SI.com piece on why the Saints are Super Bowl contenders.

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The word “blueprint” is grossly overused in pro football these days. But if ever it were apt, it’s in the case of what the Seahawks defense did to the Saints offense last year. On Monday night in Week 13, with deafening noise cascading down at CenturyLink Field, the Seahawks held the Saints to 188 yards, blowing them out 34-7. Six weeks later in the divisional round, in front of an even louder CenturyLink crowd and under angry rain clouds, it happened again, as Drew Brees had just 34 yards passing in the first half.

So what “blueprint” did Seattle draft? For one, the home-field advantage helped. As Brees has pointedly told the media, contrary to popular belief, the Saints offense is almost as prolific outdoors as it is in in the Superdome. But the offense, thanks to myriad personnel packages, is very dependent on communication. Bad weather and an uncommonly raucous crowd hinder that.

More than that, though, much of Sean Payton’s play designs attack the middle of the field, which is exactly where Seattle’s defense is designed to swarm. With dominant one-on-one outside corners compressing everything, the Seahawks have extra bodies to use in a smaller area of space. As the Saints found out, that can be overwhelming.

Not every defense has the personnel to play this way, but the Saints also don’t have the dynamic outside receiving weapons to discourage defenses from at least attempting it. Another element of the blueprint: no blitzing. Brees is way too fast at processing information, and Payton is way too committed to giving his so-so offensive tackles chip-block help, creating seven-man protections early in the down (i.e. when most blitzes are built to work).

Defenses can still get pressure on Brees with a four-man rush. It’s often nullified by the 35-year-old’s unbelievable ability to move in the pocket, reset and throw. But if Brees is unable to reset, his arm strength plummets – something we saw more than usual last season. With Brees being too quick of a progression reader, the key becomes eliminating his reads. If you can compress the outsides then a basic coverage scheme—either man or zone, whatever the defense is most comfortable—does the trick, just as long as it’s well-executed.

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There is no blueprint for facing the Saints defense. Rob Ryan isn’t married to any core scheme; he’s an extremely opponent-specific game-planner. That’s why you’ll see the Saints take an almost pure coverage-based approach one week (something they’ve done a lot more often than people realize) and come out the next week with a barrage of different slot and safety blitz designs.

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