Positives coming into the season

[Ayt]

I'll list two that I think are big and haven't been discussed at all on here.

Firstly, its MM as the architect of the offense. The old NO teams that had McCarthy were always one of my favorites to watch. I think many of you were impressed by his ability to compensate for the fact that most of the time the passing game was very limited because we had to keep extra blockers in to protect Favre. Our young O-line was a huge issue and really limited what we could do.

The TE's did next to nothing in the passing game, and they were usually a big redzone target while MM was in NO. I'm thinking that this year we'll again see Bubba become a threat in the redzone with D. Lee getting a ton of PT as well. The O-line has to hold there own so the TE's can actually run some routes.

I was always extremely impressed how much offense MM could get out of rather mediocre offensive squads in NO. This year, I think MM will have a lot of fun with his WR core, the TE's in the redzone, and the versatile RB's.

All of it really comes down to the O-line's ability to play solid ball.

Defensively, something that hasn't been discussed at all as far as I know is the promotion of Winston Moss. He will continue to work with the LB's, but he's now the assistant head coach. I see that as a big move behind the scenes because he is exactly the kind of guy you want to be the leader of the D amongst the coaches. Based on my one encounter with him and the interviews I've seen with him, he's not the kind of guy you want to let down because just a look from him is intimidating. The more cerebral Sanders can call the plays, but I think Moss is the guy the D will be dealing with behind the scenes in terms of the "attitude" factor and I think he's a perfect fit for that.

I'm actually excited to start the pre-season games and the season. Our D has a chance to really dominate some games and I think the offense is going to be a pleasant surprise to many. Most here know I see Jennings as a hell of a player, so we are rock solid with our two starting WR's. I also really like the competition after that, and you've got to love the talk of Jones coming out of camp.

I also am really high on Morency. I couldn't believe we got him for Gado. I think Morency could rush for 1,200 yards if given the opportunity and provided he holds up once he's back from his knee injury.

We are young and have a lot of question marks, but I like a lot of the potential answers to those questions and I also really like the make up of our coaching staff.

[deep throat]

I'm trying to talk myself into being more positive. I think Moss could be more of a factor-good comment. I thought M3 had pretty decent talent in NO-I know they had Horn who (at the time) was in the class of Driver. They had Deuce as well who is far superior to anything we have. I'd have to do a little research on the O-line and TE, but it's hard to imagine they weren't better at both. He didn't have much to work with his year in SF, but they were dead last in the league on offense.

I think the defense will be more fun to watch then the offense.

Ayt, what hapened to your caveman? Is that Walken? Ever see a movie called King of New York?

[Ayt]

I had to ditch the caveman finally. Yeah, it is Walken and I saw King of New York several years ago. I don't remember it very well. The picture is from the "cowbell" skit from SNL. If you somehow missed it, here it is.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SBm8TF1IEiU

As for NO, MM was named assistant coach of the year in 2000, his first year there. Joe Horn was a 3rd WR that KC let walk and in his first year in NO he blew the **** up. Going into the season they looked to be in huge trouble with very little talent other than Roaf and Rickie Williams.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor2000.htm

Look at that slop. Williams only played 10 games. Blake and Brooks split time at QB and Brooks was a rook. Look at the WR's and TE's.

They finished 10th in points scored that year and the team as a whole was the surprise of the league, going 10-6 after being 3-13 the year before.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor2002.htm

They finished 3rd in the league in points scored in 2002. This roster looks a bit better, but you still wouldn't predict that kind of production when looking at the collective group. Stallworth was a raw rook, Jake Reed was 35 and in his last year, and Pathon was Pathon. Brooks was never anything close to special at QB. Horn and Deuce were both great, but it usually takes more than two great players to score points like that.

I would have expected that team to be good, but not #3 in points good.

[eagle13]

Positives -

Jenkins at DE full time! Advocated that since his 1st year here.

FUTURE development - Colledge, Spitz, Moll, Jennings, Jolly, Jackson, Jones, Rouse, Barbre, Bishop, Blackmon, Bush, all look to be good. HAWK!!!

