You know those people. They're the casualest of football fans. Their insight typically extends as far as "Hey, that Peyton Manning is a pretty good quarterback." And yet, they're not satisfied letting you wallow in your team's 0-3 start. No, they've got to tell you what your favorite team is doing wrong. They're everywhere, and they all want to explain to me that the reason the Saints are losing is because of their defense.And yeah, the Saints' defense has been just two or three steps below bad, but they're really no worse than they were last year. So what's the difference between 2006 and 2007?
Our own Michael David Smith knows, and he explains over at Football Outsiders.
The biggest problem facing the Saints is the offensive line, and until that problem gets straightened out, the best story of the last NFL season is going to continue to be the biggest disappointment of this NFL season.And the game before that. And the game before that. The problem isn't that Drew Brees is suddenly a bad quarterback, or that Reggie Bush is a bust, it's that the line hardly cares to block. MDS correctly notes that the team used a lot of tricks to mask their shortcomings last year (they also lost starting tight end Mark Campbell, a good blocker), and I wouldn't be surprised to see the unit blown up at some point this year, with youngsters Andy Alleman and Zach Strief replacing Nesbit and Stinchcomb, respectively. Something's gotta be done to fix this disaster.
I generally dislike the mentality of treating an offensive line as one unit, rather than treating each of the five players on the line as individuals. But the fact is, left tackle Jammal Brown, left guard Jamar Nesbit, center Jeff Faine, right guard Jahri Evans and right tackle Jon Stinchcomb all had bad games Monday night.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Amen! The Oline makes the QB better - which makes the offense better - which allows the D to rest and be better. It's tough for Brees to be effective when defenses can get smothering pressure (did you see the Titan's game?) with only four guys and then drop seven into coverage.
Unless you are one deep team, it's tough to be on the field 55+% of the time as defenders.
The offensive line has been the problem of the Saints offensive woes. I am sure that the players will get their act together after the bye week or it will be Onepeat bumper stickers in Saints fans cars again.