So.... Gary Gibbs is still DC??!! (1 Viewer)

[fr3sh]

A football team is just that - a team. It is comprised of players and coaches, plural.

When a D plays as poorly as a whole like ours did last year, you can bet that it is not due to a single factor. It is not the DC. Nor is it the CB. Nor is it talent evaluation. Instead it is a combination of factors. Including circumstance (ex. JD was the only CB that we could get to sign here, for whatever reason).

To say, "Lets get rid of the DC!" might be a serious oversimplification and may not be at all what this team needs. We know that the DL coach is no longer with us, nor is the DB coach. Changes are being made.

I suspect that Payton has evaluated the situation and decided that certain things need to be improved. IMHO, he knows more about what is going on than anyone here. He sees the deficiencies daily and has a good idea about what it will take to improve the team.



Geez. The Super Bowl hasn't even been played yet. FA isn't open. No one has been drafted yet.

How can we possibly be disappointed in ANY actions or non-actions this off season when we are only 24 days into January? Personally, I'll allow the off season to play out, see what happens during the regular season and only then judge the results of this off season.

Obviously, at least to me, the results of last off season were unsatisfactory. From statements made by Payton, that seems to be the case with him as well. I'm more than willing to give him a chance to make the changes that HE feels necessary (as opposed to those I might think necessary) and see what comes out of it. After all, he gets paid millions to make those decisions. My opinion is free of charge and worth just about that much.

JMO.

lus-un2:
Excellent post, kooldak.

 

[Dave]

There are 2 players on that defense who are capable of starting on more than half the teams in the league. Most of the starters would be hard
pressed to find any role other than at backup.

Blame the scouts, not the coordinator.

I agree, but I would blame the GM as well as the scouting department. One could even partly blame Benson if he was telling the GM not to spend the money on better defensive free agents.

 

[max]

agreed. gibbs certainly should have been fired. but payton didn't have the wontons to fire his buddy that he brought from dallas. payton is starting to look like just a great offensive coordinator without the fire in the belly to be a great head coach.

 

[DrudkhFan]

I think we should at least give him another year with some new talent from the draft and FA.

 

[BigJ]

sucky players+ a sucky scheme= horrible D

do we have much talent on D? No but I've seen teams with less perform much better than this unit did. Also if gibbs is responsible for constantly starting {mod edit - no offensive references to players per TOS, please - kd} simoneau he should be fired for that alone

 

[Treybad]

2006 Saints Defense was ranked 11th in the nfl...

Thanks too the Saints offense mind you.... lol

 

[Cottonmill_Saint]

You answered your wuestion in your first line -- We have fielded possibly the worse defense in the NFL the last 2 years -- so how can you tell how good he is?

 

[KingBarkus]

First off let me say, the defense this year was puke. But last season Gibbs was being praised for getting the most out of very little, turning castoffs Simoneau, Shanle and Fujita into legit linebackers and putting together a defense decent enough to get us to the NFC championship game.
This season, the lack of talent caught up with him. In my opinion, the lack of a difference maker at DT and LB allowed offenses to set their protections to offset Grant and Smith. Get a stud DT and LB in here and I think we will see a different defense. As much as I cussed the defense this year, I'm willing to give Gibbs another year.

This post falls into my line of thinking. I think we got extremely fortunate with the late additions of Shanle, Sim, and Fujita in 2006 and
it seemed the Saints took the same tack at the beginning of last year with the signings of KK and Simmons,i.e. fill-ins not bona-fide starters.

My belief is that the Payton era will be defined by his ability to procure talent on the defensive side. I can't see Payton ever having weak offensive talent and and a terrible offense. Gibbs? I'm not thrilled with him but the folks are right. He has nothing to work with wrt talent. My concern is his evaluation of what we have and have procured in the draft and free agency to date. Someone dropped the ball on scouting David.

Huge offseason looms dead ahead.

 

[BigDSaintsFan]

This shouldn't suprise you at all. I agree with most of you that he just doesn't have the talent to work with. Suprisingly though, the run defense wasn't bad. Pass defense was horrible. I think as long as Payton is the head coach, the offense will always be the strength of this team, but he knows the defense has to be better.

 

[cruize]

And yet the Saints were one reverse play not being called away from the playoffs.

 

[BigDSaintsFan]

And yet the Saints were one reverse play not being called away from the playoffs.

You are correct! Even with this crappy defense, if we win the Bucs game and the Carolina home game we make the playoffs.

 

[mlb]

say what you want about the defense and the coordinator, but the majority of the problem with the saints,this year, was the inconsistent offense. our defense, which is only mediocre, played fine when the opposing offenses where not dictating the game (ie jacksonville). make no mistake, we need more talent on defense, but if our offense would have sustained drives and dictated the games, our defense would have been fine. just like in 2006. not too much change in talent. honestly, it i believe it was a little better in 2007. how can you rush the passer when you are bent over from exhaustion. they lived on the field.

 

[Peet]

That's like two cars hitting head on in the middle of the road and both blaming the other. If the defense could have stopped opposing offenses they would not have been on the field as long either.

 

[st. jon's]

as randy cross and carl banks put it this morning ... your coaching staff can't be that bad if you won seven games with no pass rush, no linebackers (they said fujita was good but was plugged in the middle), and only one good corner back."

 

[Lord Scyther]

+1