What went wrong last season? (1 Viewer)

...

I think lack of turnovers from our defense puts us at a major disadvantage as well as the lack of running. ... If we do get a DT which i hope we do we can cause teams to earn their points more and give the saints more opportunities to get the ball. 12 per game 6 a half. it would be nice to have 7 per half. We had at least one turnover every game thats an average of 11 possessions a game and our opponents 13.

Good thread. The stat that jumps out at me is turnovers.

Turnover ratio for games lost: -12
Turnover ratio for games won: +3

that's a big difference. And while we can certainly point out that the defense isn't a turnover-creating machine, it appears that our offense at times can be. In four games, the offense had 3 or more turnovers. NFL football teams are not going to win many games turning the ball over that many times.

Game turnover margins, with the associated win/loss record, may be a slightly easier way to look at it. When we were on the plus side, we were 3-0; when the turnovers were even we were 3-3; and when on the negative side 1-6. Here's the breakdown:

+3: 1 win,0 loss
+2: 1 win, 0 loss
+1: 1 win, 0 loss
Even: 3 wins, 3 losses
-1: 1 win, 2 losses
-2: 0 win, 3 losses
-3: none
-4: 0 win, 1 loss

To be honest, there are really no surprises in these numbers. I'd guess that they are very much in line with the league numbers as a whole.
 
Game turnover margins, with the associated win/loss record, may be a slightly easier way to look at it. When we were on the plus side, we were 3-0; when the turnovers were even we were 3-3; and when on the negative side 1-6. Here's the breakdown:

+3: 1 win,0 loss
+2: 1 win, 0 loss
+1: 1 win, 0 loss
Even: 3 wins, 3 losses
-1: 1 win, 2 losses
-2: 0 win, 3 losses
-3: none
-4: 0 win, 1 loss

To be honest, there are really no surprises in these numbers. I'd guess that they are very much in line with the league numbers as a whole.

I would say that they are very much in line with the league as well, although, like with any stat, there are exceptions. In fact, if my pea-brain remembers correctly, the 2006 version of the Saints were negative in overall turnovers for the season. I do remember Payton saying that the Saints were on borrowed time due to the turnover ratio. So, the bigger question in regards to turnovers is, did the offense commit more than others, or did the defense not create as many turnovers as others?

Saints O had 18 ints and 12 fumbles lost

18 Ints ranked 13th highest in the NFL
12 fumbles lost ranked 15th highest in the NFL

right around the middle of the road


Saints D had 13 ints and 10 fumbles recovered

13 Ints ranked 28th highest in the NFL
10 fumbles recovered ranked 18th in the NFL.

Based on the numbers, it looks as if the defense is behind the curve in creating turnovers. Not that we needed numbers to figure that one out :)
 
What's crazy; ppl don't remember htat our 1st string offense was horrible in preseason too; and ppl passed it off as being just hte "preseason". It carried over into the first 4 games of the season as well.
 
The problems running the ball was not entirely on the O-line, our RB had a lot to do with it as well, especially toward the end of the season.
I think we need to draft a center, because Goodwin is not the answer.
 
In the preseason we were absolutely horrible one game then great the next. I wonder why that was. How we could be so inconsistent. Was it physical defenses? The Pittsburgh 1st preseason game was an example as to how bad we were all season.
 
Both sides of the ball need improving and the Saints arent gonna ignore the Offense, but that first pick has to be a starter for the Defense....we need a strong push up the middle on the Dline and the Oline, the passing game works, but the run game we didnt really have a play to hang our hats on when we needed to run the ball....were gonna go BPA all day come draft weekend, but there gonna be specific, BPA (cb, dt, oline etc) I dont think BPA means to take a player at a position of strenght but he is the BPA at your selection spot, I think BPA is to take the best player available in the round your in at the position your looking to improve.
 
Turnovers were key (they usually are), but keep in mind we were the only team in the playoffs in 2006 with a negative turnover margin. Looks like we have some ball control issues.....and we were LUCKY to overcome them in 2006.
 
I would say that they are very much in line with the league as well, although, like with any stat, there are exceptions. In fact, if my pea-brain remembers correctly, the 2006 version of the Saints were negative in overall turnovers for the season. I do remember Payton saying that the Saints were on borrowed time due to the turnover ratio. ...

Good point, I had quickly forgotten that...

