Canal Street Chronicles Q & A
by Saintsational on Sep 24, 2008 9:15 AM PDT
8 comments
Greetings Niners Nation. I am Dave a.k.a. Saintsational, blogger from Canal Street Chronicles, SB Nation's Saints blog. Below is a litte briefing on the Saints season thus far as we enter into week 4 and close out the first quarter of the season.
Feel free to ask any questions below and I will check in periodically to answer them. I will also let my readers know about this post and allow them to add their own two cents as well.
Goodluck to you guys this weekend.
Saints Offense
As advertised, this offense is powerful. The Saints are 4th best in yards per game thus far due in large part to the always solid, always brilliant play of Drew Brees who currently leads the league in passing yards with 980. Reggie Bush has returned to his old ways of 2006 and is starting to light it up again after last seasons disappointment, though most of his yardage is coming through the air and not the ground (he leads the league in receptions). Deuce McAllister has not yet had a chance to make an impact on the field yet, but his time should be coming soon. Will he play on Sunday? You're guess is as good as mine.
Unfortunately injuries have plagued our receiving unit. Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey are both out for about a month. Number two wide receiver David Patten is also questionable for Sunday. Devery Henderson, Lance Moore and Robert Meachem will all need to step up this week.
The hot button issue in New Orleans right now is the Saints running game, or the lack thereof. The Saints short yardage running game in particular has hurt the Saints late in the last two games due in large part to poor offensive line play. Getting the running game up and, well, running will be crucial for the Saints in the future.
Saints Defense
The achilles heal of the team last season, the Saints have done much to improve this side of the ball. Jonathan Vilma's knee is okay and he appears to be happy back in a 4-3 defense. He is 6th in the league in tackles thus far. It looks like the Saints made a good choice when selecting first round pick defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis. He has been the day one starter and looks comfortable in the middle of the line. Highly paid defensive ends Will Smith and Charles Grant have played only mediocre so far.
Unfortunately, injuries have taken their toll on this unit as well. Mark Simoneau and Hollis Thomas were both placed on IR, while Scott Fujita, Randall Gay, Aaron Glenn and Antwan Lake have all missed time. Second round pick Tracy Porter, also battling off and on injury, has earned some starting time. The Saints defense, particularly its secondary, has been a revolving door early this season with so many injuries.
This defense in certainly not great but they have kept the team in games so far this season. Though this defense appears to be slightly improved there is still much more room to grow, particularly in stopping the run. Keeping Frank Gore limited this Sunday will be a huge focus for this defense and may determine the outcome of the game.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.
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If we could get like 4 or 5 recommendations for this it’ll bump it up on the FanPost side and keep it around the rest of the week even after it’s moved down the Niners Nation front page.
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by Fooch on Sep 24, 2008 9:24 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Deuce
Given what he’s done in the past, how come Deuce McAllister has seen such limited action? Is it just a matter of slowly working him into the rotation or is he falling further out of favor? I guess is it a question of Pierre Thomas taking his job?
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by Fooch on Sep 24, 2008 9:40 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Eric Johnson
I think, in most 49ers fans eyes, Eric Johnson is fondly remembered. How is he viewed by Saints fans? Just looking at the numbers from last year, he had what looks like an ok year for a TE. Do you think it was worth a 2nd and 5th round pick to upgrade from Eric Johnson to Shockey (ignoring the fact that Shockey is hurt now)?
Neglectful father of David Quinowski
by marcello on Sep 24, 2008 10:11 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Saints CB's
Is the depth chart on ESPN.com accurate? It has Randall Gay and Tracy Porter starting with Mike McKenzie and Jason David backing them up (respectively). Who comes in as the 3rd corner? Is the team pretty excited about what Porter has shown as a rookie or is it more that injuries have dictated his rise up the depth chart? Thanks for doing this, Dave.
by grantmp on Sep 24, 2008 10:18 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Ok I would like to sprinkle some Knowledge If I may...
This will be some hard going for the Saints. Simply put the Saints are a passing offense and the 49ers are 7th in the league at pass defense. It’s not like opposing teams are not trying, 33 Atts/per game, but the 49ers have a third in the league best, AVG yards per Reception (5.5 yards). Also they have not allowed a receiver to gain more than 20 yards in one play. I also don’t want to here how they haven’t a good passing team when they locked down L. Fitzgerald and A. Boldin as well as C. Johnson and R. Williams in two seperate games. Now I know some might be saying Reggie Bush will be a difference maker but count on the 49ers to double team him with a LB and a CB combination, especially with Colston and Shockey out. If the 49ers lock down the pass I’m afraid that the lack of a quality run game might be a problem…
Do you think that Deuce Mcallister will play a big part in the game? Or is their another game breaker?
Next year will be our year! (copyright 2003*, been used each of last five years)
by StrictlyFootball on Sep 24, 2008 10:51 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I know that as an outsider, I’ve been pretty critical of Sean Payton (I also know that most outsiders don’t seem to be). I feel like he’s spent a few years taking teams with immense talent and just getting ordinary results out of them.
How do Saints fans feel about Payton? Is it kind of an “anything’s better than Haslett” vibe (shoot me, by the way, I liked Haslett), is there any frustration that the results haven’t been better with the talent on your team (though I know the defense is and has been a flawed machine), or is there a genuine sense that he’s doing a good job with what he has?
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Sep 24, 2008 1:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Payton
Hello all in Niners land and best of luck this Sunday (well, maybe not best of luck, I’d still like the Saints to get the W). My view of Payton has been relatively good during his tenure, although I’ve been very frustrated with him over the past two weeks over the non-use of my favorite Saint—Deuce McAllister. # 26 has been standing on the sideline for entire games with his helmet on like he’s just itching to get some action and then doesn’t get any reps except for two against the Skins. With the struggles of the run game, my main frustration with Payton is that he doesn’t really explain WHY? We just have to assume that he genuinely doesn’t want to rush him back too soon in the season and risk losing him forever. I hope Deuce gets some reps this Sunday.
As for our feelings for Payton, we loved him in 2006 after getting the Saints to the NFC Championship. 2007 was plagued by injuries (McAllister, Bush, McKenzie, E. Johnson, Stecker, and on and on and on). Plus, the Saints came out flat and started the season 0-4, which they could never bounce back from. Even though Payton didn’t have a good season last year, I didn’t really hear any sane people call for firing him, so we all mostly gave him a pass on the 7-9 season in hopes that it would get better for this season. I really like the roster changes they made over the offseason as they mainly addressed the team’s greatest weakness—the defense. Jason David was a huge target last season for opposing offenses because of his inability to adapt to Gary Gibb’s defensive schemes and has thankfully fallen way down the depth chart.
I’m just waiting to see how Payton navigates through all of the injured and suspended players we now have and how the team ultimately does over the next month to compensate for their temporary absences. All in all, I still think Payton is probably the best coach the Saints have ever had. He seems to run a tighter ship with more player accountability than Haslet did. Although, if he doesn’t get my main man Deuce some reps soon or at least better explain why not, I may start losing my admiration for him.
Go Saints!!!!
by satchmo26 on Sep 24, 2008 2:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Should be a good one
Reggie Bush power running vs. the Niners D-Line… it’s like a cavalclade of EPIC FAIL.
Seriously, Bush vs. Willis is going to be fun.
My guess is, the Niners trust their pass d and try to shut down Brees, which will alllow the Saints running room.
SHOOTOUT!
FIRE BRIAN SABEAN
by zenbitz on Sep 24, 2008 10:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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