49ers Vs. Saints: Dealing With The Blitz
by David Fucillo on Jan 10, 2012 7:30 AM PST
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PrintThe 49ers and Saints squared off at the start of the preseason and the big story was how much the Saints defense blitzed. Alex Smith spent a sizable portion of his time in the game struggling to avoid the onslaught of blitzes. The story that creeped out was something to do with Sean Payton being displeased by Jim Harbaugh's failure to call him about setting up some sort of gentleman's agreement regarding some of the ground rules.
In a vacuum, a "gentleman's agreement" sounds a little odd, and Coach Harbaugh acknowledged as much in his press conference yesterday. He was asked if he knew anything about this and he said:
No, I don't. I really don't. Don't know anything about that. You hate to deal with hypotheticals. What somebody might have said and what somebody didn't say. It really becomes irrelevant. Certainly not aware of any gentleman's agreement. Even asked my brother. ‘Is there some kind of gentleman's agreement that you call a coach before a preseason game?' And he wasn't aware of any. Even if there was, we wouldn't do it anyway. We ask no quarter, we give no quarter, and that's how we approach things.
Whether or not Sean Payton was pissed off about something, the 49ers players who have played under Gregg Williams indicated he is a big fan of blitzing no matter what the scenario. Carlos Rogers and Jonathan Goodwin both stated Williams was a heavy blitzer, with Goodwin even indicating that Williams would blitz extra in practice.
The question will be how effective that pass rush can be five months after they ran over the 49ers all night long in the Superdome. The Saints will bring blitzes from all over and keep the 49ers on their toes at all corners. The Saints get a decent amount of their pressure from their defensive line and Joe Staley will have his hands full with defensive end Will Smith. However, the Saints leading sack man is strong safety Roman Harper, which creates some additional work for the 49ers backs and tight ends.
Given the safety and corner blitzes the 49ers can expect to see on Saturday, it makes the running and full backs and the tight ends all the more important. The 49ers backs have generally done a good job in blitz pickup, but there have been enough slip-ups over the course of the season that it will be something to pay close attention to on Saturday. Justin Peelle has done more in the blocking side of his role, but the potential absence of Delanie Walker could still be felt.
The 49ers don't want to get into any kind of offensive shootout with the Saints, but if they can give Alex Smith some time in the pocket, the Saints defense has enough weaknesses that the 49ers can get them on their heels. If the 49ers pass protection can pick up the Williams blitzes as the Saints try and make Alex Smith beat them, maybe this offense can in fact do some big things this Saturday.
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Are their blitzes that exotic?
Watching some games of theirs from the season it seems as though they’re mostly overload blitzes that are pretty apparent pre snap. Am I way off in thinking that two weeks to dissect this defense will allow our coaches to create a pretty sound plan on how to deal with Williams and his “blitz no matter what” philosophy?
"We ask no quarter, we give no quarter" - Jim Harbaugh
Well we only have 1 week
where we knew it was going to be the Saints and could focus on their blitz philosophy.
They had 2 weeks
They’d already played the Giants. It was safe to prepare for the Saints for the extra week for the most part.
Draft: 1. Kendall Wright 2. Trumaine Johnson
FA: Smith, Morgan, Brooks, Rogers, Snyder
by whistlingmountain on Jan 10, 2012 8:22 AM PST up reply actions
I don't agree
I don’t think you spend time guessing who your opponent is going to be. The time can be better spent working on your own plays not working on something that you might not see.
Harbaugh stated several times that they were studying the Saints during the bye week
"We ask no quarter, we give no quarter" - Jim Harbaugh
I agree
It seems that all the Saints do it bring a lot of people. Since Harper is a safety and gets to the line of scrimage last it makes sense he has the most sacks since all the offensive players are already engaged with someone.
I think 2 weeks is more then enough time to figure out how to deal with the pressure. I would expect to see a lot of quick passes. That would keep the rushers away.
I still worry that the 49ers do not effectively exploit blitzing teams over the top
It allows teams to take “risks” without much worry of giving up a 70 yard TD.
Draft: 1. Kendall Wright 2. Trumaine Johnson
FA: Smith, Morgan, Brooks, Rogers, Snyder
by whistlingmountain on Jan 10, 2012 8:24 AM PST up reply actions
Ineffective
…for the most part. The Saints show blitz on nearly every down. That’s the only thing that can get little confusing. We also rush 3 more than any other team. The inconsistency is what can confuse offenses, but our d-line hasn’t been very effective. Even with blitzing, opposing QBs generally have a lot of time to make plays.
This.
What makes the saints unpredictable isn’t that they use exotic blitzes, it’s that they sometimes show blitzes but end up dropping 8 into coverage. The niners have to be careful and not overreact to blitz looks.
