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Saints Defense in 2022 and moving forward.

Posted on 3/22/23 at 9:12 pm
Posted by LooseCannon22282
Mobile
Member since May 2008
33684 posts
Posted on 3/22/23 at 9:12 pm
I've seen a lot comments on here saying our defense sucked last year.

Statically it didn't but explain why it did and why we should be set up for disappointment.

9th in points allowed
5th in yards allowed

last season.

lack of turnovers were the downfall and that is in fact what put the Saints under.500 in my opinion.

Should the Saints defense have to apologize for some circumstances they faced later in the year when they got better?

I mean Philly's "elite" defense got a free pass in the NFC Championship and before that faced Daniel Jones for a third time.

At home of course.

This post was edited on 3/22/23 at 9:13 pm
Posted by TackySweater
Member since Dec 2020
11708 posts
Posted on 3/22/23 at 10:35 pm to
Weird melt
Posted by Townedrunkard
Member since Jan 2019
8682 posts
Posted on 3/22/23 at 10:36 pm to
(no message)
This post was edited on 3/22/23 at 10:53 pm
Posted by Townedrunkard
Member since Jan 2019
8682 posts
Posted on 3/22/23 at 10:52 pm to
Before the raiders game, the defense was ranked 2nd to last or dead last in ppg. It did improve towards the end of the year, but it could also have been a mirage with the QBs they played against and other factors.

Look at the last 8 opponents:
Steelers - rookie qb starting
Rams - Stafford put up a good stat line early but we played most of the game against a third string no name that was clearly overmatched and we didn’t win until he took over.
SF - defense played ok against Jimmy G, but San Fran played real conservative all game b/c our offense was no threat the entire game. Lots of runs and safe plays on third down.
TB - a washed Tom Brady
Falcons - rookie 3rd rounder making first start.
Browns - Watsons what, 2nd or third game back in two years in absolute horrid conditions for passing for both teams.
Eagles - would have been the real test, but went against Minshew.
Carolina - lost to a qb that baker Mayfield beat out in training camp.

Hard to inspire confidence when actually looking at what the defense was going against when they drastically improved later in the year.
This post was edited on 3/22/23 at 10:57 pm
Posted by VictoryHill
Alabama
Member since Nov 2013
3209 posts
Posted on 3/22/23 at 11:37 pm to
quote:

lack of turnovers were the downfall and that is in fact what put the Saints under.500 in my opinion.


Absolutely. We had a pretty big stretch last year where the defense created zero turnovers and we went 1-3.

And that's why I'm banging the table for a dynamic player if we go defense at 29. We need a guy who can rush the passer, bat balls, create turnovers. The defense didn't have a ton of drive-killing, momentum creating plays last year - the type that demoralize an offense. I don't want to hear about so and so being on the table because he's solid against the run come draft time.
Posted by keakar
Member since Jan 2017
29883 posts
Posted on 3/22/23 at 11:40 pm to
quote:

I've seen a lot comments on here saying our defense sucked last year.


no you havent, but lots of people here make BS claims

there was some legit critique that the defense had a couple of games where they shite the bed and were the reason we lost those games, but the overall consensus on this board is, the defense was good most of the time other then some timely let downs the team had

of all the problems this team had, the defense was way way down the list of our biggest issues
This post was edited on 3/22/23 at 11:43 pm
Posted by Tiger Ike
SW Louisiana
Member since Aug 2013
1418 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 5:48 am to
quote:

Look at the last 8 opponents:
Steelers - rookie qb starting
Rams - Stafford put up a good stat line early but we played most of the game against a third string no name that was clearly overmatched and we didn’t win until he took over.
SF - defense played ok against Jimmy G, but San Fran played real conservative all game b/c our offense was no threat the entire game. Lots of runs and safe plays on third down.
TB - a washed Tom Brady
Falcons - rookie 3rd rounder making first start.
Browns - Watsons what, 2nd or third game back in two years in absolute horrid conditions for passing for both teams.
Eagles - would have been the real test, but went against Minshew.
Carolina - lost to a qb that baker Mayfield beat out in training camp.


Newsflash, NFC quarterbacks will not be any better this season.
Posted by LooseCannon22282
Mobile
Member since May 2008
33684 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 6:37 am to
quote:

Weird melt


How was that a melt?

I mean do you want me to pull up every negative comment from this board from last season just on just the defense alone?

Saints defense still finished pretty high in some crucial categories.
This post was edited on 3/23/23 at 6:44 am
Posted by LooseCannon22282
Mobile
Member since May 2008
33684 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 6:51 am to
Yeah I hear you you make a lot of good points there.

The thing is I think that there are going to be a lot of backup quarterbacks having to play again next year.

There was a lot of bad offensive line play across the league and I think that's why you saw so many backups get forced into action last year.

Posted by caliegeaux
Member since Aug 2004
10123 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 7:08 am to
biggest things i noticed consistently were:

-lack of turnovers (as someone mentioned)
-not getting off on 3rd downs (the amount drives continued due to penalties in the NFL overall is sickening)
-honey badger playing soft early, but coming on towards the end
Posted by saints5021
Louisiana
Member since Jul 2010
17429 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 7:25 am to
IMO, when Latimore got hurt, our defense was middle of the road to shite defense. We all forget how truly elite he is. He makes the entire defense.
Posted by Snipe
Member since Nov 2015
10897 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 7:36 am to
Players missing time in the back field was killer for the 2022 defense.

