Analysis Saints offensive line woes in Week 10 vs. Falcons (1 Viewer)

[Alan12]

After discussing with friends the abysmal game by our offensive line last Sunday, I ended up diving into the Coaches Film to see what the Falcons were doing that was so successful in generating not only sacks but mass confusion among our line...
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1st quarter, 4:57 remaining - 3rd & Goal at ATL 2 - sack by DeVondre Campbell

View attachment E494AFFE-1571-4580-BA2E-F03718B91C78.MOV

• Saints in 22-personnel
• Falcons send 6 against 7 blockers
• Falcons defense has driven the entire Saints offensive line and Clapp back at least 3 yards by the time Brees hits his last step in his 7-step drop
• Clapp and Line stay in to block, leaving Brees with only 3 eligible receivers
• Kamara is Brees’ first read (and he’s wide open for a TD) but he’s stumbling after cutting to reverse field (this play was really designed to go to him and only him) and Brees goes to his next read
• Hill is covered on the corner and Cook is covered on the fade
• Line whiffs on his block of Campbell on Brees’ blindside and Brees sees McKinley on the front side, it’s best to protect the ball and eat the sack and take the FG instead of forcing a ball that gets picked off or stripped out

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2nd quarter, 3:41 remaining - 3rd & 4 at NO 42 - sack by Adrian Clayborn

View attachment 1CE783AA-5E12-4790-B646-A4608AF80D1A.MOV

• Saints in 21-personnel
• Falcons send 4 and run a twist with Jarrett crossing over Clayborn
• McCoy passes Jarrett across to Peat and then to Armstead
• Armstead forces Clayborn inside before picking up Jarrett and Clayborn slams into Peat and knocks him over allowing a free pass into the backfield
• Brees’ first read appears to be Thomas coming on a crosser from right-to-left on a natural pick occurring from Ginn running a crosser from the opposite side; Brees sees Thomas isn’t at the depth for a 1st down and he resets, looking to push the ball down field
• Kamara appears to be the second read on the seam down the sideline which would be open nearly every time unless it’s Deion Jones in man coverage; by that point Clayborn is already on him

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3rd quarter, 7:11 remaining - 2nd & 10 at ATL 10 - sack by Grady Jarrett

View attachment AA94D2EF-1F7E-44B2-BDC4-889C04963EC1.MOV

• Saints in 11-personnel
• Falcons send 4 against 7 blockers and have Allen in the box on what appears to be a spy
• Clapp is head-up with Jarrett, Armstead helps chip him back inside where Jarrett simply overpowers and is around Clapp by the time Brees finishes the play action and his drop
• Brees tries to buy time by climbing the pocket but is cutoff by Beasley who has gotten around Hill
• Smith, Ginn, and Hogan are all blanketed by the remaining 6 Falcons in coverage

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4th quarter, 13:28 remaining - 3rd & 14 at NO 42 - sack by Grady Jarrett

View attachment 23720F02-74DC-4ECC-A5C8-6D3E67513FBB.MOV

• Saints in 11-personnel
• Falcons send 3 and run another twist with McKinley crossing over Jarrett
• Brees should’ve been able to climb the pocket and shuffle out the right side and still possibly thrown it to Hill up the sideline after breaking off his out-route or to Ginn coming back after running the post;
• Lots of confusion along the offensive line (watch McCoy and Ramczyk), but this one is on Brees

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4th quarter, 6:56 remaining - 1st & 10 at NO 36 - sack by Grady Jarrett

View attachment DF5E92A1-B767-4774-BFC0-9C6C60DA093A.MOV

• Saints in 11-personnel
• Falcons send 4 against 5 blockers
• Armstead, Ramczyk, and Warford are all driven back at least 5 yards off the LOS by the time Brees hits the last step in his drop
• Clapp is head-up with Jarrett again, Jarrett works to Clapp’s inside and Clapp is expecting help from McCoy which doesn’t come as McCoy is doubling Crawford with Warford
• Armstead has Clayborn in a chokehold and is still beaten as well

