the VG board football thread (1 Viewer)

[BleedBlackNGold]

sky is falling!

 

[Jonesy77]

It's hard not to look at fundamental things like tackling and blocking and coverage being this bad and not be a little nervous. Nothing to do with vanilla schemes for preseason games. They just got pushed around.

 

[St. Widge]

It's hard not to look at fundamental things like tackling and blocking and coverage being this bad and not be a little nervous. Nothing to do with vanilla schemes for preseason games. They just got pushed around.

Yeah, but our defense is built on aggression and moving forward. They are going to look sloppy when playing passive. And they mostly played soft zone which is not what we do.

As far as blocking, I thought the run blocking looked much better and the pass blocking, other than some Charles Brown issues in the second half, looked much improved.

Regardless, it's preseason so you really can't conclude anything. I'm not saying people can't be concerned if they want, but the panic is uncalled for.

 

[Jonesy77]

I'm very encouraged by the run game so far. Except for some life out of the defensive line last week, that's all I'm really pumped about coming out of this preseason so far. Vanilla, low energy, whatever you want to call it, it's not fun to watch at all.

 

[Hercule]

The Texans cut-blocking had me worried the whole game. Just glad we aren't in their division. We looked low-energy and sloppy, but this is the time to do it. We definitely didn't play our kind of game tonight.

 

[The Mongoose]

There's a hard to identify vibe about the offense that feels a lot like 2010 as opposed to 09.

I know it's preseason, yadda yadda yadda. No time to panic or anything. But the timing seems off.

Even in 2010, our offense put up numbers. But they weren't the cold ruthless killers they were in 09. It always felt forced. These two preseason games have felt the same way.

I hope they sort it out. A strong running game will make them look tons better than last year. Truth is though, I wish they already looked sharp as a blade, like the Patriots currently do. Still time to get there.

It's just that 2010 was disturbing. They never hit that rhythm. And this looks the same.

 

[antipop]

panic!!!!

 

[St. Widge]

There's a hard to identify vibe about the offense that feels a lot like 2010 as opposed to 09.

I know it's preseason, yadda yadda yadda. No time to panic or anything. But the timing seems off.

Even in 2010, our offense put up numbers. But they weren't the cold ruthless killers they were in 09. It always felt forced. These two preseason games have felt the same way.

I hope they sort it out. A strong running game will make them look tons better than last year. Truth is though, I wish they already looked sharp as a blade, like the Patriots currently do. Still time to get there.

It's just that 2010 was disturbing. They never hit that rhythm. And this looks the same.

I actually think the first team offense had that rhythm tonight or at least was close to it. If not for Brees inexplicably holding the ball out to be knocked away, it would have been 14-14 in the ones vs. ones. Obviously you can't take that away, but what I saw was holes for the running backs to run through and a deep passing game. Both were missing last year and tonight it looked like they were starting to build to that critical mass they had in 09. Will they ever be that good again? Maybe, but they won't be the same team that could go deep 5 times a game. Teams just won't let us do that anymore. So, Payton has brought in Ingram to give us the power running game that will force the safeties up so we can get the ball deep again. We aren't there yet, but I saw signs of it starting tonight.

As far as the defense, the truth is that outside of Malcom Jenkins, Greer, Porter, Vilma and maybe Robinson, we aren't that talented. ( Who knows about Franklin and Rogers in this system). So, when we don't scheme and we don't blitz, they are going to look like crap. Yes, the bad tackling and lack of effort on D is a concern, but that seems to happen over and over again in preseason.

 

[St. Widge]

panic!!!!

People were so panicked tonight that some dude actually complained that Payton wasn't throwing the ball enough.


Throw the ball Payton!!1!!111!11!!!!

 

[antipop]

thr0win 2 n00bs

 

[saintsbank]

people.

 

[The Mongoose]

I actually think the first team offense had that rhythm tonight or at least was close to it. If not for Brees inexplicably holding the ball out to be knocked away, it would have been 14-14 in the ones vs. ones. Obviously you can't take that away, but what I saw was holes for the running backs to run through and a deep passing game. Both were missing last year and tonight it looked like they were starting to build to that critical mass they had in 09. Will they ever be that good again? Maybe, but they won't be the same team that could go deep 5 times a game. Teams just won't let us do that anymore. So, Payton has brought in Ingram to give us the power running game that will force the safeties up so we can get the ball deep again. We aren't there yet, but I saw signs of it starting tonight.

