the team last season.

 

[KingBarkus]

We simply can not run to the left. Every single running play is off Unger, Warford, and Ram. This was the case before Unger's concussion. Kamara's 4th down was a pitch left, but that was a "trick" play when the Panthers were expecting a QB sneak. We are in trouble if Armstead can't play soon. Other teams will take notice, and I believe they already have.

 

[jbourque]

It's a lot easier to not rotate players around when you have good players. We have a very good LB core right now and they weren't on the team last season.

I may have misunderstood the OP but I was referencing the improvement of the LB Corp for just this season alone. We started pretty shaky and improved when we quit moving players around.

 

[bartk12]

Great post.
To add to your last point....

https://saintsreport.com/dbtech-donate/support-saintsreport-com.1/drive

 

[LonghornSaintsFan]

Did you hear Lattimore even called last night? He was a ghost on the field in a good way because who ever he was covering was completely shut down.

 

[Saintsandcardinalsfan007]

I don’t know if there is a more high effort every play player in the NFL than Cam Jordan. I have never seen him take a play off, even at the end of games when the other team is in a hurry up and everyone is gassed. It’s not like the Saints give him any rest. He may go down as the best and most durable Saints defensive lineman ever, and I have seen them all.

I concluded after the first few games this season that the Saints made a mistake paying big money to get Demario Davis. I concluded wrongly. He has turned it on in the second half of the season.

I don’t know to what extent these things are related, but the Saints defense has been immensely better since acquiring Eli Apple. Apple has been every bit as good as Lattimore this year.

I was strangely not resigned to the fact that a Panther score was inevitable after the touchback. To the contrary, I figured the defense would get a stop. I can’t recall many times in the past where I was actually confident our defense would hold on at the end of a one score game.

The Saints blitzed every play on the Panthers two minute drive. That was smart, I hate seeing a team who has dominated on defense go to a death by a thousand cuts prevent defense at the end. I am not sure another qb might not punish you for that. But it worked with Cam Newton who was terribly innacurate when rushed. His shoulder is obviously not right. To his credit he is gutting it out, but he could ruin his throwing motion forever with the compensations he is making.

Sean Payton > Ron Rivera. Nuff said about that.

Michael Thomas and Mark Ingram are the offensive versions of Cam Jordan. They give 110 % every play. I love high effort players.

Will Lutz is quietly having an all pro season.

It feels like Thomas Morestead has been our punter for thirty years. His angled punts are incredibly concise. I am convinced he could kick free throws at an 80% clip.

How many Super Bowls would Drew Brees have with a running game and a defense? How much better would he be this year with a top tier tight end and true deep threat opposite Thomas? A decent slot receiver would help too.

You could put Alvin Kamara in any team uniform with any number and I would recognize his running style after one run. The list of running backs I could say that about is quite short.

If the Panther coaches are smart, and there is scant evidence they are, they would shut down Cam Newton now. I hope they don’t. We play them again. He is not going to figure out how to throw straight between now and then.

I am going to contribute to Saintsreport to help Andrus make sure our home here doesn’t crash from the traffic it’s about to see on our run to the Super Bowl.

I think they will shut Newton down for the rest of the season once they are eliminated from playoff contention. But there is a plausible scenario where they sneak in if they win their last two games and other things happen such as MN losing both games and eagles beat redskins in week 17.

 

[st dude]

Sorry while Apple is improving he has not been as good as Lattimore

[

So I am not knocking Lattimore, just observing that Apple seems just as good to me. You know Apple's pedigree is as strong as Lattimore's is, Apple was the tenth overall pick in the draft. He has been a real steal for the Saints.

And to be fair, Lattimore had his struggles to start the season. Mike Evans absolutely owned him in the first game against Tampa and started the second game with a long catch over Lattimore.

Did you hear Lattimore even called last night? He was a ghost on the field in a good way because who ever he was covering was completely shut down.

I did not hear Apple called a lot either but for the key interception he made when they did throw at him.

I thought it was interesting when we played Atlanta, that they put Apple on Julio Jones instead of Lattimore.

One thing for sure, Apple has been a huge upgrade for us at the other cornerback position. Our defense has been way better since he joined the team.

 

[LonghornSaintsFan]

I thought it was interesting when we played Atlanta, that they put Apple on Julio Jones instead of Lattimore.

You know I am starting to think Apple went to Sean and Dennis and said I want to cover Julio, let me prove to you I can do it. That was probably enough for Sean to let him try he didn't fair that well but at the same time he did a good enough job in keeping him in check. So yeah I think Lattimore is still the #1 but Apple has been a really nice addition, especially since Crawly has really been bad.

 

[mountaineerdude]

our receivers must have eaten a lot of popcorn before the game ...