Category Archives: New Orleans Saints
Just how important is Drew Brees to the Saints?
There is no doubt the New Orleans Saints are dependent on quarterback Drew Brees but just how much are they? Are the Saints like the Colts? Are they basically a one-man team? I realize that in even considering this, it’s tremendously insulting to the many other professionals within the Saints’ organization to speculate that their efforts are potentially marginally impactful and, instead, the fate of the team rests mostly on the performance of one elite player. It’s disconcerting to say the least.
9 unlikely candidates for Saints’ interim coaching vacancy
With the news that New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton will indeed serve a one year suspension for his role in the bounty scandal the question has to be asked why would Bill Parcells even consider the Saints job? Here are three reasons Parcells would consider the Saints position and nine other unlikely candidates who could fill the New Orleans coaching vacancy.
4 interim coaches the Saints should pursue: Gruden possible?
On Monday NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld the season long suspension of New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton for his role in bounty gate. Other than the fact that he was the head coach at the time no details have arisen stating to what extent Payton knew of or was involved with the bounty program ran by his former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. According to NFL.com with the decision to uphold his previous ruling the Saints are officially looking for an interim head coach for the 2012 season. Here are five possible candidates.
Hurricane Bounty: A storm of truth for New Orleans
The New Orléans Saints are one of the best comeback stories not only in the NFL, but in the history of sports. It took the Saints 41 years to finally win a Super Bowl and it was not easy. After being hit by Hurricane Katrina, one of the most catastrophic storms the United States has ever seen, behind the arm of Drew Brees, this team fought through adversity for their city and was able to bring back what every city covets; the Vince Lombardi Trophy and hope.
Saints agree to terms with Marques Colston
The New Orleans Saints have managed to keep their top wide receiver as just before 2012 NFL Free Agency started they agreed to a five-year contract that will keep Marques Colston in New Orleans through 2016.
Drew Brees: Player profile
Born January 15, 1979 in Dallas, TX, Drew Brees or legally, Andrew Christopher Brees, attended Westlake HS in Austin, where he lettered in Football, Basketball and Baseball. In 1996, as a senior, Drew led his High School team to a perfect 16-0 season. Under his leadership, they also won the 5A State Championship and Drew was named the 5A Offensive Player of the Year.
2012 NFL draft: Possible selections for the New Orleans Saints
The 2011 New Orleans Saints will mostly be remembered for the offensive explosion by way of Drew Brees and company as Brees broke the single season passing record once set by Dan Mario by passing for 5,476 yards.
The Saints were able to get by the Detroit Lions in the 2011 playoffs but were eventually knocked out by the San Francisco 49ers.
Saints Bounty Mess
How many people do you think are currently scurrying around the NFL offices looking at tape of every single New Orleans Saints game over the past few years?
Bounty Gate: Gregg Williams should be praised not punished
St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was recently summoned to New York to meet with NFL security officials regarding an investigation that revealed Williams had a bounty system in place with the New Orleans Saints from 2009-11.
2012 mock draft: NFC South edition
My Divisional Mock Draft break down takes us to the NFC South where it featured two teams in the NFC playoffs and both were unsuccessful in making it to the Super Bowl.
Californiacation: West Coast Curse Could Follow Saints
The West Coast isn’t for everyone this time of year; just ask Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. Last year, as the defending Super Bowl champions, the Saints fell to Seattle Seahawks in the Wildcard round of the playoffs to the tune of 41-36. This year, they will try to avoid the same fate against a very similar team in the San Francisco 49ers.
The Saints offense has propelled them to be the favorite on the road this weekend. Drew Brees will be trying to run up the score early with his explosive offense against a possession oriented, run-first offense. This all sounds too familiar…
Furthermore, the San Francisco 49ers will try to utilize Frank Gore in the same fashion that the Seahawks used Marshawn Lynch last year. Jim Harbaugh isn’t dumb. To stop one of the most explosive offenses and one of the hottest quarterbacks in NFL history, you have to run the ball… a lot. Saints’ fans will rebuttal with the fact that they only let up about one hundred and nine yards per game this year. Then gurus will point out that last season they only let up one hundred and twelve yards per game, and that didn’t stop Lynch from going into a skittles-fueled “beast-mode.”
