Saints Come Marchin In......

voluntarysaftey said:

This is the first time in 10 years that I would not be surprised if we got blown out.

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I don't expect a blow out..if we had the D of the pats..then you may be right...but they will fight...but it will tough to win IMO...i hate 2 losses in a row...but at least we play the jets after saints

Brady_to_Moss said:

i hate 2 losses in a row...but at least we play the jets after saints

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I hate to be "that guy," and I agree that we should beat the Jets again, but does facing the NYJ 2nd ranked defense really makes you want to go out and bet the house?

Out of their first 5 games, they've either won them or lost by 3 (to us) aside from one bad game vs TEN where Geno Smith turned the ball over four times. They've played extremely tough in 4/5 games so far this season.

After the NYJ we've got MIA, so those 2 divisional foes will still be providing us plenty of competition after the Saints game.

voluntarysaftey said:

This is the first time in 10 years that I would not be surprised if we got blown out.

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Yeah, it's been awhile since I went into a game expecting them to lose, but I don't think it's going to be the blowout that you seem to...at all.

We're at home coming off of a loss, with the Saints having to play back to back games on the road. If the offense can get in a good week of film study and practice, we've definitely got a chance at beating them.

Gronk needs to be 100% from the first snap for us to have a chance. I don't see it. This Saints team is pretty good on both sides of the ball. I'm having flashbacks of that MNF clobbering

Banjo said:

Gronk needs to be 100% from the first snap for us to have a chance. I don't see it. This Saints team is pretty good on both sides of the ball. I'm having flashbacks of that MNF clobbering

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The only difference will be Belichick holding back on the "I just can't get this team to play the way we need them to" message, as it's only 6 weeks into the season and they have improved on at least one side of the ball.

We very well may lose, but they should be able to go into the bye with a 6-3 record at worst.

Of course that won't stop us all from feeling down and pessimistic when the game is over though. It's tough for everyone when it's 2 in a row, especially if the offense doesn't show improvement or the defense takes several steps backwards.

Whenever we play Brees our team sucks. This offense has problems that not even a fully healthy gronk can fix. My expectation is a 9-7 or 10-6 year. That offense was viciously butchered in the offseason,we need more than a year to regain our swagger.

libra957 said:

Whenever we play Brees our team sucks. This offense has problems that not even a fully healthy gronk can fix. My expectation is a 9-7 or 10-6 year. That offense was viciously butchered in the offseason,we need more than a year to regain our swagger.

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It's an amazing coincidence isn't it? We've played Brees in 2002, 2005, 2009, and 2013 and I think we can all agree that the first 3 were the worst teams of the Belichick era and this years offense probably can't hang with the Saints unless we all of a sudden wake up and the D plays like a legit top 5 defense.

The Pats will win, why you ask? My wife and I are heading down early saturday morning to see the game, weekend in Boston, Bruins game monday adventure. This will be my 4th game and the previous 3 games have all been losses:

1/6/06 vs. Dolphins (the Dropkick game!)

11/12/06 vs. Jets (last game before the turf was changed after crappy conditions)

11/13/08 vs. Jets (Moss had that amazing last second catch to force overtime, only to be for not with a bad holding call putting the Jets in FG range in OT)

I am going in with full confidence that they will win so I can finally experience the feeling of leaving Gillette after a Patriots win. Like the "phrase" goes:

"4th times a charm":rocker:

PatsSox363804 said:

It's an amazing coincidence isn't it? We've played Brees in 2002, 2005, 2009, and 2013 and I think we can all agree that the first 3 were the worst teams of the Belichick era and this years offense probably can't hang with the Saints unless we all of a sudden wake up and the D plays like a legit top 5 defense.

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If we want to avoid a deja vu, we need to keep it on the ground at all cost because historically they cannot stop the run. I don't care how improve they look this year on defense, if you look at all the games they lost the past, you will notice that they could not stop the run.This year they have the same weakness,see that game against the bucs, if Freeman wasn't so garbage the Saints would have lost. If we keep it on the ground 30 plus time and we can somehow prevent the big play on defense then we can beat them :rocker:

They want us to fall behind early so that we have throw to catch up, we must do the opposite,we must keep it on the ground to stay in the game.

voluntarysaftey said:

This is the first time in 10 years that I would not be surprised if we got blown out.

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Actually this is 1st time in long time that I feel we won't get blown out. Last time we faced Brees & Co. our Defense was, well, DefenseLESS. Any Pass 10 yds and more was an adventure with our DBs. I like our chances this time around.
Now with that said, if our Offense is gettin 3 and outs, turnovers that will take its toll on our D. Don't want to help Brees out anymore than we have to. This has to be an all 3 phases game. Field position will be key as well.

Christian said:

Collins has looked like a rookie. Doesn't play much...mostly just passing situations when he does play. Hopefully he develops. Would really like them to use him as a pass rusher, but seem to be using him as a coverage LB. Maybe he plays quite a bit Sunday.

