Analysis Week 13 Post-game AMA: Back to the drawing board (12 Viewers)

[TCUDan]

Tough loss vs. the Rams. Where did things go wrong? Who should shoulder the blame? What does Taysom's injury mean for the rest of the season?

Did Rizzi just blow his HC audition?

Send me your questions and I'll try to answer... or at least whisper some sweet football nothings back into your ear.

 

[GeauxSainz]

Overall, what did you think of the play-calling in this one Offense and Defense wise?

 

[Optimus Prime]

After such a great game against Cleveland and the Rams difficulties stopping the run why wasn’t Taysom used more early on?

(Hope his injury isn’t as bad as it looked)

 

[fishing4food]

Dan, in next year's draft, what position is a need in the first round? Also, are you satisfied with the play of our TE's or is an upgrade needed in that area?

 

[SweetT]

Wasted opportunities. If your defense is setting the tone, you must get some points on the board. More than just FGs. The Rams may be having an average season, but there HC can hang with the best of them, if you give him opportunities to win the game. Do you agree?

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

Does our Defense look as old (and or slow) to you as it does to me?

 

[TCUDan]

Overall, what did you think of the play-calling in this one Offense and Defense wise?

Early play-calling was solid--especially those first 2 drives. On offense there was a good mix of formations on the first drive and they came away with the points. Second drive--I was saying last week that Kubiak had been getting away from using Taysom in those more traditional fullback/lead blocking roles (which I supported), but he went back to it, using him as a lead on toss and on ISO. The logic being that it was something they'd be getting away from, and when Taysom was in on base downs, the defense wouldn't be alerting for it. I also loved the PA quick toss/wheel to Taysom to get them down into the red zone.

Stalling out after that was really frustrating. Not just the missed field goal, but the first-down play after the big play by Taysom where Fuaga just does an absolute boneheaded move. It's play action, not even an RPO, and he just drifts downfield, then tries to hurry back when he realizes it. That's the pinnacle of a rookie mistake and I hope he gets his butt chewed for doing that and negating a touchdown for nothing.

At least when it's something like a holding call, you can argue if he didn't do it the QB would've been sacked. But this was just pointless. If the Saints score a TD there, we are looking at an absolute different game.

Defensively--not a lot to say. It was a tale of two halves and I think a lot of that had to do with time of possession. The Saints are still pretty soft up the middle and the leaky runs take their toll and just pile on as the game wears on. But this was an unproductive offensive day, ultimately, and while I understand the sentiment--you can't play "possess the ball but don't really score TDs" vs. the Rams. The WR corps definitely got exposed a bit, and I loved the last drive of the game for the most part--the way the clock was being managed and the mix of plays and the decision-making by Carr.

Just down in the red zone, the WR corps got a little exposed--and holy &$%&, full-sliding away from Verse and leaving him isolated on Foster Moreau (or any TE on that play) was not a great protection decision. Moreau held up as best he could and Carr had time--if the WR corps wasn't locked down. But that was a missed protection in my mind that kept Carr from having the windows to slide and step and buy a little time for someone to break open.

 

[Rouxble]

How did you feel about the performance of our young tackles in this game? It seems like Jared Verse had his way with Penning this week, putting him on his back at least once. Fuaga had a few misses as well as a crucial penalty.

 

[SWJJ]

Do you feel like we abandoned the run in the second half?

Do you think 20 snaps for Taysom at Wide Receiver is a misuse of his skillset?

Do you think Kamara's dropped passes are on AK41 or were they Carr's fault for bad placement?

 

[St.Dan]

Early play-calling was solid--especially those first 2 drives. On offense there was a good mix of formations on the first drive and they came away with the points. Second drive--I was saying last week that Kubiak had been getting away from using Taysom in those more traditional fullback/lead blocking roles (which I supported), but he went back to it, using him as a lead on toss and on ISO. The logic being that it was something they'd be getting away from, and when Taysom was in on base downs, the defense wouldn't be alerting for it. I also loved the PA quick toss/wheel to Taysom to get them down into the red zone.

Stalling out after that was really frustrating. Not just the missed field goal, but the first-down play after the big play by Taysom where Fuaga just does an absolute boneheaded move. It's play action, not even an RPO, and he just drifts downfield, then tries to hurry back when he realizes it. That's the pinnacle of a rookie mistake and I hope he gets his butt chewed for doing that and negating a touchdown for nothing.

At least when it's something like a holding call, you can argue if he didn't do it the QB would've been sacked. But this was just pointless. If the Saints score a TD there, we are looking at an absolute different game.

Defensively--not a lot to say. It was a tale of two halves and I think a lot of that had to do with time of possession. The Saints are still pretty soft up the middle and the leaky runs take their toll and just pile on as the game wears on. But this was an unproductive offensive day, ultimately, and while I understand the sentiment--you can't play "possess the ball but don't really score TDs" vs. the Rams. The WR corps definitely got exposed a bit, and I loved the last drive of the game for the most part--the way the clock was being managed and the mix of plays and the decision-making by Carr.

Just down in the red zone, the WR corps got a little exposed--and holy &$%&, full-sliding away from Verse and leaving him isolated on Foster Moreau (or any TE on that play) was not a great protection decision. Moreau held up as best he could and Carr had time--if the WR corps wasn't locked down. But that was a missed protection in my mind that kept Carr from having the windows to slide and step and buy a little time for someone to break open.

