Saints Come Marchin In......

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 and injury-riddled patriots offense that has scored 70 points. They are talented but they can be beaten.

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ThatllMoveTheChains!!! said:

Me thinks you've confused points allowed with points scored. Points scored are 134 to 95 (not accounting for points scored by the defense). So they've allowed 3 more points, but have scored 39 more points. Plenty of reason to be concerned, but luckily a good defense goes farther against a team like this than a good offense IMO.

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Pats-Phan said:

My basic defensive strategy for this game would be:

- McCourty as single high safety
- Talib follows Colston every play
- Arrington follows Sproles every play. NEVER leave a lb on Sproles in man coverage. DE's chip Sproles every chance they get.
- jam Graham every play. Double Graham frequently with a lb and safety.
- very little spikes. Base D is 4 DL with Mayo and Hightower. On obvious passing down bring Collins in for a DL.

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Since Colston entered the league in 2006, he's tied with Terrell Owens for fourth in the NFL in TD receptions (52). Larry Fitzgerald (58), Randy Moss (56) and Antonio Gates (53) are the only players ahead of Colston since he entered the league as a seventh-round draft pick.

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DaBronxPats14 said:

It was reported yesterday by Albert Breer several times and on NFLN when asked about his status.. It was also shown on ESPN about him bein cleared and actually they said he was cleared couple of games ago it was up to Gronk to see if he was game ready himself.
When reading Herald article they say a Source, well who is their source?

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supafly said:

I share your enthusiasm, but again--nothing has really changed aside from the fact that there are more media reports than last week stating that he'll play. That said, those media reports have existed on some level for 3 or 4 weeks now, so I'll believe it when I see it. Obviously I hope you're right.

For what it's worth--Gronk stated today that "nothing has changed" regarding his availability or status for this week.

This whole thing has been an absolute nightmare, and every single thing that Dr.Gill does should be questioned from here on out. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he is never the same, and I don't mean that to sound whiny or pessimistic. It is a real concern. We can only hope that everything is behind him, and that the bone in the forearm is not compromised so much that it becomes injured again. The whole procedure was botched tremendously. No wonder Gronk and his family want Dr.Andrews to sign off on his return. They probably feel that Dr.Gill is the biggest quack doctor on the planet.

This is the latest report from a couple of minutes ago:

It Is What It Is » Source: ?Serious concern? over Tom Gill surgery on Rob Gronkowski

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pherein said:

Its a decent strategy. I always wonder though what some DC are thinking when they just cover the 1-2 guys on the NO offense that made big plays in the last game or 2, but they continue to do it, and it opens the field up to our other players to make big plays.

Graham,sproles might be the flavor of the month, but Colston is a better WR, and only in his 7th season. Hes not and old man, lol, and is just as good as he has been in the past.

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To deal with a good DL SP will make use of a spread offence. So, assuming Graham,Moore, sproles, Colston, and Meachem. Who do you think is covering who in that scenario ?

I'd go Talib on Colston, Dennard and Logan Ryan on Moore and Meachem, Arrington on Sproles and double graham with a lb and safety. Then you'd have 4 DL to rush. Of course we'd add in some zone coverages and blitzes. The only guy I don't have confidence in is Logan Ryan. Haven't seen enough of him to form an opinion yet.

Frankly I'm more concerned about our O vs your D. The Jets and Bengals have shut us down. I don't really know what we can do to improve except drop less passes and have improved chemistry between Brady and the WRs. Although Gronk coming back would certainly help.

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SeymourTrophies said:

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.

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Pats-Phan said:

Talib has been playing extremely well this season so there's a chance he slows / shuts Colston down. We have nobody who has a chance of doing this to Graham so he almost has to be doubled for many of the snaps.

To deal with a good DL SP will make use of a spread offence. So, assuming Graham,Moore, sproles, Colston, and Meachem. Who do you think is covering who in that scenario ?

