Breer: Saints makin' 'em dizzy

[SVN]

Saints makin' 'em dizzy - Extra Points - Boston.com

 

[Laurence Maroney's Dreads]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

Gonna be a difficult task even trying to contain the Saints offense, no doubt about it. Can we assume that Bodden (who as far as I know is our biggest CB) will be tethered to Colston at all times?

 

[JSn]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

Gonna be a difficult task even trying to contain the Saints offense, no doubt about it. Can we assume that Bodden (who as far as I know is our biggest CB) will be tethered to Colston at all times?

Pretty sure Springs will be active, too.

 

[RussFrancis]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

The Patriots are "similarly flexible" because we line up 3 good coverage safeties much of the game.

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

The way I see the game is fairly simple: Tom Brady matches up against the Saints' secondary much better than Drew Brees matches up against the Pats' secondary. And ultimately, Brady and Brees are the best players on their respective teams and the guys who will have the most impact on the outcome of this game. So I think the Pats have a big advantage unless one of the following things happen:

1. The Pats kill themselves offensively with turnovers, penalties, and lack of red zone execution.
2. The Saints manage to get significant pressure on Brady and throw him off his rhytm.
3. The Pats lapse back into a passive BBDB defense and allow Brees to destroy them.
4. The Saints run the ball effectively and keep the Pats defense off balance, while the Pats can't run the ball effectively and allow the Saints to key on the pass.

Any of those things could happen quite easily, and possibly more than one, tilting the balance in favor of the Saints. But I like our secondary's chances against Brees, and I like Brady's chances against the NO secondary.

 

[SVN]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

The way I see the game is fairly simple: Tom Brady matches up against the Saints' secondary much better than Drew Brees matches up against the Pats' secondary. And ultimately, Brady and Brees are the best players on their respective teams and the guys who will have the most impact on the outcome of this game. So I think the Pats have a big advantage unless one of the following things happen:

1. The Pats kill themselves offensively with turnovers, penalties, and lack of red zone execution.
2. The Saints manage to get significant pressure on Brady and throw him off his rhytm.
3. The Pats lapse back into a passive BBDB defense and allow Brees to destroy them.
4. The Saints run the ball effectively and keep the Pats defense off balance, while the Pats can't run the ball effectively and allow the Saints to key on the pass.

Any of those things could happen quite easily, and possibly more than one, tilting the balance in favor of the Saints. But I like our secondary's chances against Brees, and I like Brady's chances against the NO secondary.

our run D hasnt been stellar all season. maybe a by product of the game plans but we need to stuff the run better ...

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

Chris Forsberg on ESPNBoston had a nice writeup on the Pats' defense and how they viewed the upcoming test against NO:

Patriots defense faces a stiff test against the Saints - ESPN Boston

As Forsberg presents it, the defense is well aware that it collapsed in the 4th quarter against Peyton Manning in front of a national audience, and sees this as a chance at redemption:

"The Patriots' last foray onto national television ended with pundits from coast to coast questioning the common sense of their head coach and talking about the fact his play calling suggested absolutely no faith in his defense. Yet, amidst all the handwringing about New England's defense, it's easy to overlook the fact the unit ranks second in the league to the Colts in points allowed per game (16.4) and is seventh best in total defense (296.7 yards per game). ... The Patriots' defense can't go back and prove they could have kept Manning out of the end zone over the final two minutes on a long field, but New England's defense can show it's better than what people are giving it credit for. ... The Patriots' defense is well aware of what it's going up against: the big-play ability, the balance between the rush-pass, the 18 different players that have scored for the Saints this year. They've heard all about the big, physical receivers and Brees' ability to pick any defense apart. But this isn't just another appearance on 'Monday Night Football.' It's not just another battle against an undefeated opponent. For the Patriots' defense, it's a chance at redemption -- two weeks in the making. 'It's going to be a challenge for us,' Meriweather said, "and we're up for it.' "

Good stuff.