Hopefully also Collins & Harrell.

PUNTER - Ryan should be solid which can not be undervalued in field postion game.

KICKER - Raynor or Crosby = either are good.

Rodgers having one more year to learn QB and strengthen arm as he has been doing per JS article. (It WAS weak comming out. M3 passed over Rod for Smith.) He's impatient but he does not realize how lucky he is. He may actually be ready to play QB soon.

[El Duderino]

They finished 3rd in the league in points scored in 2002. This roster looks a bit better, but you still wouldn't predict that kind of production when looking at the collective group. Stallworth was a raw rook, Jake Reed was 35 and in his last year, and Pathon was Pathon. Brooks was never anything close to special at QB. Horn and Deuce were both great, but it usually takes more than two great players to score points like that.

I would have expected that team to be good, but not #3 in points good.

I think McCarthy is a good offensive mind,but a few thoughts on that Saints team.

1.McAllister was an elite running back at the time,having a 1400 yard rusher does wonders on multiple fronts for any offense.When you can run the ball well,it opens the passing game via play action and forcing a safety away from coverage.

2.As you noted Horn was an elite WR.Having two big time playmakers is huge for an offense,much harder to score when you have to nickle and dime your way down the field all the time.

3.Their defense gave up a ton of points.Teams with a really bad defense tend to get into alot of high scoring shootouts which can skew the stats somewhat of their offense.You're either behind a fair amount of games and/or even when ahead,a conservative ball control approach rarely is an option that many teams with a better defense use.Sorta like how the Packers had a top rated pass defense two years ago,but it was skewed by the fact teams were usually winning and playing ball control offense vs passing.

4.They played over half their games in a dome which are ideal conditions for an offense to function in,along with being in a division that rarely has teams playing in rough conditions.East coast and northern teams don't have that luck except for dome ones.

5.I forget what kind of offensive line they had.If i remember correctly,they had Roaf/Turley as top tackles,but no idea who was inside.If it was a good line,that's a nice combo when teamed with a top 5 RB/WR and a pretty good QB at the time.

Like i said,i think McCarthy knows his stuff when designing an offense.I do think though a fair number of offensive coaches could have scored alot of points with that overall talent on hand,playing in a dome,and having a bad defense that forced them into playing a fastbreak type of offense nearly every game.

[Ayt]

They had Turley -- his last year there -- but no Roaf. Roaf was a Pro Bowler for the Chiefs.

The only really talented players they had were Horn and Deuce. Brooks had a 53.6 completion percentage (wow is that bad for an NFL QB) and finished with a QB rating of 80.1.

Finishing 3rd in points is still ridiculous. Only the Raiders (MVP Gannon, great WR corp, great OL) and Chiefs (Priest with 1600+ and 21 TDs, Gonzalez, probably the best line in football) scored more.

[deep throat]

I would just say this -It is hard to anoint M3 as a great OC at this point. He had the absolute last offense in SF and was about to be fired by many accounts before Ted made one of his head scratching moves. He had some talent in NO (the dude made good points)-if you want to point to a single stat as the tell all-fine. He had a top 5 RB, a top 10 WR, a good Oline, a decent TE, and a QB that may not have been the most efficient , but may have been only #2 to VIck in scrambling.

The book is still out on M3. I think he and this staff are weak-lack experience and Shottenheimer sucks!

[Ayt]

#2 to Vick in scrambling?

[Mags FTW]

#2 to Vick in scrambling?

Yeah, what does that mean? If you are implying that Favre was always "running for his life", he was sacked 21 times last year. 19 other QBs were sacked more than him, despite the fact that Favre threw the most passes out of anyone in the league.

[Ayt]

-= original quote snipped =-


Yeah, what does that mean? If you are implying that Favre was always "running for his life", he was sacked 21 times last year. 19 other QBs were sacked more than him, despite the fact that Favre threw the most passes out of anyone in the league.

He was talking about Aaron Brooks and the Saints. Brooks was never a great scrambler and he always was near the top in the league in being sacked.