Fewell733 Posted September 22, 2009 Posted September 22, 2009 3 things that will go a long way to limit the Saints scoring - good special teams, good tackling, and avoiding turnovers The vast majority of Saints points against the Eagles came off of short fields caused by turnovers and special teams penalties. Drives turned into touchdown drives by terrible tackling and, admittedly, some truly amazing plays by Brees and his receivers (tough to duplicate week to week). The Eagles strategy wasn't bad on defense, they just really failed to make the tackles they needed to make and the STs and offense put them in very tough spots all game long. A look at the Saints scoring - First Half: Long touchdown drive. Saints move steadily down the field on opening drive of game. (7-0) Special teams - penalty on Eagles punt forces re-punt, which ends up being poor - gives Saints ball around the 50 – drive ends in field goal for Saints. (10-7) Special Teams and Bad Tackling - Special teams penalty by Eagles forces drive start at 1, go three and out, Saints get ball near 50. Big gainer due to poor tackling then a brilliant 25 yard touchdown pass through good coverage. Halftime score is 17-13 Saints Second Half: Special Teams Turnover and Bad Tackling - Eagles fumble opening kickoff, saints recover at Eagles 22. Couple plays get down to the 11. Roll out pass to the fullback, terrible tackling results in touchdown. Should have been a 3 yard gain. Score now 24-13. Turnover - Kolb throws bad interception on 2nd play of drive. Saints ball on Eagles 24 yard line. A few nice plays end in a 8 yard Bell touchdown run. Score now 31-13. Game has gotten out of hand for Eagles quickly. Bad Tackling - Brees bombs it out to Devery Henderson on a 3rd and 11. Ridiculous throw and catch puts the ball at the Eagles 25. Bad tackling on 3rd and 6 keeps drive alive and into goal to go. Eagles stop them, Saints kick field goal (34-13) Special Teams and Bad Tackling - Bad punt gives Saints the ball near the 50. Run the ball effectively ending in a 18 yard Reggie Bush scamper made possible by bad Eagles tackling. (41-20) Turnover - Eagles drive down field, Kolb throws bad interception returned for 98 yard touchdown for Saints. (48-22)
Fan in Chicago Posted September 22, 2009 Posted September 22, 2009 3 things that will go a long way to limit the Saints scoring - good special teams, good tackling, and avoiding turnovers Nice effort in summarizing the plays. As with any other team, we need to tackle well. I am concerned about Brees and co. exploiting the soft middle of the field. I sure hope Fewell puts in schemes to mask for that weakness. We will need turnovers and sustained scoring drives from our O to make a game of it. As was evident in yesterday's MNF game, controlling the clock by itself means little if you don't score lots of points against a high scoring opponent. We are at home and if we play a low mistake/penalty game, we have a real chance here. The Saints are one of the early darlings of the NFL and we have the potential to cause an upset.
Phlegm Alley Posted September 22, 2009 Posted September 22, 2009 Great analysis. After watching the game, I posted my thoughts in another thread that echo some of what you mention in your post. http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?...t&p=1563252
Mr. WEO Posted September 22, 2009 Posted September 22, 2009 Actually, this has not been tough for Brees to reproduce week to week. They don't do it with a couple of TOs and short fields only. Check out 2008.
Fewell733 Posted September 22, 2009 Author Posted September 22, 2009 Actually, this has not been tough for Brees to reproduce week to week. They don't do it with a couple of TOs and short fields only. Check out 2008. I was referring to a couple outstanding throws and catches in the Eagles game which might be tough to reproduce week to week - not general offensive production. last week they scored when they had the ball, most of the time, not all of the time. However they usually didn't have to go very far to score. Forcing them to go the length of the field will make a big difference and making tackles that need to be made will make a big difference.
GOBILLS78 Posted September 22, 2009 Posted September 22, 2009 They're talented offensively, no question about it. Although they've made some improvements personnel-wise on defense, they still can't tackle. The most interesting thing will be seeing the approach Van Pelt comes up with as far as an offensive game plan. Will they try to slow the game down? Keep with the hurry-up? If the Bills play with solid fundamentals and don't cough it up, this game will be close.
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