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

our run D hasnt been stellar all season. maybe a by product of the game plans but we need to stuff the run better ...

That was one of my 5 keys to the game. If NO runs wild on us we're going to be stretched too thin to stop their passing game.

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

The good news is that the New Orleans running game is overrated because it's had a couple of big games against very bad teams (Panthers, Rams, Bucs and Bills are 4 of the 5 worst teams in the NFL against the run). The bad news is that the Patriots run defense with a 4 man line isn't very good at all (New England is currently tied with 2 other teams for 20th in YPC against).

 

[n1e]

i think we'll be fine, while Brees is a great qb he's no Brady, he's a qb that always wants the big play which hurts him sometimes cause he'll force some throws in there. They have an overrated secondary which gives up a lot of yards and while they do force a bunch of turnovers, the best qb they've played IIRC is Matt Ryan.

Some observations

Darren Sharper- non factor, we'll take him out of the game like we did Ed Reed who is 10x better
Run Defense- i think we struggled early on but have improved since and Wilfork has been having some monster games lately
Running backs- I think our running backs are just as good as theirs in the running and receiving department

Our O-line vs their D-line - have played better pass rushers than Smith and Grant and Light is back and hopefully Vollmer is healthy, would be nasty to have both on the field somehow
Linebackers- ours > them, their only good LB is vilma

Also i think Moss has a huge game

 

[DomeDude]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

That was one of my 5 keys to the game. If NO runs wild on us we're going to be stretched too thin to stop their passing game.

Many people who havent seen many Saints games this year think we are a passing first finesse kind of team. In the past this has been true. This year we are averaging 154.3 ypg, which is the 5th ranking rushing attack in the league. This is how the Saints get things done, they pound it in their, and then hit you with the playaction. They use a lot of pre-snap movement to confuse defenses, and will run out of passing formations and pass out of running formations. Ever since Payton came along they have been a high powered offense, but this is the first year they have had true balance, and teams have trouble defendiing it. They either try to stop the run and Brees picks them apart, or they try to drop back in coverage and they run it down your throat.

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: Breer:Saints makin' 'em dizzy

Many people who havent seen many Saints games this year think we are a passing first finesse kind of team. In the past this has been true. This year we are averaging 154.3 ypg, which is the 5th ranking rushing attack in the league. This is how the Saints get things done, they pound it in their, and then hit you with the playaction. They use a lot of pre-snap movement to confuse defenses, and will run out of passing formations and pass out of running formations. Ever since Payton came along they have been a high powered offense, but this is the first year they have had true balance, and teams have trouble defendiing it. They either try to stop the run and Brees picks them apart, or they try to drop back in coverage and they run it down your throat.

Thanks for the analysis. It agrees with my impression, but I haven't watched the Saints all season like you have.

My impression is that if the Pats can largely (probably not entirely) take away one element of the Saints' attack and make them somewhat one-dimensional, then the athletic playmaking Pats D should do quite well. If, on the other hand, NO is able to both run and pass equally effectively and spread the offensive wealth around, it will be extremely difficult to stop them. Between the running game and the passing game, I think it will be easier to stop the run (which is not to say that it will be easy, by an stretch of the imagination).

Sean Payton is a great young coach, BTW. I've always been a fan of his. He's a no-nonsense guy who takes responsibility for the team, and is a brilliant offensive mind. Payton, Mike Tomlin and Josh McDaniels seem to me like the best young coaches in the game, and it will be fun to follow their careers.

 

[mrperrino]

No offense, but Brady & Manning are in their beginning of their decline..they peaked in 2007..Brees hasn;t even started to peak yet...he'll start to peak by 2011! Now if Brees is THIS good in 2009, when he's not even close to peaking, imagine the gaudy numbers in 2011?

Still, will be exciting to see Brees "school" Brady :singing::singing::singing:

 

[muzz]

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