New Orleans Saints out of Reasons to Stand by Rob Ryan

For what seemed like merely a brief moment, it actually felt like the New Orleans Saints might be able to push their way back into playoff contention this season. By logging three consecutive wins, the Saints managed to improve to 4-4 by Week 8, and the offense was showing glimpses of the greatness that has largely defined the Drew Brees era.

Unfortunately, any idea that the Saints might be able to salvage the season died over the past two weeks. 

Giving up an 11-point lead to the Tennessee Titans to drop a Week 9 overtime game was bad—Tennessee has seen enough disarray this season to cost Ken Whisenhunt his job. Getting blown out 47 to 14 by the Washington Redskins on Sunday? Well, that might have been the nail in the proverbial coffin for the Saints' 2015 season.

If Johnny Utah is going to get the man responsible, he needs to look no further than New Orleans defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. The putrid performance of his defense has been the most glaring problem with the Saints franchise over the past two years.

This comes in stark contrast to the defense New Orleans fielded in 2013, the year Ryan was hired. In his inaugural Saints season, Ryan oversaw a defense that was ranked fourth overall (305.7 yards per game allowed) and fourth in scoring (19 points per game allowed).

Last season, the defense plummeted to 31st overall (385.0 yards per game allowed) and 28th in scoring (26.5 points per game allowed). This year, it is rated dead last in terms of both yardage (424.7) and scoring (31.5).

Pro Football Focus rates the Saints a slightly more respectable 28th overall defensively.

In the spirit of fairness, it should be noted the Saints aren't exactly long on top-tier defensive talent. Aside from a couple of standouts—such as pass-rusher Cameron Jordan, safety Jairus Byrd and safety Kenny Vaccaro—there isn't a lot to write home about. 

In fact, only 10 players hold a positive overall grade from Pro Football Focus compared to 19 who hold a negative grade. However, one gets the sense Ryan is a guy who is out there making less into, well, even less.

How Much Blame Does Ryan Really Deserve?

While we do have to admit the Saints are in need of a talent influx on the defensive side of the ball, there simply is no way to absolve Ryan from his part in the overall mess. His blitz-heavy scheme doesn't quite seem to fit with the personnel the Saints currently have, but Ryan consistently fails to make the necessary adjustments.

Year	Team	Points Per Game	Yards Per Game
2010	Cleveland	13th	22nd
2011	Dallas	16th	14th
2012	Dallas	23rd	16th
2013	New Orleans	4th	4th
2014	New Orleans	28th	31st
2015	New Orleans	32nd	32nd

This isn't really a new problem for his defenses, either. Realistically, the stellar 2013 season seems to be more of an aberration than anything.

In 2014, for example, the Saints blitzed on 32.1 percent of passing plays, according to Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus. This isn't an unusually high percentage, as 10 teams blitzed more than the Saints last season. However, when a team doesn't have the right players to support a blitz-heavy scheme, it creates problems.

The Saints produced just 12 sacks while blitzing on 194 passing plays in 2014. The defense produced 22 sacks without the blitz. The Saints are on pace to record 35 total sacks this season.

Of course, sacks aren't everything when it comes to overall defense. They're satisfying, sure, but they are only part of the equation. Disrupting a quarterback's timing and accuracy while forcing mistakes is an equally effective way to stall an offense.

The problem for New Orleans is Ryan's scheme isn't producing a volume of pressure with his blitz schemes. According to Pro Football Focus, only five Saints defenders have a positive pass-rush grade. Jordan is the only one of them who has produced more than 10 quarterback hurries on the season.

For a feast-or-famine defense such as Ryan's, this just isn't acceptable, and it leaves the Saints hungry more often than not. The Saints, who are rated 31st in pass coverage by Pro Football Focus, don't have the talent to hold up when pressure doesn't hit home. 

Blitz scheming isn't the only issue with Ryan's offense. There are equally alarming deficiencies in his coverage schemes and with the sense of discipline he is—or rather isn't—instilling in his players.

For a point of reference, let's examine Washington's first scoring play from Sunday.

With Washington facing a 3rd-and-1 from the New Orleans 16-yard line, A quick look at the image below should tell you where the Saints messed up on this one. There was simply no defender in position to defend the sticks against a play on the far weak side of the formation.

Credit: NFL.com

What did Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins do? Naturally, he attacked the exposed opening on the field. The addition of play-action sucked in most of the interior defenders, but a simple swing pass probably would have gotten the first.

Credit: NFL.com

However, the play wouldn't stop after a fresh set of downs. Because of a lack of lane discipline and reaction, there wasn't a defender anywhere near tight end Jordan Reed once he caught the ball. The result is that by the time the defense reacted, Reed had already worked up a head of steam toward the end zone.

Add in some poor tackling at the goal line, and the Redskins had a seven-point lead.

Credit: NFL.com

Unfortunately, plays such as this are a far too common occurrence for the Saints defense, and they aren't only limited to pass plays. If this isn't an adequate indication of a lack of defensive discipline, consider some players might now be more interested in delivering blindside hits than making smart plays.

Why Is This a Problem?

To put things simply, the struggles of Ryan's defense is a problem because the Saints are giving away far too many points far too easily. In the grand scheme of things, however, there are a couple more factors to look at.

For starters, having a defense with the stopping power of Charmin two-ply puts an unnecessary amount of pressure on the Saints' 36-year-old quarterback. Brees still possesses above-average mobility in the pocket, but he is no spring chicken and seems to be pressing to deliver big plays.

Pro Football Focus rates Brees 36th overall among quarterbacks when under pressure. 

The defensive struggles also seem to be undermining what the organization appears to be trying to do. During the offseason, New Orleans traded away Jimmy Graham and Kenny Stills, acquired center Max Unger, cornerback Brandon Browner and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe. The team also spent a top-15 pick on Stanford offensive tackle Andrus Peat.

Clearly, building the trench talent and improving the defense was an offseason goal. A four-year commitment to Mark Ingram and the acquisition of C.J. Spiller seemed to indicate the Saints also wanted to control the clock and the game tempo with a strong running game.

Forcing the team into a shootout is not the way for the Saints to accomplish these goals. 

What Comes Next?

The Saints head into their Week 11 bye coming off their worst loss of head coach Sean Payton's tenure. The 33-point differential between New Orleans and Washington was the biggest since Payton took over the team in 2006.

Cousins posted a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

Mike Triplett of ESPN recently made his case as to why it's time to part ways with Ryan:

"

[Payton] likes Ryan's passion and work ethic. But during the offseason, Payton demanded that Ryan simplify his complex playbook, overhauled much of the roster and brought in senior defensive assistant Dennis Allen to help run things.

The changes haven't helped.

The Saints also have a young defense after that roster overhaul, and they've been hit hard by injuries this season. But their arrow is not just pointing down. It's broken.

"

Triplett isn't the only one to believe it is time for the Saints to dump Ryan. Looking to Dennis Allen, who is on staff as an assistant (he has been a defensive coordinator and a head coach previously), Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune offers an alternative.

"Let's talk truth," Holder explained. "There's no chance this defense will get any worse by replacing Ryan with Allen right now. How can it?"

Holder is right in one regard. It's hard to see this defense getting any worse. If the Saints have been showing loyalty because of his 2013 season, then perhaps they should pay more attention to how things have gone since.

Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis owe it to themselves to see whether Allen or someone else can help things get better over the final stretch of the season.

Otherwise, the Saints' 2015 season likely won't be the only one seeing a painful end. The regime's time with the franchise might be headed in that direction too.