Saints Film Study: Run Game The Offense’s Driving Force
It has been brought up every season since the Saints won Superbowl 44. New Orleans was the best offense in the NFL and was powered by a healthy young stable of runningbacks who ran for over 2,100 combined yards and were ranked 6th overall in the league. Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas and Mike Bell all ran for 390+ yards and 5+ touchdowns.
They were as equally proficient in pass blocking and receiving as they were in the run game. Bush was the highlight reel, the one who could take a quick “V”, “Sneak” or “Wheel” route the distance. Thomas was your reliable “do it all back” and Bell was your bruiser who punished opposing first and second level defenders.
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It also helped that the 2009 Saints team was lead by five offensive linemen that between 2009-2011 would all be either voted into the Pro-Bowl, be selected as a 1st team All-Pro, or in two instances both.
As Barry Hirstius here at the Believer said in his article a few days ago, it is time that both the fans and organization move on from 2009 in many ways. Others we should attempt to replicate. No team in the past three decades (I didn’t look back any farther) has won a Superbowl rushing for less than 411 times in a season. The average is 450-460.
I stated before last season that we wouldn’t have a shot at the Superbowl, or much potential to make the playoffs, if we didn’t run the ball at least 420 times. While that number itself isn’t a goal that will guarantee any type of playoff birth, it will show balance offensively and also help our beleaguered defense.
Tale Of The Tape: Max Unger Leading The Charge
There have been questions this year on whether or not the Jimmy Graham trade was beneficial. Let me assure you, the Saints get the best from that deal. In essence, the Saints received three players from that trade. With the draft pick they got Stephone Anthony, Brandon Browner was signed with the freed up cash, and more importantly the Saints got Unger.
Unger is the best lineman on the team at the moment, and he showed how this past Sunday. The below play was an 8 yard gain by Khiry Robinson.
The Saints bring in Andrus Peat as an extra offensive linemen on the weak side and leave Khiry alone in the backfield. Zach Strief is going to whiff on his block and decides to head to the second level. As you’ll see in the next slide, this leaves the Carolina defender alone to take on Robinson. Unger decides to pancake him and continue pushing his man out of the play.
While there was obvious penetration into the backfield, Unger’s ability to hold his block and pick up the slack of Strief gave Robinson the time and space he needed to turn the play into a positive gain. If Strief is able to hold his block Robinson might be able to run through the gap into the next level of the defense.
A positive gain and good all around blocking against at Top 5 NFL defense. One issue you can see in the above screenshot is Tim Lelito attempting a cut block on a linebacker Thomas Davis. Lelito had the positiong and size to block out Thomas but failed on his cut block attempt. Thomas would be the defender who stops Robinson.
Terron Armstead does a good job and Senio Kelemete can be seen in the upper right of the above screenshot taking his defender out of the play as well. In previous weeks, Lelito and Jahri Evans have struggled along with Strief. With Kelemete having a solid performance Sunday, it will be interesting to see if the team opts to continue going with him or return to Evans. It was only the first start of his NFL career.
Second Tale Of The Tape: Ingram Is The Bellcow, And Rightfully So
While it was the success of Robinson seen in the play above it was Mark Ingram who had the better day, and so far the better year, on the field for New Orleans. The Pro-Bowl runningback has already brought in a career high in receiving yards with 152 through three games. His 3.3 yards per carry average have caused some fans to give him sideways glances, but truthfully much of that is due to the struggles most of the O-Line have faced this year.
His partner behind the line, Robinson, is managing 4.0 yards per carry, but was held to a paltry 1.7 against Carolina.
Like any good back there is only so much you can do. Even though the team only rushed for 70 yards collectively it looked like their best game as a unit. One has to keep in mind how good Carolina’s defense really is. They are a very talented team.
Ingram has continued his success from last season by hitting holes hard and breaking tackles. While the added elements of pass blocking and receiving out of the backfield are great, it is the ability to run the ball that is more important (obviously). Let’s take a look at one of Ingram’s runs from this past Sunday.
This play occurred on the Saints second drive where Ingram would eventually cap it off with a touchdown run. The passing attack of the first drive helped back up the Panthers defense a bit which helped open up the run game for the next series. This balanced attack had Carolina on their heels for the entire first half. The biggest strength to this playstyle was it kept the Panthers offense off the field, and they only ran one series in the first quarter.
Kelemete will team up with Unger here to confront the first level defenders before attempting to move up to the second level and continue his block. Ingram actually fakes out A.J. Klein and forces the linebacker to take the wrong gap. It’s the slightest of movements followed by a quick redirection that helps Ingram single off defenders he must face. His match up then became strong safety Roman Harper, his former teammate, and Ingram runs through Harper’s arm tackle.
This is the scenario you want when you draw up the play. In zone blocking, you typically want to create two to three lanes for a runningback to cut into. You also want to block everyone in the first and second level out of the play and leave your back with one player to beat. It is very unlikely that you won’t gain at least 5 yards if the runningback is being tackled by a safety. Everyone did their job this play, though Lelito struggled on the back end, and a big play helped the Saints extend a drive and eventually score.
The running game wasn’t enough to win this past Sunday, but it certainly wasn’t at fault either. Ingram only ran the ball six times in the second half, and partner in rush crime Robinson only rushed three times the entire second half of the game. With the Saints starting to trail, Coach opted to go more pass heavy. If the team can keep the balance during these nailbiters it might be the difference between and win and a loss.
Balance for New Orleans also doesn’t necessarily mean the Saints run 50% and pass 50%, but for New Orleans a balanced attack is more in the range of 45% run and 55% pass. The problems the Saints run into is they see their W/L ratio dip towards the right when they begin to pass 60% or more.
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In 2009, the Saints ran the ball 45.3% of the time and still managed to be rank 6th overall. New Orleans is a pass first team, and most of the elite teams in the NFL are (Green Bay, New England, Denver, etc.). New England isn’t known as a running football team, but were 13th last year. While our offensive line doesn’t look as strong, Sunday they did look better than they have in many games.
Many aspects of the game of football, offensively and defensively, are based on balance. When to pass and when to run, when to have press coverage and when to have zone coverage, these are all parts of the chess match that is football. At the moment it seems most of the Saints talent resides in their backfield, and it is this talent that will be the driving force in future wins this season.
Thanks for reading everyone! As always, I welcome your comments, critiques and all around banter. Want me to break down film on certain plays/players? Make sure to find me on Twitter and let me know. God bless, and Who Dat!