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Saints' secondary shutting down the passing game
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com Sports Writer
http://www.wwltv.com/sports/stories/wwl103009bhsaintssecondary.26af5a6c1.html
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Bradley Handwerger / WWL-TV.com Sports Writer
Read more...METAIRIE, La. – It used to be that New Orleans was where defensive backs ended up getting lost in the shuffle, where their careers flatlined before being resuscitated elsewhere or just ended.
Remember Eric Allen? That Pro Bowler forgot how to cover.
Jason David? Enough said.
That, well, that’s so much the case these days.
Strong safety Roman Harper (drafted by the Saints in 2006) is playing the best football of his young career.
Right cornerback Tracy Porter (drafted by the Saints in 2008) is proving to be a key pickup in his second year.
Then there are the new guys – free safety Darren Sharper, in his 13th season, leads the NFL in interceptions and has returned three for touchdowns while left cornerback Jabari Greer is one of the best in the league in coverage.
And that has helped New Orleans’ defense turn into one of the NFL’s best. As of Week 7, New Orleans was ranked No. 11 after spending much of the first six weeks in the top 10.
The play of the secondary is opening everything up in Gregg Williams’ defensive playbook.
“When your corners don’t play as well as our corners play, you take people out of the interior part of (the defense) and you’ve got to help those guys a lot more,” Williams said. “Our corners are salty.”
http://www.wwltv.com/sports/stories/wwl103009bhsaintssecondary.26af5a6c1.html