Saints Pass Rush and Secondary Issues Go Hand in Hand

The pass rush is something that only appeared to work for the New Orleans Saints with a short success rate in the last six years with two aggressive defensive coordinators

It seemed that the Saints used the blitz a ton when Gregg Williams was defensive coordinator during his tenure from 2009-2012.

Williams wasn’t afraid to bring the house mainly because he had the talent up front to do so largely due to former defensive end Will Smith as well as a capable secondary.

Truth be told, looking back on the grades from those seasons under Williams the Saints didn’t fair that well in the pass rush department according to ProFootballFocus.com.

Nov 9, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams reacts against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Rams 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Saints were rated second to last when it came to the pass rush and getting to the quarterback with a grade of -42.4, which is only a -.1 away from being tied for last with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2009.

But wait weren’t they a dominating defense that captured the Super Bowl title for that season?

Well yes they looked like a dominating defense because of the pieces they had in place to pull it off and not just with the pass rush.

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You had people like ball-hawking safety Darren Sharper patrolling the field along with cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Jabari Greer which makes a difference.

In fact the Saints were actually ranked by PFF as the third best pass coverage team in the NFL that year.

In 2010 the defense seemed to slump and dropped to dead last in pass rush while also dipping to 22nd in pass coverage which as you can remember that is when Sharper dealt with a knee injury that he never fully recovered from.

In 2011 the team was again ranked dead last in pass rush and 26th in pass coverage with the ill-fated last second touchdown from San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis in the NFC Divisional playoffs signaling an end to the Williams era.

It just goes to show you that even though it seemed that the Saints were this offensive line crushing force, especially in the 2009 season, it was the pass coverage that dictated the opposing offenses.

Aug 22, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan prior to a preseason game against the New England Patriots the at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Jump forward to the arrival of Rob Ryan in 2013, PFF ranked the Saints defense 13th overall with a pass rush ranking of 11th and pass coverage of 8th overall.

The two main factors in the pass rush that were a constant that season were defensive end Cameron Jordan and linebacker Junior Galette who were a quarterbacks nightmare.

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Another constant was cornerback Keenan Lewis in pass coverage along with fellow cornerback Jabari Greer until his devastating injury that season.

Of course everyone remembers the abysmal performance of the Saints defense in 2014 with injuries and the constant defensive back carousel that resulted in the team getting a ranking from PFF of 31st overall in defense with 27th in pass rush and 31st in pass coverage.

Now fast forward to this season, and the Saints pass rush and secondary issues go “hand in hand”.

Hopes were high for 2015 but it appears that it could possibly be “second verse, same as the first” with injuries once again mounting in the secondary and an almost non-existant pass rush so far in the preseason.

Cornerback Brandon Browner is dealing with a knee injury while it was reported yesterday that Lewis had hip surgery with a 4-6 week recovery timetable leaving “Cinderella Man” Delvin Breaux to fill in along with Stanley Jean-Baptiste, with both being unproven up to this point.

Nov 24, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints outside linebacker Junior Galette (93) sacks Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) during the second quarter of a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

While die-hard Saints fans may not want to admit it, the loss of Galette will also be a huge concerning the pass rush since that was mainly what he was used for.

So far in the preseason this year, the Saints are ranked dead last in the pass rush with hopes hanging on both Kasim Edebali and Hau’oli Kikaha being able to fill Galette’s role, but both have only had one good game with the rush which really wasn’t that impressive.

This morning on WWL 870AM, local analyst Mike Detillier said that the Saints will likely use the blitz a lot this upcoming season to compensate for the injuries at cornerback.

Yet I just don’t see the pass rush being a factor with the pieces the Saints have in place to pull it off mainly because of the performance that’s on tape in the preseason.

I also don’t see the pass rush being a threat due to the huge question marks that surround the secondary in two currently ailing cornerbacks, two unproven ones, and a high priced free agent safety in Jarius Byrd who the Saints have kept in witness protection since the start of training camp.

With Byrd, the promise is he’ll be ready to go but we saw how the scenario played out last year with him not practicing and he has missed more time this year than last year.

Aug 28, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints free safety Jairus Byrd (31) before a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

I can agree with Detillier that the Saints will try to generate some pressure on the quarterback, but the question is how effective will it be combined with can the secondary hold out until the rush gets there?

The Saints have one final preseason game tonight against the Green Bay Packers which will more than likely be a huge snooze-fest with final roster spots up for grabs.

So unfortunately we won’t get a taste of what the Saints pass rush or secondary will be like until their first game of the season on September 13th against the Arizona Cardinals.

As I mentioned above, at the moment the Saints pass rush and secondary issues go “hand in hand”.

Let’s hope that Ryan and senior defensive assistant Dennis Allen have been playing possum so far, otherwise the team’s goose could be cooked….

Next: Picking Saints Final Roster Winners and Losers vs. Packers

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