(edit to add):
We were minus 4 overall for 2006. Turnover margins by game, with W/L:
+3: 2-0
+2: 1-0
+1: 3-0
Even: 3-0
-1: 1-2
-2: 0-1
-3: 0-2
-4: 0-1


What's crazy; ppl don't remember htat our 1st string offense was horrible in preseason too; and ppl passed it off as being just hte "preseason". It carried over into the first 4 games of the season as well.

Other than the HoF game vs Pittsburgh and the final game vs Miami where none of the first string played, my recollection was that the first string offense looked very good last preseason. :shrug: They came out against Buffalo and moved the ball pretty well in limited time; looked great at Cincy, scoring 2 TDs and FG in little more than a quarter; and then at KC, Brees looked fantastic (I think he was something like 18 for 20) and we basically moved the ball at will the first half while the starters were in.
 
Last edited:
Other than the HoF game vs Pittsburgh and the final game vs Miami where none of the first string played, my recollection was that the first string offense looked very good last preseason. They came out against Buffalo and moved the ball pretty well in limited time; looked great at Cincy, scoring 2 TDs and FG in little more than a quarter; and then at KC, Brees looked fantastic (I think he was something like 18 for 20) and we basically moved the ball at will the first half while the starters were in.
Buffalo, Cincy, KC, and Miami #11, #9, #5, and #1 in the draft first round. Steelers #23 and we are #10.
 
It was such a combination of so many things that went wrong last season... However, I'd say it was the turnovers -there was almost a direct correlation between the number of picks Brees threw and the Saints win/loss record.

The loss of Deuce affected more than the short yardage running game, it limited how Payton could utilize his offense best -when he did go into the multiple motion/multiple formation offense the offense seemed to click better, but it wasn't a consistent thing.

I do think they need to address the offensive side of the ball -they need to look at drafting a tight end, bring in someone to challenge Goodwin at center, and I'm really not satisfied with the receiving corps, because after Colston, there is a huge drop off. I was hoping for a younger, but experienced #2 guy to go with Colston. I like Patten, but while he had some big games toward the end of the season, there were other games where he was a non-factor.

I'm sort of disappointed that Bryant Johnson doesn't even seem to be on the Saints radar at the moment.
 
+3: 1 win,0 loss
+2: 1 win, 0 loss
+1: 1 win, 0 loss
Even: 3 wins, 3 losses
-1: 1 win, 2 losses
-2: 0 win, 3 losses
-3: none
-4: 0 win, 1 loss

When you have a good defense, you can overcome a bad turnover ratio. When you have a bad defense, it isn't likely you can win in the minus column.
 
I'm sort of disappointed that Bryant Johnson doesn't even seem to be on the Saints radar at the moment.

I agree! Johnson was stuck behind two of the best WRs in the game in Arizona.....and filled in nicely when Boldin got hurt. He would not command elite money and has the potential to be a super-solid #2 behind Colston.

Hmmmmmm
 
What went wrong last season?

Our offense didn't score enough points, nor did they protect the ball...

Our defense couldn't stop anyone... nor did they cause many turnovers... gave up way too many big plays too.

Either bad playcalling or poor execution at times on offense...
 
Good thread. The stat that jumps out at me is turnovers.

Turnover ratio for games lost: -12
Turnover ratio for games won: +3

that's a big difference. And while we can certainly point out that the defense isn't a turnover-creating machine, it appears that our offense at times can be. In four games, the offense had 3 or more turnovers. NFL football teams are not going to win many games turning the ball over that many times.

I second that stat. Sure defensive turnovers would help but come on people, we need to protect the ball better. We had a high turnover ratio and that is unacceptable. Also, Payton's men didn't "earn it" at all this year. In pre-season they looked bad and it continued into the first 3 games. I was disappointed that Payton didn't make changes the way he did in 2006. Bad play was accepted instead of benched and that is unacceptable (Devery, Mare, Bullocks, etc).

The Saints always seemed a game behind in their strategy instead of a game ahead. Think about the first Tampa Bay game. Gruden knew we were going to try to bang it up the middle with the run so, he came out with Garcia slinging the bombs and it tore us a new one. We fell behind and couldn't establish the run. Add in Brees was running for his life behind out O-Line. Also, why didn't we establish a pass rush till the Seattle game and why did we quit it?
 

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