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4th quarter, 5:31 remaining - 4th & 5 at NO 41 sack by Vic Beasley

View attachment D7D725AD-4B18-40D0-AE5C-C6B26EE4DE38.MOV

• Saints in 11-personnel
• Falcons send 4 again and run another twist with Beasley over McKinley who’s kicked inside
• Ramczyk chips Beasley to the inside but no one picks him up as McCoy is doubling McKinley with Warford
• Armstead and Clapp contain Clayborn and Jarrett respectively

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I would expect a lot of twists from the Buccaneers’ front 4 this week after seeing how effective they were even on our own field, and especially considering Clapp (or Easton) will be filling in for Peat’s absence. If it’s Clapp, I’m sure he’ll perform better with a full week of work at LG than he fared Sunday, but he and the rest of our boys better eat their Wheaties.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

I would expect a lot of twists from the Buccaneers’ front 4 this week after seeing how effective they were even on our own field, and especially considering Clapp (or Easton) will be filling in for Peat’s absence. If it’s Clapp, I’m sure he’ll perform better with a full week of work at LG than he fared Sunday, but he and the rest of our boys better eat their Wheaties.

I think Clapp practicing at Guard and not Jumbo package tackle eligible will help. Armstead was playing possibly with the flu. And I imagine Easton will be active for the game.

Good post. There's a lot to clean up for the Bucs game. We negated Barrett the first time, but he could feast this game if we don't improve.

 

[Alan12]

I think Clapp practicing at Guard and not Jumbo package tackle eligible will help. Armstead was playing possibly with the flu. And I imagine Easton will be active for the game.

Good post. There's a lot to clean up for the Bucs game. We negated Barrett the first time, but he could feast this game if we don't improve.

I agree entirely. That practice time is invaluable when the real bullets start flying in a live-game scenario. Time for Easton to earn at least some of that $4M we guaranteed in his deal in our jumbo sets at least.

I’m also hoping the flu is really what was hindering Armstead last week, he just didn’t look like his normal self; especially on Jarrett’s last sack where he’s holding the hell out of Clayborn and still gets walked back as easily as he did.

And indeed, if we walk into this game with the same exact game plan we had for the first game, we’ll more than likely be walking out Raymond James Stadium with another L.

Barrett has to be contained, but we also have to establish a running game early and Payton has to STICK WITH IT. I know their pass defense sucks majorly but so did the Falcons’, got to pound the rock down their throats.

 

[BarBar]

After discussing with friends the abysmal game by our offensive line last Sunday, I ended up diving into the Coaches Film to see what the Falcons were doing that was so successful in generating not only sacks but mass confusion among our line...
—————
1st quarter, 4:57 remaining - 3rd & Goal at ATL 2 - sack by DeVondre Campbell

View attachment E494AFFE-1571-4580-BA2E-F03718B91C78.MOV

• Saints in 22-personnel
• Falcons send 6 against 7 blockers
• Falcons defense has driven the entire Saints offensive line and Clapp back at least 3 yards by the time Brees hits his last step in his 7-step drop
• Clapp and Line stay in to block, leaving Brees with only 3 eligible receivers
• Kamara is Brees’ first read (and he’s wide open for a TD) but he’s stumbling after cutting to reverse field (this play was really designed to go to him and only him) and Brees goes to his next read
• Hill is covered on the corner and Cook is covered on the fade
• Line whiffs on his block of Campbell on Brees’ blindside and Brees sees McKinley on the front side, it’s best to protect the ball and eat the sack and take the FG instead of forcing a ball that gets picked off or stripped out

