ESPN MacMahon: Pass D's concerns run deep vs. Saints

[WoodysGirl]

Dec 18 11:51AM CT

By Tim MacMahon

The Dallas Cowboys’ defense didn’t fare well against the San Diego Chargers’ vertical passing game. If those flaws aren’t fixed, they will be exposed Saturday night by the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints are the best in the league in lot of offensive categories. Downfield passing is one of them.

According to Stats, Inc., the Saints have the most completions (28), yards (1,089) and touchdowns (10) on passes that are thrown more than 20 yards downfield. And there is a gap of more than 300 yards between the Saints and Chargers, who rank second in yardage on such throws.

Drew Brees does not have a cannon by NFL quarterback standards, but he is incredibly accurate in the vertical passing game. New Orleans has completed 57.1 percent of plus-20-yard passes this season. To put that into perspective, Tony Romo has completed 22.9 percent of such throws this season. The Saints are the only team with a completion percentage higher than 44.

Why are the Saints so successful throwing deep?

“They’re so effective throwing it everywhere,” Wade Phillips said. “They hit a lot of short passes on you, and you get frustrated. You get frustrated with them hitting it in front of you, hitting it in front of you, and all of a sudden, they make a short-route move and go deep. They’ve hurt a lot of people on that.”

Now Brees has the Cowboys’ secondary in his cross-hairs.

 

[Cover 2]

Secondary is going to need to play disciplined for us to have a shot.

 

[BlueAndSilverSurfer]

our pass D is awful; always out of place, late to the ball, getting burned, not making tackles

 

[DaBoys4Life]

I can already hear the excuses from Wade.

 

[RS12]

Dallas secondary will determine the outcome of the game.

 

[WoodysGirl]

They're not awful, but they're not a shutdown group either.

 

[ethiostar]

They're not awful, but they're not a shutdown group either.

You are right WG.

According to nfl.com (and if i'm reading it right), they have given up 38 completions for 20 plus yards and are tied 18th. They have given up 5 completions for 40 plus yards and they are tied 6th in the league.

 

[DaBoys4Life]

They're not awful, but they're not a shutdown group either.

I thought they we're I mean thats what people were saying before the 2nd giants game.

 

[Idgit]

I thought they we're I mean thats what people were saying before the 2nd giants game.

We held SD to their lowest point total of the year and had held them to 10 points total through the first 3 and a half quarters. That's a pretty good offense, too.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Scandrick struggles particularly when receivers stop short and then go deep

 

[craig71]

I think the defense has alot of the same problems as the offense.Someone is missing an assignment,not getting a good jam on the receiver at inoppurtune moments.Those things go back to attention to detail in my opinion.

I also think the pressure is lacking at times,some of those blitz schemes just aren't working.Matter of fact some of those schemes resemble Zimmers defense,his blitzes weren't that good either.

They do need some help at the safety position.How many picks do the safeties have?

I think something else that is needed on the defense is an attitude player.Brooking has a little attitude but his play is fading as the season progresses.This defense needs that Ray Lewis type figure that can talk the talk as well as walk the walk.I don't know where that player is but they need to find one.

Craig

 

[wileedog]

We held SD to their lowest point total of the year and had held them to 10 points total through the first 3 and a half quarters. That's a pretty good offense, too.

They also held on to the ball almost the entire 2nd half, including 11+ minutes in the 4th quarter.

Just because we stopped the big play for the most part doesn't mean the defense was stopping them.

 

[Rampage]

We held SD to their lowest point total of the year and had held them to 10 points total through the first 3 and a half quarters. That's a pretty good offense, too.

than we gave up 10 more in the 4th quarter right on que

 

[jobberone]

Dallas secondary will determine the outcome of the game.

They will be very important but the game will hinge on getting pressure on Brees.

 

[big dog cowboy]

If we were ever have a record setting sack performance from our D, tomorrow night would be the time to do it.

 

[thisisepic]

We shut down the Eagles deep passing game did we not? We can do it, it's for sure not impossible.

 

[Idgit]

They also held on to the ball almost the entire 2nd half, including 11+ minutes in the 4th quarter.

Just because we stopped the big play for the most part doesn't mean the defense was stopping them.

Stopping the big plays and limiting their points does mean we were stopping them. SD has a very good offense. Holding them to 20 was a decent accomplishment and not something we should be pretending is a sign of collapse.

 

[craig71]

Stopping the big plays and limiting their points does mean we were stopping them. SD has a very good offense. Holding them to 20 was a decent accomplishment and not something we should be pretending is a sign of collapse.

I don't think the players quit in the game.But I do think that the time consuming drives that both teams put together limited scoring oppurtunities to an extent.

Craig

 

[dbair1967]

We shut down the Eagles deep passing game did we not? We can do it, it's for sure not impossible.

The Saints passing game is in a totally different league than the Eagles....everything about the Saints offense is in a totally different league as a matter of fact.

 

[Idgit]

I don't think the players quit in the game.But I do think that the time consuming drives that both teams put together limited scoring oppurtunities to an extent.

Craig

Oh, I agree. We needed a stop and a play on defense in the fourth quarter, and we obviously didn't make it. But that's not the same thing as a defensive collapse. We also could have put ourselves in position to avoid that drive by capitalizing on the plays that were there to be made earlier on offense.