I'd go Talib on Colston, Dennard and Logan Ryan on Moore and Meachem, Arrington on Sproles and double graham with a lb and safety. Then you'd have 4 DL to rush. Of course we'd add in some zone coverages and blitzes. The only guy I don't have confidence in is Logan Ryan. Haven't seen enough of him to form an opinion yet.

Frankly I'm more concerned about our O vs your D. The Jets and Bengals have shut us down. I don't really know what we can do to improve except drop less passes and have improved chemistry between Brady and the WRs. Although Gronk coming back would certainly help.

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Talib on Colston is a good idea. Talib is big enough and physical enough, and Colston is not a fast reciever, so at the very least he could keep him in check. Colston is also usually 1 or 2 on Drew's progressions, so taking him away could lead to coverage sacks.

Lance Moore most likely wont be playing due to injury. Look for Stills and Toon to get more snaps. Toon is very similar to Colston, 6-4, 220, not fast but quick, strong hands. Stills is similar to Lance Moore, maybe slightly faster, but they are both young. Stills dropped what would have been a big gain last week, but Brees has still tried to keep them involved. Dennard can handle any of those guys though.

Graham, I just dont know what to say. I've watched teams try just about everything. Even if you limit him to just say, 4 catchs. That could be 4 catches for 110 yards and 2 TD's. He has reached Calvin Johnson level "How the %&*@ do you cover him!!" level. My guess would just be pick your times. Double him in the redzone, and jam him as much as possible. Atlanta did a decent job of using Kroy Beirman to disrupt his routes. It sacrifices some pass rush, but hey somethings got to give eh?

Meachem is not very versatile. He will line up outside and run 9 routes or deep posts. You jam him up then you've taken him out the game pretty much. They should be careful playing off coverage on him, because he can get you with the double move.

Sproles will be interesting. He is a mismatch for any line backer. I've seen him make Patrick Willis look stupid. Key with him is just dont let him get in the flats untouched.

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dannydyn said:

Kelly is absent a second day in a row now.....

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Brady_to_Moss said:

gronk is now 50-50...aka won't play.

They needed him so bad for this game....

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Brady_to_Moss said:

gronk is now 50-50...aka won't play.

They needed him so bad for this game....

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SeymourTrophies said:

I've been lurking on Saints forums today. Everyone's pretty confident. The only comment I saw that went against the grain was someone laughing at a guy who said Gronk wouldn't have an impact if he played.

No matter how good we've been, I've never been 100% confident that we'd win a road game. Not the most objective fanbase that I've come across, certainly not close to what you get here.

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dales804 said:

That would be three straight days of practice. So consider him out on Sunday.

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BornNraisedWhoDat said:

I cant speak for everyone, but Saints fans are on cloud nine right now after what happened last year. "We are going 16-0!!" and all that mess. There are more sensable fans out there.

Tall order IMO. Beating the Patriots is tough. Beating the patriots in their house, is ever tougher. Beating the Patriots in their house, after coming off a tough close loss, is asking a lot.
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Im a Saints fan so I am always going to pick the Saints, but this game is sooooo tough to predict.

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BornNraisedWhoDat said:

I cant speak for everyone, but Saints fans are on cloud nine right now after what happened last year. "We are going 16-0!!" and all that mess. There are more sensable fans out there.

Tall order IMO. Beating the Patriots is tough. Beating the patriots in their house, is ever tougher. Beating the Patriots in their house, after coming off a tough close loss, is asking a lot.
'

Im a Saints fan so I am always going to pick the Saints, but this game is sooooo tough to predict.

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SeymourTrophies said:

Yeah, I mean obviously every fan base has those who are more level headed than others, but I hit a couple of forums and it was all the same, and you and Pherein are as objective as any visitors we'll have and more objective than a lot of us.

I do think that there is a little bit of overconfidence in the NO defense. The secondary is better, but they don't have Geno Atkins in the trenches, so to predict or expect a similar performance to what Cinci did to us in their stadium is a bit off.

I don't expect a win, but it wouldn't stun me. You couldn't fault either team for dropping this game, and in terms of tiebreakers, it doesn't mean anything.

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