DEL.ICIO.USFalcons have trouble with Saints’ rush
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, December 07, 2008
New Orleans — Four weeks ago, New Orleans threw a deep ball on their first play from scrimmage against the Falcons.
On Sunday, they ran it.
Bob Andres/bandres@ajc.com
The Saints, with Reggie Bush in the lineup, ran for a season-high 184 yards against the Falcons.
Four weeks ago, the Saints’ Drew Brees passed for 294 yards in the fourth quarter alone.
On Sunday, he threw for 230 yards in four quarters against Atlanta.
Four weeks ago, the Saints didn’t have Reggie Bush at their disposal and their other running backs combined for only 14 carries and 65 yards.
On Sunday, with Bush back in action, the Saints running backs had twice as many carries (28), for nearly three times as many yards (182).
Four weeks ago in Atlanta, the Saints lost. Sunday in New Orleans, they won. That was no coincidence. Nor was it a coincidence, perhaps, that the Saints scored the winning touchdown on a 5-yard touchdown run by Pierre Thomas.
That score was set up, by the way, by a fourth-and-1 fullback dive, when a field goal would have tied it. The Saints were going to let their running game win the game.
Afterward, Falcons coach Mike Smith sounded about as harsh as he’ll sound in a press conference, when asked about the Falcons’ run defense Sunday.
“Not up to our standards at all,” Smith said.
Thomas finished with 102 yards on 16 carries. Bush had with 80 yards on 10 carries, and another 26 yards on three receptions.
What troubled Falcons strong safety Lawyer Milloy was the view he was getting from the secondary.
“As a safety I haven’t seen those holes in a long time,” Milloy said. “It was tough. And very effective.”
A big part of the problem for the Falcons was they were so geared up for the pass, they’d get caught defending runs in their nickel package, with five defensive backs — which they call their “sub” defense — where Chevis Jackson comes in as a third cornerback and middle linebacker Curtis Lofton goes out.
That created a vacuum in the middle that Bush was happy to fill. His first carry of the game, he went 43 yards on a draw play. Thomas carried twice on draw plays for 18 yards apiece.
“It was definitely a curveball for us that we didn’t adjust to,” Milloy said.
It’s hard to blame the Falcons, when they were facing a team that came into the game first in the NFL in passing (316.9 yards per game) and 28th in the NFL in rushing (88.3 yards per game).
And the Falcons can sense frustration, like everybody else, when Bush hints at wanting more rushing calls from pass-happy coach Sean Payton. Bush explained after the game Sunday that everybody knows the run sets up the pass. “It’s football 101,” he said.
The Saints played it that way Sunday — backward from what they very often do — and worked it to perfection.
“We played against a really good offense,” linebacker Keith Brooking said. “Bottom line is we left a lot of plays out there. I feel like we let our offense down.”
Brooking said Xs and Os aside, the Falcons should have done better.
“They ran a couple different run plays at us they hadn’t really shown a lot in our breakdown of the film; that’s no excuse,” he said. “You let your technique take care of that. As long as you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, taking care of your responsibility, it doesn’t matter what they line up and run. We should be able to stop them.”
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