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By Joel Hammond
jhammond@pigskinpodcast.com
We've discussed it here a number of times, on our NFC South preview show and in our discussion of players with the most pressure on them; I also mentioned it in my chat with John White from Cat Crave, a Carolina Panthers blog.
But just in case everyone doesn't know where I stand, let's tackle (see what I did there?) it one more time: The Saints' offense is under a lot of pressure for the 2008 season, mainly because the Saints' defense could be monumentally improved.
Think about the team's defensive additions: Bobby McCray (18 tackles, 3 sacks), who came over from Jacksonville, joins Will Smith (66 tackles, 7 sacks) and Charles Grant (49 tackles, 2.5 sacks) at defensive end, while first-rounder Sedrick Ellis will likely start immediately at tackle.
Jonathan Vilma, who contentiously battled injuries last year and registered only 43 tackles in seven games with the Jets -- but had 398 tackles the previous three seasons -- joins the fold looking to regain his old form in a 4-3 system. Randall Gay gives the secondary some depth, while Dan Morgan, if healthy, could add a boost to the linebacking corps.
All the new faces will look to improve the Saints' dismal defensive performance from 2007: New Orleans ranked 25th in points allowed, at 24.3, 13th in rushing yards allowed (102.9 YPG) and 30th in passing yards allowed (245.3 YPG). The feeling is that the newcomers in the front seven will help the secondary, and vice versa.
If that happens, will it matter? Can the offense regain the form that took the league by storm in 2006, and, more specifically, can they stop turning the ball over? The Saints turned it over 30 times in 2007, which turned a seemingly dominant unit -- New Orleans, surprisingly to me, was fourth in total yards with 361.3 -- into just a decent one that averaged 23.7 points per game.
By comparison, the teams around New Orleans in total offense -- New England (411.3), Green Bay (370.7 and Dallas (365.7) -- averaged 36.8, 27.2 and 28.4 points per game, respectively.
What will help the offense? Deuce McAllister being healthy is a start, and reports suggest he's progressing. But how about a second receiver to take the load off Marques Colston and running back Reggie Bush? The Saints' receivers, besides Colston (who was eighth in the league with 1,202 yards), were pathetic in 2007: David Patten had 54 catches and 792 yards, while Devery Henderson, supposedly a breakout star, had 20 catches.
Drew Brees will undoubtedly need more help than that.
So last year, it was still a matter of the offense picking up the defense, but if the Saints want to challenge Dallas, Seattle, New York and Green Bay in the NFC, it has to be equal. And with the defense's improvements -- on paper, at least -- New Orleans will be a Super Bowl contender if the offense matches the defense's improvement.
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