That said, the saints aren’t the ravens — their blitzes aren’t crazy, and they didn’t seem to be particularly effective in the lions game. Here’s hoping the o-line can hold up.
by ninerspride on Jan 10, 2012 8:50 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Thought I'd add some stats...
If you breakdown the sack numbers from both teams, it tells you a couple things about the Saints. One thing is that they do seem to use a lot of personal (which could also be exotic packages) to get pressure. The other thing that it could say is that they need to constantly find matchups and/or send Safeties to get sacks/pressure. The result could be man to man coverage and potential room for decent to big plays.
The Saints had 33 sacks this year by 15 different players (5 LBs, 3 DBs, 7 DE/DTs). The leaders were:
Sharper (SS) – 7.5
Will Smith (DE) – 6.5
Junior Galette (DE) – 4.5
On the flip side, Niners had 42 getting to that with 8 players which include all starting front 7 players plus Larry Grant.
Aldon (DE/LB) – 14
Cowboy (DE/DT) – 7.5
Brooks (LB) – 7
To me, that looks like the guys who need to get pressure are getting pressure without Fangio needing to send extra guys. Additionally, the sack leaders by a long margin are down linemen or pass rushers. This means we have 4 DBs plus Willis/Bowman roaming the secondary. 6 guys in coverage is a definite advantage since NO will delay either TEs and RBs to chip or help the line.
This is going to be an awesome match up and I am literally on the edge of my seat because either way this goes, people will not take the Niners lightly any more.
"Gentlemen's agreement" sounds a lot like an "Indecent Proposal"
So far, 2011 has been Harbaugh-some!
Follow @grantmp1
This is one of the more important battles in this game...
particularly, how the 49ers deal with the Saints blitzing on 3rd downs. Against Detroit, the Saints almost always blitzed with 5 or 6 rushers on 3rd downs, with mixed success. In fact, once they were up comfortably, I was suprised to see them continue to blitz, because why risk the big play? But, Williams never let up.
To me, this is is a real key to this game. The 49ers have struggled on 3rd down, and at times, have really struggled with the blitz. I expect that Harbaugh will have a few designed screens, a couple of quick hit runs, and a few slants to throw at the Saints in hope of catching them in a blitz and conversely, hitting for some big plays…
"Granted, this is not a great situation, but when all you have is lemons, you add some vodka to dull the pain..."
I think the reason
the saints can do this is because they are NOT worried about giving up a big play or two, as long as they get a few sacks or turnovers.
[Poorly Wrought THING] is what Brian Sabean would have made if he were a [THING-maker] instead of a MLB GM
by zenbitz on Jan 10, 2012 10:47 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
The Saints defense is pressure-heavy, yes...
but when we draw conclusions from what happened in a preseason game, we’re failing from an analytical standpoint for at least 3 reasons:
1) The Saints were blitzing against a Niners O-Line that had been together for a scant 2 weeks, and a pass offense that was in the early stages of its installation. This means that the Niners weren’t game-planning based on film study, the blocking personnel wasn’t the same as the current group (Goodwin in for Snyder, Snyder in for Chilo), the line wasn’t yet cohesive, and the receivers weren’t yet fully conversant in how to react to pressure.
2) The Saints were at home. It’s always an advantage for a blitzing offense when the OL can’t hear the snap count. The same could be said for the OLine’s failure against the Ravens. It was a product of good game-planning by the Ravens, but a quiet Candlestick is a place I want this offense to work.
So far, 2011 has been Harbaugh-some!
Follow @grantmp1
3rd reason
3) The Saints have been blitzing for 17 full weeks. The Niners have that tape and Jonathan Goodwin happens to have been a Saint for the past number of seasons. Both of those bode well for the 49ers’ ability to make adjustments to what they see.
So far, 2011 has been Harbaugh-some!
Follow @grantmp1
Thinkin" the Niners need the tempo of the game to be up and efficent ...
… they need to get to the line of scrimmage in due coarse to make the proper reads , wouldn’t be surprised if we see a little No-huddle going on if they see a Defense they can take advantage of and keep the Saints rotation off the field …!!
I'm your " Huckelberry "...it's just my game ..( .AleX ) was asked , what do you think about all the game manager talk ... AleX i guess i just managed myself a VIctory ... Extend the Man ...!!
edggy.. you live in the wake of a grammatical tornado
Draft: 1. Kendall Wright 2. Trumaine Johnson
FA: Smith, Morgan, Brooks, Rogers, Snyder
by whistlingmountain on Jan 10, 2012 8:27 AM PST up reply actions
Hmmm , does that mean I suck with grammatical deficiency ...!!
