Before the season started coach Payton stated that it was important for the team to start out fast. The team currently finds itself 1-3 after 4 games, with the odds of a playoff berth stacked against them.
It’s not all bad. Two of the losses were by slim margins. The team could easily be 3-1 right now, but this team has a lot of players that haven’t learned to close out close games. Good teams close out games.
This isn’t a good team, but if Sunday against the Chargers showed us anything, they’re fighters. They’re not giving up, and if they plan on overcoming the odds and sneaking into the playoffs, here’s (in my view) what has to happen:
The Defense Has To Be Aggressive
There are conservative/vanilla defenses out there that wind up being aggressive because of their personnel. I’m speaking of the Tampa 2 and Seattle’s cover 3. If you have an upper tier front 4 who can constantly create pressure and rush throws, zone coverage is the perfect coverage to take advantage.
The Saints don’t have a great front 4. Granted they have Cam Jordan, who is a more than capable pass rusher and an elite run defender, and revitalized Nick Fairly who’s off to a hot start, but the rest of the line is average to below average in the pass rush department. Simply rushing 4 with zone behind it isn’t going to cut it.
It’s not just the injuries to corner. Even with the upgrades at linebacker from last year (adding more speed and tackling efficiency), the unit has had issues dropping into their zones. Perhaps it takes time, but for now it seems that it’s way too easy for teams to move the ball when they play basic zone coverage, especially cover 2.
It may be counter intuitive to be more aggressive when the team has suffered so many injuries, but the Saints wouldn’t have been able to pull off their improbable comeback against the Chargers if not for their aggressiveness in the second half. If they hope to salvage their season it’ll need to continue.
Keep Playing The Youngsters
My co-host from the Saints Nation Podcast has been preaching this for a while, and he couldn’t be more right. It came out right before the game that their would be some lineup changes, most notably Jairus Byrd being benched and replaced by Vonn Bell. While Bell had some rookie mistakes he also made a crucial play, dislodging the ball late in the fourth to force a turnover. His snap count has gone up over the past couple of weeks and he showed me the moment wasn’t too big for him.
While Bell was put into the lineup because of performance, Crawley and Onyemata have been thrust into the lineup due to injury. Onyemata in particular has shown marked improvement every week, making plays in the backfield and showing an athleticism uncommon of Saints linemen. If his improvements continues it probably allows you to part ways with John Jenkins once Sheldon Rankins returns from injury. Crawley has shown that he belongs in the league by putting up impressive (but not perfect) performances against OBJ, Victor Cruz and Julio Jones. Can’t really ask much more from an UDFA.
The two I’m really excited about are Daniel Lasco and Landon Turner, who both received snaps on Sunday. Lasco is an athletic freak and shows toughness between the tackles. While I don’t want the team to rely too much on it, he could wind up being valuable in the screen game, as well as being a threat on wheel routes. You like having players like him on the field who have the ability to take it to the house at any time.
For Turner it looks like being the eligible lineman is all he’s going to be doing for the foreseeable future. However he’s the one guard outside of Peat that I think has long-term potential. Kelemete is already dealing with a hamstring injury, and Jahri could suffer an injury at any time. I wouldn’t mind seeing Turner getting a crack at RG. It could really open up the running game.
Keep Running The Ball
I realize this is cliche and mostly a boring bullet point, but after a lopsided offensive outing against the Giants, the team has shifted its play calling. The team was killing Atlanta with delays out of the shotgun. Unfortunately with Davison and Vaccaro out, the team was getting killed right back, and the team eventually had to abandon the run in an attempt to make a come back. Against the Chargers the run was less effective but crucial in keeping them in the game.
The logic is simple:
- running keeps the defense honest
- running tends to keep you “ahead of the sticks” with manageable 3rd downs
- it will eventually tire out the defense and lead to big gains on the ground
Running is probably even more important for a team with an older quarterback and a young, struggling defense. It keeps the clock moving, in theory meaning less time the defense has to be on the field (if the offense is converting on 3rd down), as well as keeping your quarterbacks arm fresh.
As it’s been mentioned before, the years when the offense (and the team as a whole) has been most successful has been when it’s been one of the top rushing teams. While nowhere as prolific, this offense is still very potent, and balance will help keep it that way.
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