The defense is reminding me of 2011 (1 Viewer)

[Trey W.]

There were many reasons why our O and D played poorly most of the game. First being with the shortened pre-season our starters never got a chance to play meaningful game time snaps with each other. You can practice all you want but game snaps are completely different. We have 2 new safeties who’ve never played together trying to get coverages right. Lattimore didn’t play at all in the pre-season and was Rusty, we traded CGJ and had a new slot CB. Our D-line was playing to contain not rush (which should look better this week as TB12 isn’t a running QB). Dallas was getting to TB so hopefully Allen will emulate what they did.

The only unit I won’t give excuses for is our O-line. It’s the same group that’s played together for the last 2 years (except Hurst who filled in when Armstead was hurt) and they played horrible for 2 1/2-3 quarters.

 

[limeyjohn]

To be fair our defense like our offense really stepped up in the 4th quarter, not to mention holding them to field goals rather than touchdowns
Refs also gave them 3 points on the missed fumble call

 

[football]

I said this in another thread. Throughout the recent history, the defense has started out slow. Go back to the recent history. Although we struggled that game, 2011 defense was horrible. All day blitzing and leaving someone in the middle wide open. We gave up tons of yards back then. But a little overboard comparing this defense to that defense. Kind of insulting really.

 

[HouseCall]

Not RPO, but I would expect TB to run LF7 like crazy as ATL had lots of success with the run. It was semi-apparent in preseason that stopping the run could be an issue going into the regular season. Really hoping that we shore this up soon.

I think they could see some success running Fournette for sure - however I want to see how the run defense looks when the QB isn’t a threat to run like Mariota was.

 

[2024InjuryApocalypse]

I think people also need to remember our defense is pretty good but they are really not elite and they were inconsistent last year. They have the talent to show flashes of greatness (the TB shutout) but remember they also blew a 2-score 4th quarter lead at home to the terrible Giants and got destroyed by the Eagles (Siemian's turnovers did not help, the but the D played poorly in that game). They also failed to stop a not-very-good ATL team in the Superdome from a game-winning field goal drive in the "receivers dropped everything" game.

And yes, there might be something to the idea this D struggles against RPO QBs (Hurts, Mariota).

 

[SaintswonSBXLIV]

The defense was weak, especially in the middle, falclowns were gouging the center, and guard positions with their offensive guards, then on sweeps during the first three quarters, Patterson (6'3" 240# monster to tackle) was getting past the d line often for large chunks of yardage (much like his career with Bears), this had to stop to have any chance of winning this game.....Saints will face another great runner in TB, must be ready to "stop' the run....as they will attack the middle of the Saints D early and often.

Dennis Allen needs to bring in someone to help coach against the read-option. My thought/hope is that the defensive linemen were in effect playing passively so as to not get out of position and give up big running plays to Mariotta. To Atlanta's credit, they seized upon this and said "ok, we're not going to run the read-option, we're going to simply run the ball down your throats." At some point, the Saints should have moved Mathieu or Maye permanently into the box and dared Mariotta to beat them throwing the ball. We'll find out a lot more this upcoming Sunday.

 

[meily]

RPO

 

[Complex Kid]

Not RPO, but I would expect TB to run LF7 like crazy as ATL had lots of success with the run. It was semi-apparent in preseason that stopping the run could be an issue going into the regular season. Really hoping that we shore this up soon.

I think we do a lot better against straight up running though. The RPO makes them doubt themselves just enough to slow them down half a step.

 

[Complex Kid]

There were many reasons why our O and D played poorly most of the game. First being with the shortened pre-season our starters never got a chance to play meaningful game time snaps with each other. You can practice all you want but game snaps are completely different.

I don't think it's a coincidence that "good teams" that had their players out most of the preseason struggled with "bad teams" that played their guys in the preseason to figure out who their starters are.

 

[Dallas_Saint73]

I think we do a lot better against straight up running though. The RPO makes them doubt themselves just enough to slow them down half a step.

Agree. Just noticed that in preseason we didn't look as stout against the run as years past. Granted, we played backups for the most part, even with starters in, it just looked a step behind. I am sure the loss of Brown is part of the reason for this.

 

[Dallas_Saint73]

I think they could see some success running Fournette for sure - however I want to see how the run defense looks when the QB isn’t a threat to run like Mariota was.

Exactly. Will be a great litmus test for sure.

 

[Bill]

I’d rather this be a point of emphasis at the training facility this week knowing that Fournette is coming to town than for the team to think they are already good at stopping the run. There’s no doubt that the defensive scheme will be adjusted, because the game film doesn’t lie.

If we just get manhandled by the Bucs, then it won’t matter what scheme we use. But if the team can make the right adjustments, then we’ll likely see a much different defense this Sunday.

 

[saint_drago]

I think they could see some success running Fournette for sure - however I want to see how the run defense looks when the QB isn’t a threat to run like Mariota was.

Exactly. That funky little offense that Arthur Smith runs forced our defense to play honest. Running QBs and DA's scheme just don't mix. The good news is that as of right now this defense will only face a few more legit running threat QBs. They will be able to trust their keys and their eyes more against traditional rushing attacks.

 

[hank4]

Exactly. This is the first time in years that i've seen our run defense perform like this. We need an answer to this soon!

watch the Eagles game the past two years.

 

[rsmith2783]

watch the Eagles game the past two years.

We were not giving up gaping runs up the middle. What I saw Sunday was different.