The Graham Grudge Game (1 Viewer)

[DoMePaTrolleR]

He's on pace for yet another 1000+ yard season and people are still parrot that all you have to do is hit him and he turns to mush. Good luck with that.

Lol anybody that has played football knows it's a lot easier to just say get physical with him and knock him on his but accords he middle. The guy is 6'7 265 lbs running a 4.5. Hard enough to just keep up with him much less get physical with him. IMO Graham not playing well when teams got physical with him was a bunch of bs anyway. It's not that Seattle got physical with him when they shut him down. No it's called one of the best defenses we have seen in the past decade. I guess he was suppose to be super man every single game though and when he wasn't it's because he wasn't physical.

 

[Whodatcolston]

I'm not saying he isn't a matchup nightmare. I'm just saying the blue print is out there for now to slow him down

 

[oldJC.SAINTS]

I dont care about Graham apart from the fact I have him on one of my fantasy team. With or without him we have had a pretty good offense. He started cold in Seattle, got injured, and seem to be back to his old-self. Good for him. Now, Wilson can't yet run around like he has been doing over the year and his o-line is a mess... hopefully we can put a little pressure on him and contain him.

What I am really more interested in, is seeing Brees and Payton finding a way to light up the LOH (legion of holding)... that would make my day. Wishful thinking ?

 

[Eman5805]

I don't think we have to worry too much about that the way we have been playing lately. Lol....

I didn't phrase that clearly.

But what I mean is we shouldn't have to try to be physical, being physical should be the way a defense plays by default.

 

[LetsGetWaffles]

We finally get to see Graham play again, albeit for the enemy. Some team members on our defense have never played against a stud TE like Graham before. Even when he was here (in training camp/practise) Graham had his ways with our defense. He will play with a chip on his shoulder and punish us. He will win 1-on-1 against our LB's and CB's. I forecast 7 rec's for 88 yards and 2 TD's. This will be a bad match up for our defense

yes our players have. his name is greg olsen.

 

[LombardiGras]

Graham is an emotional player, he's going to take this game personally. And Russell Wilson is going to be playing with a chip on the shoulder after a horrible outing. It's a dangerous combo the Saints will have to gameplan for.

 

[Eman5805]

Graham is an emotional player, he's going to take this game personally. And Russell Wilson is going to be playing with a chip on the shoulder after a horrible outing. It's a dangerous combo the Saints will have to gameplan for.

Heard all about how dangerous the Panthers would be after their loss too.

Whether we win or lose, that is entirely in our team's hands.

The Seahawks won't be the only team with stakes in this game. By the same token, why shouldn't Payton want to crush the Seahawks after all the playoff losses? Or put Graham in his place?

 

[Da Living Saint]

He's on pace for yet another 1000+ yard season and people still parrot that all you have to do is hit him and he turns to mush. Good luck with that.

how many times does it need to be shown that the way to beat Graham is to be ultra physical with him before you believe it?

 

[GeauxSainz]

Snot Bubbles. They are the key......

 

[hookedsaint]

Guess we'll see how truly valuable Vacarro is this Sunday.....hope he brings the wood....will be a good measuring stick for both the believers and non-believers in him

 

[BoNcHiE]

how many times does it need to be shown that the way to beat Graham is to be ultra physical with him before you believe it?

What does "ultra" physical mean? And if that's all it takes, why don't all teams shut him down?

The fact is, most of this narrative is built around two games in 2013 against two top defenses, one defense probably being the best in a decade+.

Yes, if you put an big, elite CB on Graham and the refs let that CB play very borderline, if not over the line, then yes he can be stopped to some degree. That's not special to Graham. That can happen to any pass catcher in the league if the conditions work out right.

Just hitting Graham does not stop him. He takes hard hits every game, including last night where he held onto a crucial late-game pass while a defender tried to blow him up.

 

[oldJC.SAINTS]

how many times does it need to be shown that the way to beat Graham is to be ultra physical with him before you believe it?

at least once more...please. Dont need to be a very long video just a quick clip with 6 or 7 plays.

I agree with Bonchie it's a legend in the sense that if playing physical with him was that EASY it would have been done each and every game.

 

[Great Dane]

Graham is an emotional player, he's going to take this game personally. And Russell Wilson is going to be playing with a chip on the shoulder after a horrible outing. It's a dangerous combo the Saints will have to gameplan for.

Very good point. I am not afraid of the game plan - more afraid of the execution. Graham at his best > Greg Olsen

But this should also be a Saints grudge game after having lost the last three games away. Time for a revenge win

 

[Brees2Graham4Six!]

The Graham gets locked down by physical play narrative is so false.., Graham gets locked down by elite physical defenders on occasion (not frequently enough to prevent his monster seasons). I feel like people here don't really know what a true number 1 receiver is in the league. They are guys you either gameplan your D for or they make you pay. The saints stopped Julio when we played the Falcons this year does that make him soft or not a true number 1?

The games that Graham played poorly he was locked down by elite DBs or played physically by elite coverage TEs with safety help. Without specific gameplans or elite cover guys he torched teams for his visible production, but drawing the number 1 corner or double teams should be just as valuable. His softness wasn't the problem. The problem was that we had no one else who could take advantage of their favorable matchups. Can you imagine now if we had a TE that got #1 corner attention? Cooks would be on their 2 guy, Snead on their nickel and Thomas on their 4th corner... No team has enough depth for that.

Graham was "figured out" once the receiver talent around him started dropping. It's not that he was any less good but teams would focus him and no one else could take advantage.

 

[bclemms]

My prediction:

Graham draws more pass interference penalties in this one game than he got the entire time he was with us.

After watching Denver, Arizona and Seattle play defense the last couple nights I've come to the conclusion that when they play defense the refs consider them good physical defenses. When the Saints do the same thing it's holding and pass interference.