Saints have flipped switch, put pressure on opponents

By Chris Cluff  |   Wednesday, October 24, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

New Orleans Saints
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As much as the offense was to blame for the New Orleans Saints' slow start, the defense did its part to help dig the 0-4 hole. Likewise, as the offense has turned it around over the past two games, the defense has done its part to help the Saints dig out of the hole.

The misery started in the season opener, when the remade secondary was torched by Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts thanks to a front seven that provided no help. It continued through an 0-4 start in which the Saints could not stop the pass because they could not pressure the passer.

The Saints are 22nd overall in defense -- 27th against the pass, where they are giving up 244 yards per game. Much of the blame for that can be put on the front four because the Saints have just nine sacks - tied for fifth-fewest in the league. Defensive tackle Brian Young and safety Roman Harper have as many sacks as big-money end Charles Grant (two). And the other DE, Will Smith, has just one QB kill after registering 10.5 in 2006.

But, after coming up with just one sack in their 0-4 start, the Saints have turned it on in the past two games. Using pressure they had not incorporated in the first four games, they notched five sacks against Seattle and three more against Atlanta. And they won those games.

The Saints have improved their pass rush because they have used more blitzes and gotten better play from the interior line. Young was injured for most of the preseason and still is not at 100 percent, and fellow tackle Hollis Thomas was demoted after reporting overweight. Then his replacement, Kendrick Clancy, got hurt. But all three have played well recently, and that has helped Smith and Grant -- although those two still could play better.

Coach Sean Payton said it himself: The Saints' improvement has come because of better play on both lines.

"Brian, specifically, did a real good job inside. Kendrick and Hollis both were solid with their effort to the quarterback," Payton told reporters after the Saints' 22-16 win over Atlanta last weekend. "They understood that sometimes it was going to be with a four-man rush and sometimes it was going to be through blitzes. We tried to mix it up and, as that game went on, you saw the pressure and the manner in which the time the quarterback had to throw continued to decrease. That was real important as it came down to the end."

And it will be equally as important for the Saints to keep the pressure on their opponents as they try to make it all the way out of that big hole.
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding, ...
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