As far as the defense, the truth is that outside of Malcom Jenkins, Greer, Porter, Vilma and maybe Robinson, we aren't that talented. ( Who knows about Franklin and Rogers in this system). So, when we don't scheme and we don't blitz, they are going to look like crap. Yes, the bad tackling and lack of effort on D is a concern, but that seems to happen over and over again in preseason.

I see it differently. Our offense in 2010 was still pimp, it was just staccato. They'd kick butt, then falter over some ridiculous stuff (like Brees trying to force something underhanded, or an ill-timed screen call that would get snuffed). It was a consistency thing.

We are always going to be capable. What set 2009 apart to me was that we easily found riddum and were slicing up fools at the push of a button. Maybe I'm remembering 2009 too fondly.

I suspect that our defense will be the backbone of our team this year. I think it will be solid all year - stingy against the run and a turnover creating machine. I think it will prop up our offense more than the reverse.

As an aside, we need to find a way to beat the blitz that doesn't involve screens.

Tonight's performance had more to do with the impending west coast road trip than anything else, imo. These dudes are right in the middle of the tunnel physically right now and can't see light on either side. They had to pack their bags and get their affairs in order for a week long trip, and this meaningless game was right in front of it. They weren't into it, imo.

 

[Jonesy77]

I don't understand. WHy are people being taken to task for talking about the very lazy play of the team so far? What the heck ARE people supposed to talk about now? Just because it's preseason, we can only talk about things that look good? Good lord, if we're allowed to discuss preseason games, then it is necessary to criticize some very bad play. But if we do so "omg!1!!! panic!"

Nobody's panicing. We know it's preseason. And ultimately, even regular season games don't "matter". I'm not better able to feed my family when the Saints make the playoffs. It's all entertainment. And even a team that goes 8-8 is better than 50% of the seasons this franchis has ever had. But if a game's on TV with my favorite team playing, I'm going to watch it and I'm going to complain about the SAME TERRIBLE TACKLING THAT LOST US THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR TO A ****ty NFC west team.

Why even watch the preseason games if you're entirely unable or unwilling to objectively assess what you're seeing?

 

[St. Widge]

As an aside, we need to find a way to beat the blitz that doesn't involve screens.

There is no doubt about that. But, I have to wonder if they didn't run so many of those last night just to set up the Texans for the preseason. It's more or less what we did with Bush and it has been a staple of the offense. You have to wonder if Payton did that specifically to show it to the Texans on film.

That being said, I'm sure Payton has a plan, but he was not going to show it to them last night.

 

[St. Widge]

I don't understand. WHy are people being taken to task for talking about the very lazy play of the team so far? What the heck ARE people supposed to talk about now? Just because it's preseason, we can only talk about things that look good? Good lord, if we're allowed to discuss preseason games, then it is necessary to criticize some very bad play. But if we do so "omg!1!!! panic!"

Nobody's panicing. We know it's preseason. And ultimately, even regular season games don't "matter". I'm not better able to feed my family when the Saints make the playoffs. It's all entertainment. And even a team that goes 8-8 is better than 50% of the seasons this franchis has ever had. But if a game's on TV with my favorite team playing, I'm going to watch it and I'm going to complain about the SAME TERRIBLE TACKLING THAT LOST US THE PLAYOFFS LAST YEAR TO A ****ty NFC west team.

Why even watch the preseason games if you're entirely unable or unwilling to objectively assess what you're seeing?

Because I'm not sure people are being objective. Beyond that, it really is just impossible for fans to assess anything beyond individual athletic performance in preseason. You can say, "hey, Ingram looks quick through the hole" or "hey, Wilson looks like a monster, but he's always late getting to the ball", etc. But, even when it comes to things like effort and tackling, you can't tell anything. Lots of vets don't care and don't give effort in preseason. Would it be better if they did? Sure, but it's not reality.

But, on a more general point, people do this every preseason and sometimes you have a good season and sometimes you don't. The lesson is that preseason means nothing. That and when people complain about preseason and resort to ALL CAPS, they look like a whiney *****.