This is a write up that Peregrine @ the Roost does for every weeks’ game. Thought some of you fans here would appreciate the detailed analysis he provides.
First division win of Smith’s tenure and the first of 2008. I think the three most important games in any season are the divisional home games, because if you lose one, you’ve probably dropped a place in the final division standings. To be a playoff contender you have to climb over the corpses of your division rivals, and this was a big win against a flawed but dangerous team.
DEFENSE: LIKE WHITE ON RICE
The story of the game was that we held Brees, who had been passing at 69% and 8.4 yards per attempt in his first eight games, to 53% and 6.9 yards per attempt in the 59 minutes of the game that mattered. By far our best pass coverage of the year, and not surprisingly, the coverage was helped by pressure on the QB. Pass rush and pass coverage are indeed a virtuous circle. We had 15 passes defensed, which is an insane number. I think the Donatell and Zimmer Falcons generated that many in a full year. While we only got one sack, the pass rush made Brees move around in the pocket on a large percentage of his attempts. My great fear was that Brees would be able to drop, set and fire in rhythm all game long, but he never got comfortable. Nothing came easy for them.
The run defense was greatly helped by our lead and Payton’s tendency to go pass-wacky. The New Orleans RBs rushed only 14 times for 65 yards, or 4.6 per carry. They also got some helpful scrambles from Brees and the 30-yard reverse with Henderson, but the New Orleans running game was not a factor.
OFFENSE: WHERE’S THE COUP DE GRACE?
Norwood’s touchdown catch and run put us up 27-6 early in the 4th quarter, and certainly the offense kicked ase for 46 minutes of the game. Ryan was in total command, the pass protection didn’t surrender a sack (and maybe not even a hit), and the running game helped churn out an 8 ½ minute drive in the 3rd quarter that ended in a field goal that put us up 20-6. (Slight concern: is it just me, or does Turner looks a little slow to the hole lately?)
But in the 4th quarter, the offense seemed to play dumb. After the McAllister touchdown and the failed onside kick, we started at the 50 but went 3 and out, with two Turner runs against basically nine men in the box, and an incomplete pass to Finneran on 3rd down. I like Finn, but he’s not my first choice on 3rd and 3. After Houston’s pick, we made one first down with Turner and then Roddy dropped a slant on the subsequent 3rd down, which would have clinched the game and prevented the fireworks of the last two minutes. On those two drives, Ryan attempted only two passes, both incompletions.
It’s hard to argue with a 14-point win, but I get the feeling that it’s a bit dumb to play safe with both your offense and your defense when defending a 4th quarter lead. We pulled out a much tighter win in Green Bay in this fashion, so I don’t know. But against the Saints, with McKenzie out and their defense loaded up to stop the run, I think we should have let Ryan play pitch and catch to generate first downs and take back control of the clock. BTW, Ryan made it look so easy through three quarters that he could have thrown for 400 yards if necessary.
SPECIAL TEAMS: LOADED WEAPON
Douglas was perfectly fine at punt returner, and with Reach Robinson on special teams now, I wonder if Jennings will last another month on the roster. (Edit: just as I go to post this, I see he’s been cut.) And Norwood is one heck of a moonlighting RB at kick returner. We have two returners with big play potential.
Thanks to the Coleman interception and special teams returns (one punt, one Norwood kickoff, and the out of bounds onside kick) we started four drives at midfield or beyond. Although we only scored one touchdown on these four drives, on the other three drives Koenen was able to pin the Saints at or inside their 10. For the game we had a net +15 average in drive start. The superior field position helped our defense.
COACHING: SMART SMITH
Smith has shown himself to be an intelligent game coach. I can’t recall any stupid challenges this year, we don’t blow timeouts needlessly, we haven’t had any clock meltdowns, and we’ve gone for it at the right times. But I did criticize Smith for pushing a two-minute drill before the half in the Detroit game instead of kneeling on the ball, and the Lions got a touchdown out of it. On Sunday, we were in a similar situation, starting at our 28 with 59 seconds in the half. We had two timeouts and the Saints one. Mularkey called a shotgun handoff to Norwood, the kind of play that can easily gain 15 yards against a defense keying on pass rush, but one that would keep the clock moving. I think this was a good compromise between trying to advance 37 yards or so for a last-second field goal attempt and making sure we didn’t do anything stupid that would give the Saints the ball with time to score. (Of course, in the chat room I was calling for Ryan to let it rip, but in my defense just a few minutes earlier I wrote that I was ready to adopt him.) As it turns out, we had a penalty that made it 1st and 20, and it was an easy decision to kneel after that.
PASSING GRADES
* The secondary. All of them. Houston, Foxworth, and Jackson combined for eight passes defensed and two interceptions, one in the end zone and another returned for a score. Coleman had a tone-setting interception on the first play, and even Milloy had a pass defense.