—————
2nd quarter, 3:41 remaining - 3rd & 4 at NO 42 - sack by Adrian Clayborn

View attachment 1CE783AA-5E12-4790-B646-A4608AF80D1A.MOV

• Saints in 21-personnel
• Falcons send 4 and run a twist with Jarrett crossing over Clayborn
• McCoy passes Jarrett across to Peat and then to Armstead
• Armstead forces Clayborn inside before picking up Jarrett and Clayborn slams into Peat and knocks him over allowing a free pass into the backfield
• Brees’ first read appears to be Thomas coming on a crosser from right-to-left on a natural pick occurring from Ginn running a crosser from the opposite side; Brees sees Thomas isn’t at the depth for a 1st down and he resets, looking to push the ball down field
• Kamara appears to be the second read on the seam down the sideline which would be open nearly every time unless it’s Deion Jones in man coverage; by that point Clayborn is already on him

—————
3rd quarter, 7:11 remaining - 2nd & 10 at ATL 10 - sack by Grady Jarrett

View attachment AA94D2EF-1F7E-44B2-BDC4-889C04963EC1.MOV

• Saints in 11-personnel
• Falcons send 4 against 7 blockers and have Allen in the box on what appears to be a spy
• Clapp is head-up with Jarrett, Armstead helps chip him back inside where Jarrett simply overpowers and is around Clapp by the time Brees finishes the play action and his drop
• Brees tries to buy time by climbing the pocket but is cutoff by Beasley who has gotten around Hill
• Smith, Ginn, and Hogan are all blanketed by the remaining 6 Falcons in coverage

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4th quarter, 13:28 remaining - 3rd & 14 at NO 42 - sack by Grady Jarrett

View attachment 23720F02-74DC-4ECC-A5C8-6D3E67513FBB.MOV

• Saints in 11-personnel
• Falcons send 3 and run another twist with McKinley crossing over Jarrett
• Brees should’ve been able to climb the pocket and shuffle out the right side and still possibly thrown it to Hill up the sideline after breaking off his out-route or to Ginn coming back after running the post;
• Lots of confusion along the offensive line (watch McCoy and Ramczyk), but this one is on Brees

—————
4th quarter, 6:56 remaining - 1st & 10 at NO 36 - sack by Grady Jarrett

View attachment DF5E92A1-B767-4774-BFC0-9C6C60DA093A.MOV

• Saints in 11-personnel
• Falcons send 4 against 5 blockers
• Armstead, Ramczyk, and Warford are all driven back at least 5 yards off the LOS by the time Brees hits the last step in his drop
• Clapp is head-up with Jarrett again, Jarrett works to Clapp’s inside and Clapp is expecting help from McCoy which doesn’t come as McCoy is doubling Crawford with Warford
• Armstead has Clayborn in a chokehold and is still beaten as well

—————
4th quarter, 5:31 remaining - 4th & 5 at NO 41 sack by Vic Beasley

View attachment D7D725AD-4B18-40D0-AE5C-C6B26EE4DE38.MOV

• Saints in 11-personnel
• Falcons send 4 again and run another twist with Beasley over McKinley who’s kicked inside
• Ramczyk chips Beasley to the inside but no one picks him up as McCoy is doubling McKinley with Warford
• Armstead and Clapp contain Clayborn and Jarrett respectively

—————
I would expect a lot of twists from the Buccaneers’ front 4 this week after seeing how effective they were even on our own field, and especially considering Clapp (or Easton) will be filling in for Peat’s absence. If it’s Clapp, I’m sure he’ll perform better with a full week of work at LG than he fared Sunday, but he and the rest of our boys better eat their Wheaties.

Man those were tough to watch. I mean the Falcons were just sending 3 or 4 guys and still got to Brees like crazy.

The entire story of the offense was that the O-line crapped the bed. We really need quality backups.

Maybe running the ball more would have helped but I would have expected to see lots of blitzes from the Falcons based on how they harassed brees.This was just straight up ineptness. Crazy.

 

[bobad]

When the OL gets pushed back, (which is very unusual, almost strange, for our OL) there's not much you can do in the running or passing game.

 

[Alan12]

Man those were tough to watch. I mean the Falcons were just sending 3 or 4 guys and still got to Brees like crazy.

The entire story of the offense was that the O-line crapped the bed. We really need quality backups.