What I bolded is my take as well, and it's quite accurate. Fuaga is obviously a budding stud on the o-line, but rookies will always be rookies at some point.

At the end of the day, coach, I think Stafford being in the top tier of QBs in the current NFL and Carr being solidly in the super-large second tier was the difference in the game, with our patchwork o-line once again being a very close second. The play-calling and scheming would've had to remain borderline-perfect the whole game to overcome the talent gap. All that said, I see the Rams continuing to struggle to make it to .500. I have Buffalo beating them next week.

 

[Day1]

How about the Saints D-line inability to shed blocks? It appears the whole bunch, maybe except Granderson, really enjoys ballroom dancing.

 

[LordBane]

I don't think Fuaga "drifted" downfield. I think he tried to throw a block and whiffed...

 

[TCUDan]

After such a great game against Cleveland and the Rams difficulties stopping the run why wasn’t Taysom used more early on?

(Hope his injury isn’t as bad as it looked)

Good question. I'll give you my best take.

The Saints first 2 drives were basically all scripted. It's very common to script your first 15 plays (I usually do 10 b/c I am bad about sticking to the script). The reason for this is you can come out and frontload some different formations and personnel looks and get an idea of the defense's gameplan. If you noticed, on the fist drive the Saints flexed Taysom out, had him at QB on a read option play, put him as the #3 on bunch--having him in more of a receiver role + the QB play.

On the second drive, they went to the traditional fullback stuff (I think 3 plays in a row, leading him on ISO, then toss, then back to ISO). They also flexed him out on a 3rd down or two and had him run the wheel from F (a wing alignment) on that play-action toss.

The plays are really secondary to the point of the script. What you're doing is getting a look at 1) how does the defense respond personnel-wise when Taysom is in the huddle, 2) how do they align and structure depending on which position he's at (TE, WR, F, FB, QB). Based on early returns, the sentiment was probably that there would be more opportunities for not just Taysom, but the other weapons, by utilizing him more in the passing game. They tested the run with him a couple times and the Rams were definitely fitting aggressively. Not saying that was a reason to get away from it early, but the thinking was probably along the lines of efficiency and opportunities.

As a play-caller, you always look first for what the defense gives you before forcing an issue--even if that issue is a strength of your offense. So if the defense is trying to take away Taysom in run game, but they're giving you something else, you take that something else and save that particular strength for situationals.

Logically speaking. Again, I'm not outright endorsing b/c I wasn't in the booth or on the sideline and am not privy to those conversations.

 

[TCUDan]

Dan, in next year's draft, what position is a need in the first round? Also, are you satisfied with the play of our TE's or is an upgrade needed in that area?

I have some mixed feelings on the TE position, and I guess where I land is yes, TE should be a priority for the simple fact that the Saints don't have a playmaker in that bigger, possession body type on the roster (at WR or TE). I actually really like JJ and Moreau but they're both still kind of situational role players. I'm also pretty in love with Tyler Warren (not just as a TE, but as someone who can kind of take on that "football player" role--a poor man's Taysom Hill, in that regard), so I'd love if they got a chance at him.

If we're speaking positionally--they have some big needs in the front 7. An athletic edge rusher, a run-stopping DT and maybe a young LB are all on the list. If I had to classify it by rounds/draft position, I'd place priority on the edge player, while trying to get a more rotational interior player in the early-mid rounds and a LB somewhere in the 2nd through 5th--but making sure it's a guy who has all the starter qualities (another Pete Werner type).

If they choose to go offense--an interior OL in the mid rounds. The right TE in the 1st or early 2nd round. And if you had a shot at a WR with a true possession body type, I'd pull trigger.

Oh and the wildcard of it all: if a stud QB falls in the draft--even to a spot where you could trade up a few picks for him--I think you pull the trigger there.

So, as you can see--the Saints have a number of directions they could go, which is indicative of a aging team with some depth issues on both sides of the ball and some glaring deficiencies (like rushing the passer and stopping the inside run). And with the way the league is trending, along with the current makeup of the team--particularly the positions like DB, where they are pretty young--I think drafting front 7 on defense has to be a priority over drafting players for the back end.

In short, the Saints are gonna need to work free agency pretty well (and probably make some tough roster decisions leading up to that) to position themselves to draft effectively.

 

[TCUDan]

Wasted opportunities. If your defense is setting the tone, you must get some points on the board. More than just FGs. The Rams may be having an average season, but there HC can hang with the best of them, if you give him opportunities to win the game. Do you agree?

Yep. No disagreements there. The Saints had some opportunities early to set the course of the game. The defense forced a 3-and-out on its first drive, and the Saints responded with really healthy drive of their own.

The Fuaga penalty was an absolute killer. It helped stalemate the half and allow the Rams to claw their way back and reclaim the momentum. But while it was another close game lost on the back of missed opportunities, I will say that the feel and the outcome of it was still different than those close losses under DA.

I wouldn't lay it all at Rizzi's feet. I thought the game was managed well in terms of the flow and the tempo. The decision to go in that direction wasn't necessarily a bad one, just the players didn't do enough make it right (Fuaga, in particular).

If that 2nd drive finishes in a TD (rather than missed FG), the Saints might win this game by two scores.