* John Abraham. A one-man pain in the ase. His sack was crucial to forcing the Saints to settle for an early field goal, and he was held about 158 times too. Some of the isolation camera shots showed Abe’s great pass-rushing technique; when he’s speed rushing around the corner, notice how well he uses his hands and arms to slap away the hands of the OT. Reminded me of (real) wrestling techniques. On some plays the OT didn’t get a hand on Abe. It was also instructive to compare this with the Zombie pass rush; on one play, Zombie (JA98) tried to rush with his arms at his sides. Anyway, let’s hope Abe’s nice and rested for Denver, because they’re also going to throw it 40+ times.
* Matt Ryan. Following the end of World War II, a Japanese soldier named Shoichi Yokoi hid in the jungles of Guam for 27 years because he refused to surrender. All that time he was hiding in a cave and eating ants, the people in Guam were hanging out on beaches, singing songs and eating barbecue, having a grand time and enjoying their lives. I invite the last of you Dorsey-ites to come out of the jungle and join the party. It’s all good.
* Todd Weiner. Played most of the game in place of Baker at LT, and was solid in pass protection and adequate in run blocking. If pressed, I might argue that Weiner’s performance over the next month will be the biggest factor in whether we make the playoffs.
* Jerious Norwood. I think he’s getting the ball just enough. The catch and run, the first touchdown reception of his career, broke open the game, though I could do without the high-stepping from the 30. He had another nice catch down the middle. And he seems like he’s good for a 40-yard kickoff return every week, which is essential to our field position.
* Every DL not named John Abraham. Abe was the only one who sacked Brees, but the rest of the crew managed to pressure fairly consistently. Brees seemed like he had to move on about half his attempts due to the coverage and the pass rush, and this impacted the timing of the New Orleans passing game. However, I’d love to have a Jumpy Geathers sort of bull-rushing DT, who could collapse the pocket up the middle; Brees regularly stepped up and fired.
* Michael Boley. Seven combined tackles and two passes defensed. Missed what would have been a 20-yard sack of Brees, but Boley’s starting to make some plays.
* Michael Jenkins. Our little boy is all grownz up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTPxEwfNTJc
I’ve advocated re-signing Jenkins for several weeks now, and we should have the cap space to do it.
* Michael Koenen. Pinned the Saints inside the 20 on three of his four punts.
* Reach Robinson. He was out there on special teams (for perhaps the first time in his career, I’m not sure), and he had the key cut block on Norwood’s touchdown catch and run. Glad to see this guy do some hitting.
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
* Roddy White. Even star students need to get a B once in a while. Roddy’s drop before the two-minute warning prevented us from running out the clock. After the drop, Brees passed for 137 yards and a touchdown, with Jackson’s interception going the other way.
* Keith Brooking. Brooking had eight tackles, including one assist where he stood next to Babineaux while Babs split a double team and brutalized Pierre Thomas for a 3-yard-loss. All seven of Brooking’s other tackles followed completed passes that totaled 85 yards, or about 12 yards a catch. Two catches to RBs for a total of 15 yards, and five to TEs for a total of 70 yards. He did not have a pass defensed. Green Dot = Impact! (But…but…but…ALL those tackles!!! He’s a beast vs the run! 
)
* Sean Payton. Down 21 points with 1:09 left in the game and no timeouts, Payton ordered his troops onto the field, passed on every play (including a spike!) and they were rewarded with a garbage touchdown that only mattered in fantasy football, maybe the over / under, contract incentives, and Dan Marino’s record. Anquan Boldin got knocked unconscious playing for garbage points a few weeks ago, and it’s irresponsible of Payton to risk injury to players on both teams in a situation that was more meaningless than pre-season. On a positive note, this kind of coach rarely contends for Super Bowls. I love stupid challenges too.
KEY & INTERESTING PLAYS
* Ryan’s best pass of the day was the sideline completion to Jenkins that set up Turner’s touchdown. We had 3 WRs, Roddy out right, Douglas in slot right, and Jenkins wide left. The Saints were in nickel, CBs playing off Roddy and Jenkins, the nickel corner tighter on Douglas. Pre-snap, one of the safeties walked up toward the line, making seven plus the nickel in the box. Ryan’s pre-snap read is easy: just a single safety (Kaesviharn) in the middle of the field, single coverage on Roddy and Jenkins. At the snap, Ryan looks right toward Roddy, and the clip shows Kaesviharn moving several steps to that side of the field. Ryan turns and barely glances to his left as he throws down the sideline to Jenkins, who had Aaron Glenn physically outmatched. Kaesviharn has no chance to recover and Jenkins makes an easy 32-yard catch. Turner scores on the next snap. This was very similar to the miracle pass to Jenkins against Chicago. On that play, Ryan also looked right to pin the safety (Cover 2 that time) before chucking it to Jenkins down the left sideline, again almost throwing it blind.
