- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
- Messages
- 19,948
- Reaction score
- 41,833
Online
Over the years I’ve noticed teams like the Patriots and the Saints are usually still tweaking things going into Week 1 of the season.
While obvious, yes, I mean to highlight that they will typically treat week 1 like pre-season week 5. Remember a few years back Austin Carr was our starting slot WR until roughly the 3rd game then he never saw the field again beyond injuries?
With one less pre-season game I expect this to be even more pronounced.
For at least the next 3 weeks these games will be glorified pre-season games where teams with A1 coaching staffs and mostly set rosters will have the biggest advantage.
Granted we’re facing the Packers week 1 nullifying this a bit, the Saints next 4 games are versus Mac Jones, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Of those 4 only Jones has been with his team more than 1 year and under Garrett they finished 31st in Total offense and points scored in 2020. Coaches already complain about the limited time they have with players and less stable teams really tend to feel that more!
There’s potential to go 5-0 at best, 4-1 if the Packers results in a loss and 3-2 at worst.
If one of your counters is “Yeah but Jameis Winston is also on his 1st year as starter, keep in mind it’s his 2nd year in the offense.
If your other counter is Our defense tends to be trash early in the season and or we don’t do well vs rookie QB’s, you might have me there.
Interior pocket presence is a huge question but Dennis Allen does come from the 3G school of defense…they will manufacture A gap pressure through stunts, games, and LB blitzes from the 2nd level. In fact Gardner, Davis, Alexander, and Jenkins are all capable 2nd level Blitzers.
The secondary isn’t a huge concern for me unless there is injury. The CB situation is very similar to the LB situation in that you’re only playing with 2 guys as primary starters because your base defense is a big Nickel with CJGJ as your slot CB. Dime is next up and I’m sure Adebo can handle those responsibilities just fine.
The other caveat is those guys are a veteran bunch. You saw it during the pre-season, you may have seen players get beat mono e mono but you did not see the lapses in coverage were used to.
Allen’s system has been in place nearly 5 years now. They’ll be fine
Anyhow, it’s close to game time and just wanted to give a random insights as I firmly believe Saints have an early season advantage here thanks to some of the above factors.
Cheers
While obvious, yes, I mean to highlight that they will typically treat week 1 like pre-season week 5. Remember a few years back Austin Carr was our starting slot WR until roughly the 3rd game then he never saw the field again beyond injuries?
With one less pre-season game I expect this to be even more pronounced.
For at least the next 3 weeks these games will be glorified pre-season games where teams with A1 coaching staffs and mostly set rosters will have the biggest advantage.
Granted we’re facing the Packers week 1 nullifying this a bit, the Saints next 4 games are versus Mac Jones, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Of those 4 only Jones has been with his team more than 1 year and under Garrett they finished 31st in Total offense and points scored in 2020. Coaches already complain about the limited time they have with players and less stable teams really tend to feel that more!
There’s potential to go 5-0 at best, 4-1 if the Packers results in a loss and 3-2 at worst.
If one of your counters is “Yeah but Jameis Winston is also on his 1st year as starter, keep in mind it’s his 2nd year in the offense.
If your other counter is Our defense tends to be trash early in the season and or we don’t do well vs rookie QB’s, you might have me there.
Interior pocket presence is a huge question but Dennis Allen does come from the 3G school of defense…they will manufacture A gap pressure through stunts, games, and LB blitzes from the 2nd level. In fact Gardner, Davis, Alexander, and Jenkins are all capable 2nd level Blitzers.
The secondary isn’t a huge concern for me unless there is injury. The CB situation is very similar to the LB situation in that you’re only playing with 2 guys as primary starters because your base defense is a big Nickel with CJGJ as your slot CB. Dime is next up and I’m sure Adebo can handle those responsibilities just fine.
The other caveat is those guys are a veteran bunch. You saw it during the pre-season, you may have seen players get beat mono e mono but you did not see the lapses in coverage were used to.
Allen’s system has been in place nearly 5 years now. They’ll be fine
Anyhow, it’s close to game time and just wanted to give a random insights as I firmly believe Saints have an early season advantage here thanks to some of the above factors.
Cheers
Last edited:
