Sunday Football Afterword: Saints vs Falcons

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was under duress all afternoon
against a revamped Saints defense led by Rob Ryan.

Eric Meyer

Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints returned with a bang with a great win over the reigning division champion Falcons.  The outcome wasn’t a shock to most, but the big surprise was that the Saints won the game on the backs of their defense instead of their vaunted offense.  New Orleans, under new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, managed to get three sacks on quarterback Matt Ryan and came up with a goal line stand in the last minute of the game to seal the win.

Atlanta came out firing in the first quarter, scoring a touchdown on their second drive and opening with a 10-0 lead.  The Saints answered with a field goal of their own, and then made a game changing play when they forced a fumble on promising wide receiver Julio Jones.  The subsequent drive ended with a Brees touchdown pass to Marques Colston, and the Saints added an additional field goal to go into halftime with a 13-10 lead.

The Falcons and Saints each exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter, when the Saints’ typically dominant offense began to show some cobwebs.  Drew Brees was late on throws all day and clearly wasn’t as sharp as we are used to seeing, missing several deep routes and throwing an interception to give the Falcons great field position and an opportunity to turn the game on its head.  But the Saints’ defense did the unthinkable, and stiffened once again to force a punt, and they kept the Falcons off the board for the remainder of the game to seal a satisfying win against their bitter rivals.

Atlanta showed some promise of their own, with big games from Harry Douglas and newly acquired running back Steven Jackson.  Unfortunately, some of the concern about their offensive line proved to be warranted, as Matt Ryan was under pressure all afternoon.  Still, you can expect the Falcons to be in the playoff hunt all season.

The Saints’ first win was as promising as a Week 1 victory can get.  While the offense wasn’t as sharp as usual, one has to expect that they will find their rhythm and be a juggernaut once again this season, especially with Sean Payton resuming his play-calling duties.  The concern, as always with the Saints, is their defense, but if they can consistently perform as they did on Sunday, you can expect to see this team right in the Super Bowl mix come January.

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Ryan too Complex for Saints?

Rob Ryan was fired as the Cowboys' DC in early January. He
will fill the same role for the New Orleans Saints in 2013.
Photo credit to AOL Sporting News.

The Dallas Cowboys executive vice president said this week that Rob Ryan was fired for using too many schemes in his defense, putting aside any scapegoat theories many of us had.

Complexity on defense is generally thought to be a good thing. If you have more looks to throw at the other team than their quarterback and coaches can handle, you often have the upper hand and a better chance of winning the game.

But how much is too much? When the Cowboys were at full strength defensively, they were among the best units in the NFC. But as injuries piled up, with seven important players ultimately being hurt, their younger players struggled.

You could even argue that Tony Romo was trying to do too much as the defense faltered, but I won’t get into that here.

Now Rob Ryan is out in Dallas. He said he would be out of work for five minutes. A week or so later, he was about to sign with the Rams when a few details fell through. Instead, Ryan signed on with the Saints as their defensive coordinator.

The Saints had a decent amount of success under Gregg Williams before the bounty scandal struck New Orleans. Last year, under Steve Spagnuolo, the Saints had one of the worst defenses in NFL history; probably the worst, in fact.

The addition of Rob Ryan to their coaching staff immediately turned some heads and is leading to high expectations for their defensive unit in 2013. But will his defensive schemes be too many and too complex?

The team has lost many of the veterans they had during their Super Bowl run and other strong years with Williams. They had a decent front seven, but their secondary is among the weakest in the league, regardless of who their coach is.

Simplicity may be a better route for New Orleans, at least for the first year or so, as they add talent to the roster and their younger players gain experience.

I’m anxious to see how Ryan leads their defense and their players respond to whatever he throws at them. Regardless of what he does, I can’t imagine the Saints’ defense being any worse next year.

Check out my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl, to stay updated on new posts as I publish them throughout the offseason. If you would like to hear my take on any piece(s) of offseason news, let me know and I’ll either write back directly or maybe even write a blog post about it.