But just think about this for a second. Our QB is 23.5 years old, just nine games into his career, and he’s already looking off safeties and consistently finding favorable 1 v 1 matchups for our WRs. If YKW had made this play, we’d have been anointing him for the Hall of Fame. But Opie does it as a matter of course.
* Late 1st half, the Saints have 4th and 4 at our 28. We rush five (Boley blitzing), and Houston is covering Colston on the left. Brees drops and throws to Colston’s back shoulder. Houston lines up a yard off the LOS but doesn’t bump Colston there, rather he backpedals a couple steps, chucks and reads the receiver on the outside release, locates the ball and disrupts the catch.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: PASS DEFENSE
When Norwood scored to put us up 27-6 early in the 4th quarter, Brees’ stat line looked like this:
12 for 24, 128 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception
Brees passed for 294 yards in the 4th quarter as the Saints tried to come back (although, again, 137 of those yards and Jackson’s interception return followed Roddy’s drop that would have sealed the game). Before we get too worried about this, just remember that we tied the 4th quarter 14-14, and we gave up a garbage Hail Mary at the end of the game that made it a 14-point deficit. Big whoop. That was the perfect time to give up a garbage Hail Mary.
But for the first three quarters we shut down Brees and the top-rated passing offense in the NFL. In fact, the pass defense has really turned around in the last three games. You might remember me bitching about pass rush and pass coverage during the stretch of Carolina / Green Bay / Chicago. In our last five games against competent, professional offenses (which excludes Oakland), opposing completion percentages have trended downward, and yards per attempt has hovered around 7.0 the past three games, which is very good.
Game / Comp % / Yards / Yards per Attempt / Yards per Completion / Sacks
@ Carolina: 69%, 294, 10.1, 14.7, 0
@ Green Bay: 67.6%, 313, 8.5, 12.5, 2
Chicago: 60.5%, 286, 6.7, 11.0, 1
@ Philly: 55.9%, 253, 7.4, 13.3, 2
New Orleans: 52.9%, 353, 6.9, 13.1, 1
Now, I didn’t get a good look at the Philly game, and the Oakland game was irrelevant, but based on what I saw against the Saints, the pass defense has improved due to changes in the secondary (particularly Foxworth in place of Grimes) and stronger pass rush.
While watching the tape, I took half-*** notes on the effectiveness of the pass rush and the pass coverage. This is of course a subjective exercise. Leaving out the garbage drive that ended the game, the Saints had 55 pass plays (including those that resulted in scrambles and plays that were called back due to penalties). On only 14 of these plays did I judge Brees as dropping back into a clean pocket and firing to what was likely his first read (two of them were on those long completions to Miller, who was covered by Brooking). On 24 other plays, I judged the pass decision as “slow” likely due to good coverage against the first or second reads. Of those 55 plays, Brees had to move in the pocket or run out of the pocket on 14 attempts, and I counted 15 hurries, 7 hits, and the sack. (Some of these numbers overlap.) We rushed three players nine times, four players 37 times, five players four times, and six players four times, and we happened to run an 8-man blitz (!)when the Saints called the screen to Deuce, on which he scored.
Two things are at work here. First, on nearly half (24/55) of their pass plays, it seemed Brees dropped and set and had to hold the ball because his first read was covered. This means the coverage was generally good, and the 15 passes defensed are proof. Second, although there was only one sack, the pass rush was able to disrupt their passing game to a significant extent. And we were able to generate pass pressure using four rushers most of the time. As always, pass rush and pass coverage work in tandem; it seems that both elements have improved in the last six weeks, but we’ll have to sustain that against Denver.
ODDS & ENDS
* I’m glad we don’t have Jeremy Shockey on this team. One request of my fellow Roosters: the next time a team puts one of its problem children on the trading block, please don’t claim that the problem child is worth a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick.
* Kevin Kaesviharn’s last name should be spelled “**tch”. Ryan abused him on the big plays and Jenkins put KK on his ase on the crack block. Let’s hope he starts next month in New Orleans too.
PARTING THOUGHTS
The Denver Broncos might be a lesser version of the New Orleans Saints. Roll baby, roll. Beat them up, win the turnover battle, and we might be ok.
One other thought as the leaves have changed colors: we’re building a physical, fundamentally sound football team that, unlike many prior editions of this club, has a chance to be competitive in cold weather games. No gimmicks, no finesse. There’s not a cold weather game on our schedule this season (not yet at least, shhhh), but this is another way in which Dimitroff and Smith are setting up a team for the future. This team design wins home games in September as well as road games in January. I’m excited about what we’re doing this year, but I’m really excited about what we might do for the next decade.
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Again, I did not write this, credit goes to Peregrine over at The Roost. I’m just passing along some good information some of you may be interested in.
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