What happened last year? (1 Viewer)

chrisandersen

The new section 152
Joined
Nov 12, 2006
Messages
2,839
Reaction score
1,076
Location
Northshore
Offline
Amongst the superbowl hype, the funeral, those first four games. What happened? It seems like we fell behind early and the offense was terrible. Drew looked scared, Deuce was healthy. What was wrong with the offense then. Or, was the defense that bad and exposed then?
 
We were a marked team and we beleived our own hype!! It took those defeats to bring us back down to earth!
 
Defense was that bad. No chemistry. O-Line seemed out of sync. Couldn't hold a block for anything. I think most teams caught on to our offense and adjusted accordingly. I mean people know we can't run Reggie 20+ times. We patched up MLB so that right there will boost our D up.
 
brees was probably scared cause wasn't getting great protection and having to throw in a hurry a lot.
not so sure deuce was really healthy..

i think brees eye had a prob, since the colts game where freeney got his finger in it and messed up his contact...
 
I doubt anyone was scared.

It's hard to give you a good answer Chris,

I'll just say that early the team was reading the newspaper too much. Too many articles about how good they were. They believed that stuff. If everyone says you're great, and you actually believe it, you're about to get you head knocked off.

By the time they woke up, we were 0-4, and basically dead meat.

The D killed us late, but I'm not sure how mental that was.

Ah, well,


ddd
 
IMO, it is because the team grew complacent. They thought that they had an established team, and they would be able to keep the same success they had in 2006. I also believe that the lack of a consistent run game hindered the saints development. They became too much of a pass-oriented team.
 
But, the offense fought through the lost of Deuce phase and played good enough to win the rest of our games. It was the defense that couldn't close the deal on third and longs. Still hoping for the first three or four picks defensive beasts that can rush or cover.
 
I always have said that the Bears exposed us. Since Offense and Defense practice together and we never upgraded our team we suffered. We made plays and thought they would work b/c our soft Oline and Dline seemed like they would. When we plays The steelers in preseaon and then the colts we looked out of our league.

In summary maybe Faine was too soft and stinchcomb has problems on edge rushers. Our defense doesnt gang tackle we just dive at legs or wait til people pass us and try to drag the down. We dont have a nasty defense. Until then we will never get to the next level.
 
Where to begin? Well last preseason Payton was happy with the roster that had just taken him to the NFC Championship game. He and Loomis pretty much stood pat in FA (they did make a couple of "depth" acquisitions in Simmons and Kaesviharn) the "big" signing was Eric Johnson (who was disappointing to say the least). Then there was their approach to the draft....they made a luxury pick in the first round and used the rest for depth. So no real attempt was made to upgrade a poor Defense.

The real killer was the 0 for 4 start. Against the Colts the Saints were just outmatched. The Saints thought they could just show and beat the Bucs....well Garcia showed them underestimating any NFL is a mistake. Then they were embarrassed by the Titans. The really foreshadowing loss....the Panthers. The Panthers did everything they could to hand the Saints the game and the Saints snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. There was no recovering from getting blown out in 3 of first 4 games.

Two areas really killed the Saints poor OL play over the first half of the season which resulted in pressure on Brees and no running game. Then ZERO pass rush which resulted in Jason David and Josh Bullocks being exposed. If QBs hadn't had all day to throw then our CBs wouldn't have looked so bad. Besides Fujita and MM the Defense was very below average. Don't get me started on how bad this team is at disguising blitzes.
 
No pressure on the QB.
O-line poor in pass protection, especially early in the year
Key chokes in the worst situations (Mare's missed FG's, the infamous reverse, etc.)
 
Our team drank the koolaid. They were busy talking about not eating the cheese, but they did. They believed the hype. By the time they recovered and got on with business, they had lost 4 straight. That said, Deuce wasn't running well before we lost him. Reggie was not used to his strong suit. Our OL was good in pass protection but poor in the running game. Our DL lacked the ability to provide pressure and our secondary was exposed. While the mental side was a problem early on, we had some real issues that needed dealing with.
 
In 2006 we really were not that good of a team. So many teams were in transition in the NFL. What was the big eye opener was the AFC opponents that year. Ravens, Steeler, and Bengals. They really did a number on us. I can't believe to this day that this FO after those games said yeah this team is solid. What resulted was 2007. At least now we are fixing our problems.
 
I always have said that the Bears exposed us. Since Offense and Defense practice together and we never upgraded our team we suffered. We made plays and thought they would work b/c our soft Oline and Dline seemed like they would. When we plays The steelers in preseaon and then the colts we looked out of our league.

In summary maybe Faine was too soft and stinchcomb has problems on edge rushers. Our defense doesnt gang tackle we just dive at legs or wait til people pass us and try to drag the down. We dont have a nasty defense. Until then we will never get to the next level.

We need a defense like this so in training camp we can our offense perform at an even higher level. Here is proof that our O-line has issues as well as our defense. Remember minus fred thomas this is the same defense as last year. Refusal to upgrade = this. Kinda looks like 2007.

At least now we are upgrading. If you haven't by now jump on the bandwagon. I would love a DT but CB/LB and OT are huge needs as well. Too bad we didnt fill some last year.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zT2s2qjnkGo&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zT2s2qjnkGo&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
 
Last edited:

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Users who are viewing this thread

    Back
    Top Bottom