re: What does the Saints D have to do, to slow down the Arizona O ?

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1. Mr. Warner

In a 3WR set, Warner in shotgun, hightower in with him in the backfield: if I'm Williams, I just rush 3 lineman and one linebacker, run a 335 or something similar (although I'd like to have 6dbs out there). If you can't at least rush Warner a tad with that, start sending Roman Harper SPECIFICALLY...or Malcolm Jenkins. Take someone who can't cover worth a shite.

In 4 wides, repeat process, just with 6-7 dbs. Speed, to me, is the key.

2 wr sets, for chrissakes, if I see williams run another "over" set in a 43 or 46, I'm going to strangle him. It never works, we don't tackle well out of it, and I'm telling you if he does it we get gashed, period.

I'll spare you the rest, use your imagination.

2. Beanie Wells formations

Assume he's running it, I dont' care if it's PA. You make sure you tell Sedrick and Vilma to hone in on that guy and pummel him to the ground if he's in the game. If blitzing linebackers, you communicate that no matter what happens, you make sure Beanie ends up on his arse, even if you don't get to Kurt. tell wells you mean business.

3. Larry Fitz, Boldin (if there), Breaston, Doucet.

DON'T BRACKET FITZ. I hate teams who do this. It eats two corners, a safety and a corner, or a linebacker and a corner depending on the situation. It's stupid, never works, and leaves everyone else ridiculously open. If you ask me, you let Larry get his when he does, but you have to TACKLE him.

Boldin (or Breaston/Doucet if they play his spot) is a problem, but you have to give him (and Fitz) real big shoves in the first five yards, since Warner relies on timing.

4. the O line of Arizona.

Arizona has this issue on the offensive line, and if you watched the 49ers game, you should know what this is: Athletic lineman. They eat up the big boys pretty easy, but the athletic guys they have issues with. If I'm Williams, I run some serious deep stunts and tell Spicer to keep himself in front of Warner.

Will Smith is the key here. He's the most athletic guy we have on the line, and I see him having a big day IF he doesn't get caught up running like Alem 19 yards past the QB. I say we do something novel though, if I may:

On 4 wide sets, I'd like to see Greg throw in this group of linemen (he wont', but it's something I'd try): McCray, Smith, Spicer, and...take your pick of an OLB at DE. I think this would give the Cardinals absolute FITS on passing downs.

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1. I don't like the 3 DL look against Warner because it allows him lots of room to step up into the pocket. The one thing I'd like to see out of our defense is some exotic stunts and blitz packages. Typically these are risky against two-dimensional teams because you might run yourself out of the hole if the team runs but Arizona doesn't run much so we need to mix things up.

2. I don't have that much problem with Williams running the "over" set out of the 43. The "over" and "under" are designed to eliminate the two-gap responsibilities of traditional 4-3 base defenses and allow the defenders one gap responsibilities thus allowing them to be more aggressive and attacking since they know where the ball is going. The one caveat to this scheme is missed tackles, like ya mentioned, which don't leave much additional help.

The good thing about the "over" is we're heavy on the strong side of the offense and it allows Vilma to move freely and be protected from blockers when teams run strong but it's forcing teams to run weak too much. When they run weak it forces Vilma and Shanle/Fujita to come up, take on blockers, and stop a running play in its tracks. Vilma isn't meant to take on blockers and Shanle/Fujita blow at taking on blockers (they love going around them and creating huge holes). We also don't have DTs quick enough to shoot under the pulling guard and make the tackle (although Hargrove has played better as of late).

3. The biggest thing with Wells for me is that he's fumble prone. We need to work on stripping the ball like Chicago clearly did before they played Minnesota cause Wells will put it on the ground like Pederson.

4. Tackling is gonna be the key in this game. Williams was big on sending the house, allowing the 4-5 yard gain and then tackling immediately earlier in the season when we had everyone healthy. I expect us to return to this now that everyone is back. If we miss a tackle however, Fitz will be dancing in the endzone.

5. I like the idea of an OLB at DE during some passing situations. Matthews had some success getting around the edge but they did check out of passes and run off-tackle against him with some success. McCray and Smith need to really be on their game. A guy like Ellis could also be huge if he can push the pocket into Warner's face. No one likes pressure right up the middle and it will force him to drop into Williams and McCray.

Good thoughts, can't wait for this game!

wow saintsrow one heck of a breakdown on how to stop arizona. great stuff.

Could we see the chinese bandits nfl style?