How has Vaccaro been? Know he's a rookie but loved him coming out.

Our defense looks very good early...but Saints offense is one of the very best. Brees has just been loaded with weapons for years. Really wish Kraft and BB would give Brady those kinds of weapons. I'm not taking anything away from Brees as I believe he is a great player, great QB, great leader...but he is a guy who has had the luxury of A) playing in a dome for virtually his entire career and B) having ridiculous WR's who can go deep.

Brady on the other hand, with the exception of a few years (Moss era)...has mostly had scrubs at WR...and middle of the field TE's. Would have loved to see what Brady's career stats would look like if he had Brees' tools for all these years.

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Collins will get better. It was already assumed it would take some development with him, which is why he was projected in the 2nd round.

Vaccaro has been awesome, very unrookie like. Saints coaching staff is notorious for waiting a long time before letting rookies get on the field, but he has played pretty much every snap on defense. The stat sheet doesnt really do him justice, he gives this defense great flexibility in formations and what it can do in coverage. He has been lined up pretty much everywhere, Deep half, in the box at SS, over the slot, on the outside WR, it inside LB, on the edge as a blitzer and he's been pretty effective at all spots. He can be had playing deep though I've noticed.

I have to disagree with you regarding Brees' weapons, I think him and Brady both make their guys look better. Outside of Graham and Sproles, Im not sure if any of our WR's would really be that special on any other team. Meachem already tried in San Diego and was a bust, came back to NOLA and looks like his old self. Sean Payton has a very impressive array of route combinations and concepts in the passing game. We have 2 rookies in Stills and Toon, who look promising but really seems to still be struggling picking up the nuances of the passing game similar to your guys. Cant disagree with you on the Dome though, that helps any offense.

everlong said:

BornNraisedWhoDat a quick question on the Saints run defense. They're giving up 5.4 YPC which puts them dead last in the league. I know numbers like this can be deceptive. Have they just given up some garbage time yards or perhaps one or two hugs gains that skew the average? Or have teams just not remained patient enough with the run? They're 18th in rush yards per game.

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Saints run defensive is pretty misleading, I would love to ask Rob about it. It's simply strategy from what I can tell though. Put it like this, if they really want to stop the run, they can, but Rob would rather prevent the big play and give up 4 or 5 yards, try to force a team to 3rd and long, then send the heat after the QB. He likes to use that 4-2-5 defense with 3 safeties on the field, and it is suseptable to the run. The DL has done a good job, but if you can get he second level there are yards to be made. The defense gets pretty stout in the redzone. And if the offense is rolling and putting up points, it kind of forces teams to get out of running that ball.

PlainOldEd said:

Thanks for stopping by and providing some insight from the other sideline. I agree with, or can at least understand, everything you said except for the bolded statement above. I believe Dobson had ZERO drops his last season in college, he was known as a hands guy from everything I've seen.

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Not sure, but from what I watched on Dobson when I studied him, he reminded me of Mario Manningham. Will make some of the most ridiculous catches you will ever see, but drop routine ones. He will get better though. Seems to me the biggest struggle WR's have with your system and Saints is picking up option route adjustments.

libra957 said:

If we want to avoid a deja vu, we need to keep it on the ground at all cost because historically they cannot stop the run. I don't care how improve they look this year on defense, if you look at all the games they lost the past, you will notice that they could not stop the run.This year they have the same weakness,see that game against the bucs, if Freeman wasn't so garbage the Saints would have lost. If we keep it on the ground 30 plus time and we can somehow prevent the big play on defense then we can beat them :rocker:

They want us to fall behind early so that we have throw to catch up, we must do the opposite,we must keep it on the ground to stay in the game.

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It's really not a bad strategy, especially if your defense can keep the game close. I expect Rob Ryan to be in a lot of nickel so the defense will be very run friendly. FS Malcolm Jenkins is notorious for taking bad angles so if you guys can get to the second level with Ridley and Blount, big plays could be had.

PatsSox363804 said:

It's an amazing coincidence isn't it? We've played Brees in 2002, 2005, 2009, and 2013 and I think we can all agree that the first 3 were the worst teams of the Belichick era and this years offense probably can't hang with the Saints unless we all of a sudden wake up and the D plays like a legit top 5 defense.

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2000 was the worst year of the Belichick era

mcmurtry86 said:

2000 was the worst year of the Belichick era

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Meant Belichick/Brady era.

libra957 said:

If we want to avoid a deja vu, we need to keep it on the ground at all cost because historically they cannot stop the run. I don't care how improve they look this year on defense, if you look at all the games they lost the past, you will notice that they could not stop the run.This year they have the same weakness,see that game against the bucs, if Freeman wasn't so garbage the Saints would have lost. If we keep it on the ground 30 plus time and we can somehow prevent the big play on defense then we can beat them :rocker:

They want us to fall behind early so that we have throw to catch up, we must do the opposite,we must keep it on the ground to stay in the game.