Missing Lattimore for a good chunk of 2022 was the main difference. That and not getting production out of Maye(who also missed time) and Matheau also hurt the defense.

Your defense is not having a good day when you're relying on Chris Harris, Daniel Sorensen and Justin Evans as starters in the secondary. Losing Pete Warner for 5 games wasn't help full either.

Posted by blackandgolddude
San Diego
Member since Apr 2012
2869 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 7:59 am to
quote:

Browns - Watsons what, 2nd or third game back in two years in absolute horrid conditions for passing for both teams.


Dude was dropping dimes all game long. His receivers might have dropped 10 passes, and I think 3 TDs as well.

Cleveland should have beat us by 21+ but their receivers were awful that game.
Posted by Doug_H
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Sep 2013
2278 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 8:53 am to
quote:

Newsflash, NFC quarterbacks will not be any better this season.


That's just wrong. They may not be all-pro QBs but for the most part the NFC QB play should improve. Look at our 2023 opponents

Tampa Bay-going from old Brady to Mayfield/Trask might get worse, but even Mayfield has the ability to look all-pro in some games.

Falcons-Taylor Henicke is a gamer who is an upgrade over what Ridder was last year as a rookie. Ridder himself will have more game experience to build off of

Panthers-Andy Dalton should be an improvement, or at the least more consistent than Sam Darnold. Or a top rookie draft choice in Stroud/Young

Jaguars--Lawrence should get better as he came on strong towards the end of last season

Bears--Fields should continue getting better plus he's getting weapons to throw to now

Rams--Stafford can still play if/when healthy.

Lions--Goff will be about the same, but another year in that system could see some improvement also

Vikings--Cousins should be pretty much the same

Giants--Daniel Jones had a good year, that could easily continue

Patriots--Mac Jones had a down year, this could go either way. They also added some help at WR

Texans--Should improve from Davis Mills to Young/Shroud at #2 in the draft

Titans--Will likely be worse as Tannehill/Willis did not have good seasons. Don't know if they'll make a trade or go after somebody in the draft

Packers--Will likely be worse going from Rodgers to Love

Colts--Should improve from Matt Ryan to Minshew or even a rookie QB with the 4th overall draft pick
Posted by paulbeasy
Member since Feb 2023
598 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 9:09 am to
quote:

And that's why I'm banging the table for a dynamic player if we go defense at 29.


How enlightening

Derp.
Posted by Townedrunkard
Member since Jan 2019
8682 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 9:55 am to
quote:

Cleveland should have beat us by 21+ but their receivers were awful that game.


I agree, biggest factor that game was the weather conditions. Freezing and horrible wind. It was a game tailor made for Taysom.

Watson really fricked his career picking Cleveland over us.
This post was edited on 3/23/23 at 9:56 am
Posted by htran90
BC
Member since Dec 2012
30083 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 10:14 am to
quote:

Watson really fricked his career picking Cleveland over us.





Did he? In all fairness - every team that would have traded for him were going to be gutted for picks. Limiting their ability to compete if they didn't have a well built team already.

We're on the tail end of that whole Cleveland definitely has a longer term potential.
This post was edited on 3/23/23 at 10:23 am
Posted by VictoryHill
Alabama
Member since Nov 2013
3209 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 1:42 pm to
Your obsession with me is flattering. I imagine you as the guy in Billy Madison chapping on lipstick and crossing names off his list in his room at his mom’s house, lil guy.
Posted by Tiger Ike
SW Louisiana
Member since Aug 2013
1418 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 2:25 pm to
Cousins is the best player you listed, let that sink in.

Lawrence is in the AFC.
Posted by LooseCannon22282
Mobile
Member since May 2008
33684 posts
Posted on 3/23/23 at 7:35 pm to
quote:

Your defense is not having a good day when you're relying on Chris Harris, Daniel Sorensen and Justin Evans as starters in the secondary


oh man, I ended up having to listen to most of the games on the radio because of my work schedule and you could hear the frustration in Deuce's voice when talking about teams are just going to pick on him as long as they could.

I know we didn't a lot of sack production from the D-line but we did from the LB's. That's better than nothing and kind of goes back to what I was saying about the O-line play going on in the league.

Of all the positions that I think are affected the most by the lack of practice time in the CBA, its O-line.

I bet on games here and there (not the Saints) but noticed a lot of unders hitting last year. That's because of so backup QB's having to play either cause the guy in front of him sucked or because he got hurt or both lol.

And I think the biggest deciding factor there is the lack of protection especially when passing.

Even the Saints have seen a shuffle at QB the in just the last 2 years. shite, before that, Brees didn't play the full slate his last 2 years missing multiple games.

I don't mind reshuffling like we have so this offseason. Can't wait to what they do in the draft. You get some better turnover luck next year and have better injury fortune then it's going to get a lot better.

A lot of "ifs" though.
This post was edited on 3/23/23 at 7:36 pm
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