Since I started watching Football the Saints mantra was “Finish strong”. I tweeted out to Andrew Juge about that week ago. I said that it was gone. It was now “Start strong”.
I was only off one word. As a matter of fact the mantra is “Start fast” as you can see in the Saints pre-game huddle prior to the Detroit game. Now why did I think it was that way? For one I haven’t heard “finish strong” for a long time. But also Sean Paytons philosophy has changed. The Saints, when they win the coin toss, always elect to defer.
The reason for that is the crowd. Right after the game starts the crowd is pumped up. If you play at home you want the opponents offense to face that crowd noise right from the start. When you are playing an away game you do not want your offense to face that crowd noise. So deferring is the thing to do.
Starting fast gives the guys extra focus. No finish strong; no more making up for the bad stuff that happened in the first few drives like happened last year. No more “We’ll correct this”. No. Start fast, put up points and force the opponent too catch up and put pressure on them. Take away the opponents fans noise by deflating the stadium and when playing at home have the dome blow everyone’s ear drums!
One thing the Saints need to do though… Start a little bit slower then last week. If you start that fast the game lasts ages and the opponent has an opportunity to come back.
Putting the defense on the field to start is encouraging. Sean Payton tells his defense this way: I trust you.Go do it. That means a lot for a young defense which has a 28 year old Cam Jordan as its oldest player. Also trusting the defense is something Payton has not done since he returned from bounty gate in 2013. He needs to give the reigns to Dennis Allen and I believe he has.
For 3 weeks in a row now the defense has performed ok on the first drive. Not great. They gave up points, but every drive has ended with a great play. They were able to get a sack on Newton, forcing a field goal. They picked Cutler in London and they strip-sacked Stafford for a TD. However when they are not able to do that the Saints have lost.
I have only one question now. Is giving up a TD in the first drive something that doesn’t matter anymore? Did the defense get enough experience and confidence that even if they do not start fast they can continue strong enough to win a game?
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