Another factor not often mentioned, is the atmosphere that the crowd will make at Candlestick Park. The crowd played a big role in the upset last year in Seattle. Obviously, Seattle’s “12th Man” is one of the best in the league and Candlestick is an old baseball stadium that is on its last leg. However, this will be the 49er’s first home playoff game since their 2002 Wildcard victory against the New York Giants. Trust me, the fans in the Bay Area will be very lively during this encounter, thus creating problems for the Saints’ offense.
Of course, this is a new year and the Saints have picked up their game from last year. Also, they seem to be even garnering the popular vote to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons. However, don’t be surprised if Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Aldon Smith, and Co. leave a mark on the Saints so profound that Brees won’t even want to attend the EPSY’s in L.A. later on this year to keep free of that West Coast air.
Steve Gross is a Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag and can be contacted at SGross@ThePenaltyFlagBlog.com
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- Surging Saints Could Knock Off Perfect Packers (thepenaltyflagblog.com)
Catching The Mark: Saints’ Receivers Make Life A Brees For Drew
Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints had one of the most prolific passing seasons ever, eclipsing Dan Marino’s 27-year-old single-season passing record in only 15 games. Brees is usually among the league’s passing leaders year in and year out but you don’t accomplish a feat like that without quality receivers which the Saints have in abundance.
The Saints’ receiving core is so good that Brees’ top five receivers all caught 50 or more passes this season. Tight end Jimmy Graham led the Saints with 99 receptions, Darren Sproles had 86, Marques Colston caught 80 passes, Lance Moore had 52 and Pierre Thomas caught 50.
As you can see Brees loves to spread the ball around but having that many guys catch that many passes is just insane. Brees is also one of the best at putting the ball in places where only his receiver can catch it but what really sets him apart as a passer is his ability to place the ball where his receivers can gain yards after the catch.
The Saints were ranked second overall in yards-after-the-catch (YAC) with 2,534 of Brees’ record 5,476 passing yards coming after the catch. That’s over 46% of the total yards Brees passed for on the season. As accurate as Brees is and as good of a job he does putting his receivers in good positions, those YAC numbers are more a testament to the play-making abilities of his receivers.
The most dangerous guy in the group is running back and return man Darren Sproles. Sproles was a great offseason acquisition for New Orleans and ended the season ranked second in the league with 724 yards-after-the-catch. Sproles usually got the ball on screens and dump offs but his explosive speed and elusiveness allowed him to make big plays once he got the ball in his hands.
Graham and Thomas also ranked in the top 20 in yards-after-the-catch. Although not as explosive as Sproles, Thomas was also used on screens and dump offs coming out of the backfield. Graham on the other hand was just a matchup nightmare with his height, speed and athleticism. He’s too fast for linebackers and too tall for defensive backs to cover. He was also the only non-wide receiver to rank in the top ten in catches of over 25 yards.
Only two other teams had multiple players rank in the top 20 in YAC which just goes to further illustrate how big of a role the Saints’ receivers played in helping Brees break the record. On top of that, the Saints were the only team to have more than one player rank in the top ten in yards-per-game.
With Thomas, Sproles and Graham wreaking so much havoc on an opposing team’s defensive coverage, it just opens things up for when Brees does throw to his wide receivers. Speedsters like Devery Henderson, Lance Moore and Robert Meachem all had at least one touchdown over 40 yards during the season. Then teams still have find a way to keep the big 6’4” 225-pound, Marques Colston from using his size and craftiness to find open spots in the defense.
So as you can see, the Saints’ receiving core was very instrumental in helping Brees break Marino’s record. Now the challenge is to see if this group can help Brees carry New Orleans back to the Super Bowl. Catching a record is one thing but if they can catch fire in the playoffs then the New Orleans Saints could be celebrating their second championship in three years.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Featured Journalist for The Penalty Flag and can be contacted at RHall@ThePenaltyFlagBlog.com. Follow him on Twitter @rhall_tpfb.
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