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If you remember when we played them in 09 we came out running and actually did a fairly good job, the big plays killed us. I don't think they'll be able to kill us down field with Talib, McCourty, and Dennard, at least not to that same extent.

Look at these plays:

1-10-NO 25 (10:02) (Shotgun) 9-D.Brees pass deep right to 19-D.Henderson for 75 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Pass 24, Catch 51

(2:06) 9-D.Brees pass short middle to 85-D.Thomas to NE 38 for 25 yards (31-B.Meriweather, 30-B.McGowan). Pass 5, Catch 20

(1:57) 9-D.Brees pass deep middle to 17-R.Meachem for 38 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Pass 37, Catch 1

(10:24) 9-D.Brees pass deep right to 12-M.Colston to NE 6 for 68 yards (31-B.Meriweather). Pass 22, Catch 46

(13:07) 9-D.Brees pass short left to 12-M.Colston to NE 48 for 27 yards (28-D.Butler). Pass 14, Catch 13

Also remember that game was 7-3 and we just got the ball back on the NO 46 and Brady threw a bad pick 1st play of the drive.

I have confidence we wont give up the big plays. I don't have confidence we'll commit to the running game. We'll see.

Our OL just isnt as good as it was when we played you guys in 2009. Brees has already been sacked like 14 or more times, more than anytime through 5 games since he's been here. I cant figure out if its the OL talent, or the blocking scheme (OL coach Kromer left for Chicago this season)...but I dont see him having as much time as he had in the pocket, like he did when we played you in 2009. Plus that was the Dome, in prime time, on MNF, crowd was amped..just a completely different environment.

I actually think this will be a 21-17 type of game. Both teams have head redzone offense issues. Both defenses are playing well. Both teams will probably try to run the ball to keep the other QB off the field. Could be more of slobber knocker game than people expect.

We'll see.

Im not as stressed about this game. If Saints dont win, I just hope we compete the entire game. It's an out of conference game. If you wouldve told me in August that my Saints would be 5-1 with a 4 game lead on the division, going into the bye week, I would have done back flips.

With that said, going in 6-0 sounds better

BornNraisedWhoDat said:

Our OL just isnt as good as it was when we played you guys in 2009. Brees has already been sacked like 14 or more times, more than anytime through 5 games since he's been here. I cant figure out if its the OL talent, or the blocking scheme (OL coach Kromer left for Chicago this season)...but I dont see him having as much time as he had in the pocket, like he did when we played you in 2009. Plus that was the Dome, in prime time, on MNF, crowd was amped..just a completely different environment.

I actually think this will be a 21-17 type of game. Both teams have head redzone offense issues. Both defenses are playing well. Both teams will probably try to run the ball to keep the other QB off the field. Could be more of slobber knocker game than people expect.

We'll see.

Im not as stressed about this game. If Saints dont win, I just hope we compete the entire game. It's an out of conference game. If you wouldve told me in August that my Saints would be 5-1 with a 4 game lead on the division, going into the bye week, I would have done back flips.

With that said, going in 6-0 sounds better

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We need this one more than you all, you'll have the division clinched by week 9 at this rate. Payton can afford to take a dive this week.

The Saints punched us in the mouth early and often in that 2009 game. I also distinctly remember a botched blitz leaving Henderson wide open for that TD too. Then they just clamped down on our offense and rode that momentum train to a win. I'd be shocked if it played out the same way this time, but I'm not surprised most of us are so down on the team after the whimper of a game we played @Cinci.

Why on earth is everyone afraid of NO's offense? They have been fairly healthy all season but have only scored 73 points compared to an anemic and injury-riddled patriots offense that has scored 70 points. They are talented but they can be beaten.

TommyBrady12 said:

Why on earth is everyone afraid of NO's offense? They have been fairly healthy all season but have only scored 73 points compared to an anemic patriots offense that has scored 70 points. They are talented but they can be beaten.

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Pretty much Saints fans feel the same. Our offense has gotten better but its been a slow start

. The first game, we payed the Falcons (who were at pretty much full strength at the time)...that was a low scoring game, which it usually is. 2 teams that usually play each other tight.

The next game, vs Tampa, was a tight one. Drew threw 2 picks, 1 being a pick 6. Payton ripped in to him on the sideline and he has been flawless since.

Vs. the Cardinals, that was pretty much a blow out.

Vs. the Dolphins, another blow out. Could've been a 40 burger but we missed a FG at the end, and Sproles fumbled right at the goal line also.

Bears play that patient type of defense that forced the Saints to change up and play sort of ball control, dink and dunk offense.

So it all depends how you play it. If you allow Saints players to fly up and down the field and dont get pressure on Brees, they are easily capable of putting up big points. I dont see that happening.