I'm your " Huckelberry "...it's just my game ..( .AleX ) was asked , what do you think about all the game manager talk ... AleX i guess i just managed myself a VIctory ... Extend the Man ...!!
That means there was a nice little grammar town
then a tornado went through it
and that is where you currently reside.
Draft: 1. Kendall Wright 2. Trumaine Johnson
FA: Smith, Morgan, Brooks, Rogers, Snyder
by whistlingmountain on Jan 10, 2012 8:33 AM PST up reply actions
Heard some Saints players on interviews say....
“We going to punch them in the mouth from the get go. We recognize it may be a dog fight, but we can do what we want, when we want ,to who we want anytime. We will get ahead and no one can match us”
Good
It always bodes well for a team when an opponent buys in to their own hype.
"We ask no quarter, we give no quarter" - Jim Harbaugh
Well
You have to agree that your team is just as confident sounding. I don’t know how you can justify your team for being confident in being able to do what they have done all season and discount another team for doing the same thing. Seems incredibly hypocritical to me.
I like Hamburgers!
Uh oh...better put an Asterisk on it.
We're talking about players (at least I was :p )
I haven’t heard of any 49ers players saying anything to that effect. As fans, we all talk smack and support our team. I was more referring to it being beneficial when an opponent’s PLAYERS believe they’re unbeatable and can do whatever they want.
Of course if a 49ers player did say something similar then I’m wrong but I haven’t seen anything like that yet. (Of course I personally haven’t seen a NO player say it either, just going off what BigMar stated)
"We ask no quarter, we give no quarter" - Jim Harbaugh
I was talking about players
I have heard “confident comments” from some Niners players. I listen to the NFL network all day at work.
But simply put I think that is also the message that Payton and Williams are giving to their players. Pedal to the metal. They won’t be letting up on anyone as they want to build on the confidence the team has. That is exactly why they haven’t been coasting or pulling back in the last 4-5 games. They want to get out onto the field and show as a team that they can achieve their goals and if the other teams don’t like it tough s***. May not be the politically correct thing to do, but its professional football and I love it.
I like Hamburgers!
Uh oh...better put an Asterisk on it.
Andy Lee...
saying he thinks he can punt a ball 40 yards against the Saints isn’t the same a Saints player saying: “…we can do what we want, when we want ,to who we want anytime…”
But whatevs, the whole world (sans Deion Sanders) seems to think this is a non-game for the Saints. More the better for the Niners.
Haven't heard a peep from Andy Lee
Try to check out some media on Vernon Davis. Was just on NFL network.
I like Hamburgers!
Uh oh...better put an Asterisk on it.
File a complaint
To Goodell, maybe he’ll discipline him
Another kneeslapper
The hits keep a’ comin from you. Your insight and contributions are invaluable.
I like Hamburgers!
Uh oh...better put an Asterisk on it.
Most basic important simple keys to beating Saints....
Offense:
Our O-Line HAS to kick the crap out of the Saints D…then all goes well for 9ers Offense.
Defense:
Our front 7 HAS to kick the crap out of Dree Brees…Then we win the game.
There you go, the 2 basic most simplest keys.
Principal keys to address
I wish it was just that simple.If so Brees wouldn’t have thrown for the NFL’s single season passing record. If we can get to Brees & plug the middle things are going our way. Otherwise the Saints train will just roll down the track to a victory to advance & send the 49ers home. Need to play well in all categories to come away victorious. Saints will score their points. Can SF keep this game close. Offense has to move the ball do give the D their much needed rest to have the ability to put this pressure on Brees for 4 full quarters. Mistakes Kill! Cant loose on the turnover game. Short fields for Brees normally means death.
Take a wait & see attitude toward these comments. Are the 49ers going able to step up & protect Alex. You will know how things are going when Alex looks down towards the ground early after the snap. If so this bodes poor for SF. Otherwise this onslaught can be slowed down just as Detroit did in the opening series with quick efficient completed passes to the hot receivers. We must identify these situations when they shows themselves. This should slowed the blitzing schemes that Williams applies.
As for the Niner’s D Graham will have to be in check as he is a go to receiver for Brees. No rush : no win period. Brees will stay in the pocket & pick you apart. Force Brees out of the pocket & make him basically a 1/2 field QB. Do not let him step up into a clear open pocket. He’s only 6’ tall & tall in the middle so plug the center of the pocket with their hands up would cause turnovers due to his inability to see secondary spying on him. Key of the game : Mistakes & starting field position. Cannot give Saints a short field to work with. Make N.O. travel the length of the field to score. Lee, Akers need big games. Again no mental mistakes as Detroit. When you have them down in the score put them away otherwise you are looking forward to a extremely long afternoon.
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