The importance of Reggie lined up as a RB (1 Viewer)

[syracuse saint]

I may be wrong about this, but it appeared as though Reggie lined up as a RB way less times against the Falcons than he did in prior games (not counting where they put him in motion).

When i played the game back, I noticed that the Falcons brought pressure up the middle whenever Reggie was out of the backfield. This is the first time this year that a team has been able to to get pressure up the middle on Brees.

I have said all along that having Reggie in the backfield is the reason that Brees has enjoyed the pockets that he has gotten. Reggie's presence in the backfield means that the LB's and safeties have to cut off the corners and perimeters to defend against Bush's running style and the threat of screen plays to Bush. Without him in the backfield, there is little reason to guard the perimeters, because Deuce seldom bounces outside.

I love Deuce and think that there are benefits to having him out there on almost every down, however, last weeks game against the Falcons proved my theory about how defenses are forced to defend us when Bush is in the backfield vs. when he is on the sideline or split wide. Maybe this is something Payton has known all along.

I predict we will see plenty of #25 lined up in the backfield against S.F.

 

[meily]

We were thin at reciever that's why he lined up more at reciever, that's why we saw a lot more of karney and because of that duece ran well, we should do more damage with a fullback than 2 tightend.......actually we do the same, but the running game is better with karney in there, Reggie almost had a long one if it weren't for Jones not knowing how to clock downfield.

 

[DownWithDisease]

As long as Reggie is on the field... That's all that matters.

I was happy to see them have Reggie go deep finally. And I'll tell you what... I was at the game, and saw the play live. Reggie had that DB beat by 4 steps! It was one of the few bad throws by Brees all day, and had he got it to him... Reggie goes untouched for 6.

 

[Broad St. Saint]

As long as Reggie is on the field... That's all that matters.

I was happy to see them have Reggie go deep finally. And I'll tell you what... I was at the game, and saw the play live. Reggie had that DB beat by 4 steps! It was one of the few bad throws by Brees all day, and had he got it to him... Reggie goes untouched for 6.

I would love to see that play later in the season with a healthy Horn and Colston on the other side of the field. In a 4 DB set, that pretty much sets up Bush one-on-one with a safety who cannot risk coming up to bump him and missing. That's a lot of open turf.

 

[BoNcHiE]

We were thin at reciever that's why he lined up more at reciever, that's why we saw a lot more of karney and because of that duece ran well, we should do more damage with a fullback than 2 tightend.......actually we do the same, but the running game is better with karney in there, Reggie almost had a long one if it weren't for Jones not knowing how to clock downfield.

Deuce struggled this week. I'd be interested to see if it was because Karney wasn't back there or if he just had a bad game. I know Karney was out running routes alot.

 

[Buickman]

One other reason we didn't see much of Reggie is because atlanta killed us in ToP. One of the drawbacks to having a quick-strike offense, I guess.

 

[geauxboy]

Maybe they did it cause of the thin WR corp. Maybe they did it cause they saw a weakness or a strength in the ATL D. Maybe they did it cause they have to start playing their real gameplan and that's the way the gameplan goes.

We have seen a few plays a game that we've never seen yet this year. As the playoffs get closer, your gameplan has to be perfected and all the players must be able to execute them perfectly. I believe that we are starting to see the gameplan that Payton really has installed and they are testing them out to see their worth. If anything needs to be tweaked, now's the time to do it, not in the 3rd Quarter of a playoff game in which we are behind by double digits.

They have kept Reg sort of quite the past few weeks and I wonder if it's a ploy to get the attention off him just long enough to surprise everyone when he is needed the most. That passing play over his head was a sign to me that they are feeling out the real gameplan.

Looks exciting to me.

 

[Burtifus]

I think we definitely saw a lot more blitzes w/o Bush lining up in the backfield much.

 

[Domeination]

Deuce struggled this week.

I guess I'll take Payton's assessment of Deuce's performance over yours:

Q: You guys got more out of the running game than in the past several weeks. Was it anything that the offensive line or Deuce McAllister did differently?

A: "We tried to make an emphasis this week early on of the importance of trying to establish that part of it. We wanted to go in early and try to establish the run and set up some of the play action later on. Each week takes on a new challenge. We talked about running the ball more early in the game. I thought in that second series we had some big runs, first by Deuce on a little toss that he cut back and obviously there was a third down run by Reggie (Bush) that put us into striking distance. You look for that balance as a play caller. I was encouraged in the second possession, when we got down the field in tight, that we were able to run it in with the goal line package. As the game went on we saw some pretty good run fronts defensively which made it more challenging and maybe put us in a little bit more of a passing mode. Just having the ability to be flexible either way and have some type of rhythm is a challenge each week."

http://www.neworleanssaints.com/newsroomarticle.cfm?articleid=3113

Deuce ran well and scored twice. He didn't have as much room to run in the second half because of the defensive adjustments Atlanta made, but he made the most of his opportunities and came up big on several occasions.

 

[Danchrism]

he made the most of his opportunities and came up big on several occasions.

And really, what more can you ask of a guy? This is why Deuce is so valuable to us. He's gonna get all he can out of each and every run. If that means averaging 2, 3.5, or 8.2 yards per carry, then so be it... but you can't just deny him the opportunity to get it. Just like we say with Bush, the only way these guys will get the yards is if they get the touches. Deuce is far more consistent in this regard.