Maybe running the ball more would have helped but I would have expected to see lots of blitzes from the Falcons based on how they harassed brees.This was just straight up ineptness. Crazy.

They really were hard to watch again when I watched the tape, but I felt a civic duty to do so and share my thoughts for those that may not be as football savvy as to why we all saw what we did Sunday.

And they really harassed the hell out of Brees and our line all game. As one poster here that said they heard Deion Jones told someone that they were going to play that game as if it was their Super Bowl, well they absolutely did. They played balls to the wall for 60 minutes and we did nothing about it to match that intensity.

When the OL gets pushed back, (which is very unusual, almost strange, for our OL) there's not much you can do in the running or passing game.

Yes, very unusual for our offensive line to be manhandled like that.

However, the thing was, it wasn’t like the run game wasn’t working. We were averaging nearly 5 yards per tote (4.7 YPC), we just abandoned the run and got one dimensional like the Saints of years past.

Hopefully Payton realizes that and can stick with it going forward, especially if it’s actually working.

 

[Stalwart385]

Thanks, good post. I'll dig in more later.

Certainly not what we expect from our o-line. Armstead was obviously not himself. That may have put LG in a position to be more exposed. Not sure if there was direct evidence of that yet.

 

[Belfast Saint]

Looking through that, I see a lot a times where the ball should be gone, but isn't.

Wasn't a great game by OL, but it also wasn't a great game for anyone else on O either. Everyone gets a share of the blame.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Looking through that, I see a lot a times where the ball should be gone, but isn't.

Wasn't a great game by OL, but it also wasn't a great game for anyone else on O either. Everyone gets a share of the blame.

I noticed at the game that Brees looked to go deep several times and didn't pull the trigger. And that seemed to give him less time to checked down. Atlanta covered his safety valves and then he's scrambling or getting sacked. A week before the game we were mocking the coaching shuffle the Falcons made, but they seemed to throw some new wrinkles at us and we had no answers. I expect us to learn from that game.

 

[FlySaint]

I noticed at the game that Brees looked to go deep several times and didn't pull the trigger. And that seemed to give him less time to checked down. Atlanta covered his safety valves and then he's scrambling or getting sacked. A week before the game we were mocking the coaching shuffle the Falcons made, but they seemed to throw some new wrinkles at us and we had no answers. I expect us to learn from that game.

So lots of times with no open receivers...but our WR corps is fine....no upgrades needed...

 

[Ibleedblackandgold]

So lots of times with no open receivers...but our WR corps is fine....no upgrades needed...

You're beating a dead horse at this point. These people simply won't admit this. Some people are in deep denial and it will have to cost us a big game for them to see this. They said it was one bad game.

That's not true. This is the third game we haven't scored a td. I'm not saying we have to put up 30 or 40 points a game,but 3 games without a td is baffling. We scored 9,12,13,9 in 4 games. Our running game is fine,so where do they think the struggles are coming from? Anyone who thinks we are fine at receiver are delusional. With no real receiving threats our o line won't play any better. They can give brees all the time in the world,but if his receivers can't get open,what god would it do?

 

[BarBar]

You're beating a dead horse at this point. These people simply won't admit this. Some people are in deep denial and it will have to cost us a big game for them to see this. They said it was one bad game.

That's not true. This is the third game we haven't scored a td. I'm not saying we have to put up 30 or 40 points a game,but 3 games without a td is baffling. We scored 9,12,13,9 in 4 games. Our running game is fine,so where do they think the struggles are coming from? Anyone who thinks we are fine at receiver are delusional. With no real receiving threats our o line won't play any better. They can give brees all the time in the world,but if his receivers can't get open,what god would it do?

I agree that we need better receivers. But the O Line can absolutely play better. They were getting blown back and beaten one on one as soon as the ball was snapped. It was a pathetic showing.


Anyway thank God we have MT. he is basically our whole offense. Kamara isn't looking like anything special(perhaps the injury). Cook is looking better. Just really need TQS and Ginn to stop dropping easy ones. Those were drive killers.