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Thoughts on Saints first win of season


whodatworm23

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I've beat'n up on Payton enough during the first 2 weeks of the season, now after getting his first win I'll try and give him his due... Sort of.

 

THE GOOD

 

1. Brees appeared to trust his protection today and looked comfortable in the pocket most of the game.

 

Brees still hasn't thrown a INT this season (thanks to a rare drop by Luke Kuechly) and is managing the games pretty well thus far. Today Brees was on point today and I feel it had alot to do with his trust in his offensive line which wasn't there earlier in the season.

 

2. Larry Warford is worth every penny the Saints spent on him.

 

For as much grief as ive given this front office over their recent failures in free agency, I'll speak up when they actually make a wise investment. You can never really go wrong in investing into quality young offensive lineman but the Saints IMO have scored big time in RG Larry Warford. Warford has been a beast in the Saints rushing attack and hes a quality pass protector in thr passing game. 1st round pick Ryan Ramczyk looks like a natural at RT and the two of these guys appear to be forming quite the duo on the right side of the Saints offensive line.

 

3. Mike Thomas is a flat out STUD!

 

Mike Thomas is the first Saints reciever ive seen in the Payton regime that truly doesn't need Payton's offense to be uccessful. Although his ending stats werent as impressive as you would think, his impact was felt in this game from start to finish.

 

4. Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara are a very complimentary 1-2 punch.

 

I love the way these two players skill sets compliment eachother and can only hope that we continue to see much more of these two carrying the load in the backfield for the Saints moving foward.

 

5. Cam Jordan and Sheldon Rankins are a handful for offensive lineman.

 

Sometimes the end game stats dont tell the whole story and while statistically Jordan ended the game with a better performance than Rankins, Rankins was very disruptive inside today causing a lot of havoc and making his pressence felt. These are two very good players who need more help around them but they give the Saints a great foundation up front.

 

6. AJ Klein is a very good linebacker.

 

Of all the new faces on the Saints defense, Klein appears to be settling in and finding his way within this defensive scheme. No, Klein isnt a dynamic playmaker at the position but hes smart, instinctive and versatile and hes slowly earning the respect of his new teammates as a leader on this team with his blue collar effort.

 

7. The secondary flashed communication and playmaking skills.

 

Their young... We all get that. Their talented... We all want to believe that. Their depleted... Yep! However, today this Saints secondary displayed the playmaking ability they flashed in the preseason and of this is a trend that is to continue, this team could very well be in for a turnaround.


 

THE BAD

 

1. Please explain to me why Ken Crawley was inactive the first 2 weeks of the season.

 

Im sorry but this is on coaching and team management... Crawley looked like a seasoned vet out there today and to think that a team that has struggled so much in the secondary the first 2 weeks of the season had this guy on the sidelines in street clothes is mind boggling.

 

2. The Adrain Peterson experiment neexs to come to an end.

 

Peterson isnt a bad player but hes not a great player anymore. His burst isnt what it used to be and hes an arkward fit in this offense. Peterson is struggling with his role in this scheme and its just my opinion that this offense would be better off focusing on featuring Ingram and Kamara more and not feel obligated to give Peterson hus touches. There are a few running back needy teams out there that could use Petersons services and would likley be willing to send the Saints a late round draft pick in return.

 

3. Why did it take Dennis Allen 2 games to realize how to utlize Kenny Vaccaro?

 

The Saints IMO have misused one of their best defensive players this season until todays game. Kenny Vaccaro is a very good player but hes a unique player that needs a DC that understands how to utlize him. Similar to Arizona Cardnials hybrid linebacker Deone Buchanan, Kenny Vaccaro needs to be played close to the LOS where he can cover TE's and backs out in the flats while taking avantage of his blitzing and tackling ability. Thus far this season the best alignment ive seen with this second level of defense has been Klein at MLB, Anzalone at WLB and Vaccaro in as a hybrid roving linebacker. The Saints made Roman Haper a star in this role under former DC Greg Williams who Allen coached under during our best years. With Vaccaro possessing many of the qualties Haper did, I just find it crazy that Allen would force feed Vaccaro traditional safety duties when he has young talented players such as Williams and Bell at his disposal.


 

THE UGLY

 

1. Sean Payton's clock managment.

 

Whether its calling a timeout aganist the Vikings allowing Minnesota time to drive down the field for a touchdown in the season opener or allowing the clock to run down today before the half for no specific reason. Its clear that Payton has struggled with his clock managment early on thus far... Lets hope this "Les Miles" version of Sean Payton is just a phase.



 

WHODAT

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Good stuff!

Brees actually did what he's supposed to do, put the ball up and let his guys make plays. That TD pass to Ginn Jr. was really well covered and Brees trusted in Ginn, which is huge considering all of Ginn's drops so far, and his history of dropping passes.

Although not super sexy, this rushing attack actually worked today, which kept Payton on his plan, finally.
Not counting gadget stuff (end around/jet sweep stuff) we had 126 yards rushing on this defense. When was the last time they allowed 100 yards rushing? That's big!! 149 yards with the trickery.

We need to keep Peterson. I know he's not what he used to be, but the minute we dump him, Ingram or Kamara will go down. It's just the luck we have.
Teams still need to game plan for Peterson. The minute they don't, he'll burn 'em down. I'm counting on that happening at least once this season.

I am so impressed with Kamara's balance. This kid may be something special.

