GDT: Saints (10-1) @ Cowboys (6-5)

[Jlowe22]

3 minutes ago, navysaintsfan said:

I love the call of going for it on 4th. I hated the play call. That was an option handoff, Lawrence came right through because anyone in their right mind knew Brees wasn't going to keep on an option. Horrible call. Better play call if Hill is under center, as then you have two legit running options.

Well the play call was awful too, but at that point I think we just needed to get on the board.  

[Mid Iowa]

2 minutes ago, Jlowe22 said:

Well the play call was awful too, but at that point I think we just needed to get on the board.  

I'm with you here. The way that D was playing, we needed 3. That would have (potentially) made our last necessary drive a field goal attempt for the win (less pressure) rather than needing a TD.

I was screaming at the TV not to go for it. Not that I didn't want a TD, I just knew it was going to turn out the way it did.

[NS922]

I would have preferred to kick the FG, but I can't completely disagree with an aggressive coach staying aggressive. The play call was bad though. It was only a few yards but even then, they weren't doing much of anything on the ground last night. They should've called a pass instead.

[SWATcha]

That was a hard game to watch. Saints just look unfocused and flat on offense. Didn't even look like the same team. I don't think I've seen that many drops in the previous 11 games combined......Also, anyone else look at Kamara during that game and ask out loud "Wtf is wrong with him today?"

On the  flip side, Saints defense came to play. They did everything they could to keep that game close and get the ball back to Drew. 

[Jlowe22]

50 minutes ago, SWATcha said:

That was a hard game to watch. Saints just look unfocused and flat on offense. Didn't even look like the same team. I don't think I've seen that many drops in the previous 11 games combined......Also, anyone else look at Kamara during that game and ask out loud "Wtf is wrong with him today?"

On the  flip side, Saints defense came to play. They did everything they could to keep that game close and get the ball back to Drew. 

Kamara looked like he wasn't even interested in the game.  None of our players did really.  It looked like they didn't really want to be there.  

Heads hanging low after every play, no one had any energy seemed like.

[Destructo Spin]

It did look like almost everybody on offense was mopey or something. Very strange vibe. The front 7 on defense came to play though. Proud of that group. 

I don't think we need to be too worried. This offense didn't just suddenly go away. They'll get back to normal after getting a good long break and this defense is playing good enough to win games even if the offense isn't back at 100%. 

[Matts4313]

Not sure if you all will care about this, but it is a pretty awesome breakdown:

 

[Destructo Spin]

Nah.

There's nothing predictable about the Saints offense. There were two things that were very predictable about that game: 1) the road team never wins on Thursday nights and 2) Jermon Bushrod is a very average fill-in for an injured All-Pro left tackle.

I know Cowboys fans are still flying high about that game and they think it means something huge and important. Maybe it's huge and important for the Cowboys season considering how bad they needed that win, but as far as giving the league some dramatic narrative on how to stop the Saints, nah.

Besides, if the Cowboys were capable of playing that way every week, they wouldn't have had to go to OT to beat the floundering, beat-to-hell Eagles at home and they'd be a hell of a lot better than an 8-5 team considering they've played a very average schedule.

[Destructo Spin]

There's also a kind of dumb implication there that the Saints offense plays ball control because they aren't capable of big plays. Well, you're not going to get big plays when teams are playing two deep safeties and zone coverage. Teams that tried to play man against the Saints - Rams, Eagles, Redskins, Bengals - got lit the hell up.

[Raves]

13 hours ago, Destructo Spin said:

Nah.

There's nothing predictable about the Saints offense. There were two things that were very predictable about that game: 1) the road team never wins on Thursday nights and 2) Jermon Bushrod is a very average fill-in for an injured All-Pro left tackle.

I know Cowboys fans are still flying high about that game and they think it means something huge and important. Maybe it's huge and important for the Cowboys season considering how bad they needed that win, but as far as giving the league some dramatic narrative on how to stop the Saints, nah.

Besides, if the Cowboys were capable of playing that way every week, they wouldn't have had to go to OT to beat the floundering, beat-to-hell Eagles at home and they'd be a hell of a lot better than an 8-5 team considering they've played a very average schedule.

I think the only thing not predictable about our offense is if we get any production from players not named Thomas, Ingram, or Kamara.   Even in the Dallas game there were plenty of chances where Brees had openings but our WRs, including Thomas that game, just didn't make the play.

1)  That's normally due to the road team's defense failing on Thursday night, our defense showed up but our offense struggled.

2)  I know PFF causes a wide range of feelings on this site, but pretty sure they had Armstead as the #1 OT prior to his injury.  So it's not just an All-Pro but arguably the best LT this season.

 

[Raves]

12 hours ago, Destructo Spin said:

There's also a kind of dumb implication there that the Saints offense plays ball control because they aren't capable of big plays. Well, you're not going to get big plays when teams are playing two deep safeties and zone coverage. Teams that tried to play man against the Saints - Rams, Eagles, Redskins, Bengals - got lit the hell up.

Also we do play a bit of ball control offense with the amount of running and short passing we use but we also aren't afraid to take our shots deep when they are there.  Unlike an offense like the Chiefs that relies almost solely on big plays, our offense is a lot more predictable that way.

[Mid Iowa]

I'd like to see the amount of dropped passes the Saints WRs had in that game.
Then I'd like to see a stat of how many missed throws Brees made.

Both ^^ happened a lot, and the combination of the two, facing a swarming defense (who is really good) was just too much to overcome.

Dallas played well, and the Saints offense was absolutely in a funk that lasted until the 3rd quarter of the following game.

[Destructo Spin]

I think it's actually a lot more difficult to play ball control offense than rely on big plays to move the ball. Your timing has to be down. You have to be incredibly consistent making your catch, or hitting the right hole. You can't afford to have bad plays. You can't fumble. And you have to be able to string together 10-12 plays at a time.

And I mean, if I have to choose, I'd way rather have a 12 play 80 yard drive that ends in a touchdown than a 2 play 80 yard drive that also ends in a touchdown. I don't want my defense to be out there for 40 minutes. Playing keep away is smarter. If we don't make another "explosive play" all season it probably means we didn't need to.

 

 

[Jlowe22]

I just think it was flawless execution by Dallas defense combined with very poor execution from everyone on Saints offense.  I mean, teams know what we run, and have known for years for the most part.  When we execute better than the other team, it works.  When we don't it doesn't.   When you make the perfect block, perfect pass, or perfect catch, it doesn't really matter what the scheme is.