National Football League

What the defensive adjustments showed us

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

The Saints defense has been bad. Nothing new. But there were encouraging and revealing signs in the adjustments the Saints defense made for the second half against San Diego.

The defensive adjustments in the second half of the Saints win demonstrated what’s been wrong with the defense through four games. The team lacks the talent to generate pressure with a four-man rush, but the injuries to the secondary have handcuffed Dennis Allen from aggressive play-calling and blitzes.

After blitzing on only 17 percent of passing plays in the first half, Allen sent pressure on 50 percent of passes in the second. The difference, while not earth shattering was clear. The team was able to somewhat take Philip Rivers and the Chargers offense out of their rhythm.

Now, to be clear, it still wasn’t a pretty picture. Allen likely elected not to blitz heavily in order to protect the back end of the field to provide security to a young and injured secondary. When desperation forced his hand, the results were positive. But the now-exposed secondary gave up its fair share of big plays. Particularly on third and long situations, the Chargers were often able to find the soft spot in the coverage.  

But these occasional lapses were still a great improvement over the defense in the first half. And it’s encouraging for the future of the season. But ultimately the problems with the defense are probably too much for a single cornerback, even one as talented as Breaux to fix. The team needs upgrades, or at least improved play at plenty of positions on defense.

But Breaux won’t hurt. And, deep as the Saints are into their cornerback depth chart, the corners played a decent game. They gave up their share of yards, but they were a big part in the win.

More from Who Dat Dish

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Football League