Whatever the staff did to get these guys ready, I hope they keep it up!! Next week is going to be a huge test against a Dolphins team that was horrible yesterday, and us coming off a division win. That's a scary combo for us. Seems like a trap in the making.

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11 hours ago, whodatworm23 said:

1. Please explain to me why Ken Crawley was inactive the first 2 weeks of the season.

THIS! He's clearly our best "reserve" CB on the roster. It was evident this preseason and much of last year as well.

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6 hours ago, Mid Iowa said:

Good stuff!

Brees actually did what he's supposed to do, put the ball up and let his guys make plays. That TD pass to Ginn Jr. was really well covered and Brees trusted in Ginn, which is huge considering all of Ginn's drops so far, and his history of dropping passes.

Although not super sexy, this rushing attack actually worked today, which kept Payton on his plan, finally.
Not counting gadget stuff (end around/jet sweep stuff) we had 126 yards rushing on this defense. When was the last time they allowed 100 yards rushing? That's big!! 149 yards with the trickery.

We need to keep Peterson. I know he's not what he used to be, but the minute we dump him, Ingram or Kamara will go down. It's just the luck we have.
Teams still need to game plan for Peterson. The minute they don't, he'll burn 'em down. I'm counting on that happening at least once this season.

I am so impressed with Kamara's balance. This kid may be something special.

Whatever the staff did to get these guys ready, I hope they keep it up!! Next week is going to be a huge test against a Dolphins team that was horrible yesterday, and us coming off a division win. That's a scary combo for us. Seems like a trap in the making.

I agree regarding Peterson. I still think he has some potential for bigger games. He is still a crazy powerful runner even if he doesn't quite have the same top end speed. He made both Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly pay yesterday when they tried to tackle him. Like you said though Ingram or Kamara could go down and we will be scrambling for a replacement. I like how they were all utilized yesterday.

Also another interesting thing to consider is that Peterson has made a good decoy on the play action, which is something I've wanted to see more of the past couple weeks. Here's an example from yesterday. You can see a few defenders key in on Peterson on this play which helps Coleman get open for the TD.

 

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17 hours ago, whodatworm23 said:

THE UGLY

 

1. Sean Payton's clock managment.

 

Whether its calling a timeout aganist the Vikings allowing Minnesota time to drive down the field for a touchdown in the season opener or allowing the clock to run down today before the half for no specific reason. Its clear that Payton has struggled with his clock managment early on thus far... Lets hope this "Les Miles" version of Sean Payton is just a phase.



 

WHODAT

This lmao. The end of the first half I'm sitting there watching the clock tick down yelling at the tv "WHY AREN'T YOU CALLING A TIMEOUT?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Payton has always sucked at clock management. Like all the times he's challenged, when it's pretty clear he wasn't going to win the challenge, and then ended up needing that wasted timeout. 9_9

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2 hours ago, tyler735 said:

I agree regarding Peterson. I still think he has some potential for bigger games. He is still a crazy powerful runner even if he doesn't quite have the same top end speed. He made both Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly pay yesterday when they tried to tackle him. Like you said though Ingram or Kamara could go down and we will be scrambling for a replacement. I like how they were all utilized yesterday.

Also another interesting thing to consider is that Peterson has made a good decoy on the play action, which is something I've wanted to see more of the past couple weeks. Here's an example from yesterday. You can see a few defenders key in on Peterson on this play which helps Coleman get open for the TD.

I loved the stiff arm.

Even more, I loved how well Peterson sold the fake. He didn't just go into blocking mode, he covered up for ball protection and THAT gave Coleman the separation needed. Awesome!!

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I don't think the AP experiment is a failure yet. That said, having 3 talented RBs like this is really hard to balance and Ingram/AP are very similar, but Ingram is better at this point in their careers, so it may very well still be a failure. I know that AP destroying Davis and Kuechly got me hyped though lol. 

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11 hours ago, Spartica4Real said:

I don't think the AP experiment is a failure yet. That said, having 3 talented RBs like this is really hard to balance and Ingram/AP are very similar, but Ingram is better at this point in their careers, so it may very well still be a failure. I know that AP destroying Davis and Kuechly got me hyped though lol. 

This may just be an opinion of mine but one i see eventually becoming a reality... Payton is dealing with some big egos here and sure its fine in a win when all appear to go their way but when the losing starts again (and it will) I think you will begin to see Peterson or Ingram begin to voice their displeasure more and more with their roles.

 

I just feel this team would be better served with Ingram as the starting back and Kamara in his specialist role. With a true backup runner behind Ingram that understands his role win or lose and wont be a distraction at any point. I dont think Peterson is that guy... We'll see

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1 hour ago, whodatworm23 said:

think you will begin to see Peterson or Ingram begin to voice their displeasure more and more with their roles.

Well, Payton's made it clear that if you want out all you gotta do is stir the pot a little. He's laid out a clear exit strategy for players who decide Payton isn't their guy any more. Pretty stupid of him to show his hand like that but he's done it time and time again.

wouldnt be surprised if your prediction hits the nail on the head

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7 minutes ago, domepatrol91 said:

Well, Payton's made it clear that if you want out all you gotta do is stir the pot a little. He's laid out a clear exit strategy for players who decide Payton isn't their guy any more. Pretty stupid of him to show his hand like that but he's done it time and time again.

Nah, Peterson's not worth enough for Payton to cut him. He might trade him for a 7th, but he won't cut him.

Now, Payton may trade Ingram for a 3rd and a water boy so he can start Peterson with Kamara as a backup. That's about how he roles.

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