Come and get it. OT: if you're on Twitter, follow us and re-tweet Con's hard work! http://www.thephins.com/2009/10/23/keys-to-the-game-new-orleans-vs-miami/
Keys to the game: 1) ball possession 2) pass rush 3) smash them in the face 4) play our game 24/27-Miami
Weather As CK pointed out in club, a big storm may hit Miami Sat night into Sunday making the field wet which plays into our hands.
Disagree with Conu on his assessment of Donald Thomas and Jake Grove, the Oline is clearly on the upwards path, and Sed Ellis is no Chris Jenkins, to me we maul the Saints Dline. And he also underestimates Chad Henne imho, Henning nursed Jake Delhomme back in the early 2000's and turned him into a super bowl Qb, Henne is a bit more poised than Delhomme.
Saints, offensively and defensively, remind me a lot of some of the early 90s Miami teams, except with a decent running game. Their OLine is pretty competent, but not maulers. Pressure up the middle could work.
Well, for those who don't like being picked to win the NFLN crew just picked the Saints to win 3-0, they believe Brees will play action the secondary to death and just throw the ball all over the field.
Shockey is going to kill us ... unless the staff has been able to figure out someway to cover a TE and routes across the middle ... other than that, nothing truly scares me about NO, except that they are solid on both sides of the ball. Not special, solid. i said it in another post, but just watch the NO WRs and the way they attack every pass Brees throws ... every one of their WRs concentrates on making the catch 1st, they don't wait for the ball to come to them, they go after it, no matter where it is ... i wish our WRs could learn a few lessons from these guys ... none of them is special - but they all get the job done, and move the chains.
Ok in my opinion this is the toughest game on our schedule, so the whole team has to be prepared to play, the Saints are the real deal. On offense, we need to run early and often we have two great runningbacks to help Henne out. In regards to Henne, he needs to play a Pennington and manage the game and waste the clock out with long drives to keep New Orleans' dangerous offense off the field,but not be afraid to take a chance downfield or utilize Ginn's speed like in the Jets game. On defense we need to get pressure on Brees often and keep them from scoring early,also our secondary has got to play their best game to stop their receivers or Brees will have a field day. We are going to need a lot of three and outs to win so hopefully our defense comes prepared and works as a team. On special teams, it is important to get great field position and make sure and block well. Two more important things are taking care of the football with no turnovers and limit the penalties,play disciplined football. This wont be easy against a team like the Saints,it is easier said than done,but hopefully the Fins can put together a good game
That is a good way of looking at it there Thunderbolt. I believe they will do pretty much exactly what you said. I think they will pass a little bit more and I think Sean Smith will get at least one interception when the game is over...maybe two. Good post!!
I'd feel better about this if Roth plays. He's more capable of knocking a big TE on his @#$ at the LOS than JT.
Which parts? The O-line has improved, but these guys have issues. Grove is a stiff hipped player, and he struggles with speed and defenders that can cross his face. Do I think he "will" struggle? No. Can he? Yes. As can Thomas, he does get a bit lazy though Padre.
I watched DTrain pick off two defender on a Ronnie Brown interior run, I was having doubts about him but his level of play has seriously picked up. AS for Grove, dude is money, he and Jenkins were having epic battles that most people missed, yet he won far more than he lost, watching Jenks was like watching King Kong just swat offensive linemen away and make a play, he never did that to J Grove though. Grove gets to the second level nicely.
Grove has decent straight line speed, but he does have issues when asked to move laterally. He does have issues with hitting second level defenders consistently. Thomas has played better, but he still does the relying on the punch thing, as well as playing rather straight legged at times.
In pass pro sure, put D Thomas on the sweep and his fangs appear, when Thomas pulls he is devestating. As for Grove, the last three games have changed things, the Oline plays with much more compactness and economy of movement, quite frankly they are dominating the way the Hogs used to, movement, size and athleticism and attitide.
For the most part they are all strong S.O.B.'s and that helps. If you can fall back on that a lot of things work out for you. If we didn't have the power up front, our running game would be vastly different. The biggest increase in production though is Lousaka Polite - he has become a "snot bubble" player. Remember my issues with him in Atlanta......that was our lowest rushin total of the season at 96 yards.
Dude, I've followed Polite and Wake with microscopes, Big Lou is good, but Thomas is a seriously heavy hitter when he pulls, put him on the move and seeks contact. Jenks was swatting Smiley, he never tried that stuff with Thomas, Smiley has the wheels to get downfield and is our second best inline pulling blocker, Thomas is #1. Grove is more than a wall off blocker, he can and does manhandle DT's and ILB's. Which big picture is where I disagree with your "keys" the Oline is going to punch the Saints in the mouth again and again and again. But even then, my second disagreement is in one's assessment of Henne, the Saints secondary is no great shakes, watch, Henne is going to throw some rocket balls into tight windows.
People here who are underestimating Jake Grove are absolutely silly http://www.profootballfocus.com/by_...e=r&runpass=&teamid=-1&numsnaps=25&numgames=1 No center on the NFL has played better than Grove this year. He is way ahead of everyone else. Switching Grove for the weak Satele was an excellent move.. Grove is far more talented and a lot smarter.. Satele couldn't even make the line calls ! He needed the guards to do it. Grove makes our guards play better. Satele made our guards play worse.. Your line is only as strong as it's weakest link. Go to the raiders board and read how they beg and wish they had Grove back after witnessing the crappy Satele for a few games. Maybe that will wake you up.
Henne will be fine ... if our WRs went and got the rocket throws just like the NO WRs do, we would be just as unstoppable as NO ... Brees throws rockets and his WRs make it a point to go get them. Its teamwork, and just wish ours worked that way ..... maybe we need a new WR coach ...
Game Plan: 1) ball possession 2) pass rush 3) smash them in the face 4) play our game on defense: the Triad of Terror against Brees & keep Gibril Wilson on Reggie Bush out of the backfield on offense: the Orca-5 continue dominating the trenches
It has been said before that that site needs to be examined with a grain of salt. Their rankings in terms of players are a bit weird when you start to examine them over a large group of players. And, no one needs to be woken up.
