Black & Gold Xs & Os: Saints' Offensive Gameplan vs. Vikings

Aside from repeating wearing the black-and-gold digs the Saints came out with on Saturday, what else do the Saints need to do to assure their offense excels against a tough Minnesota defense on Sunday?

In order to answer that question, we must first take a look at the Minnesota defense to see what exactly makes them so good.

Speed

The first element that stands out on film is Minnesota's team speed, especially on defense. It's not just the speed itself, but the fact they play fast, flying to the football.

This is in part because they play a fairly simple scheme, much like the Colts and Bucs of years past. But also, the guys they have are hard-nosed guys who are ball hawks, epitomized by Jared Allen and Antoine Winfield.

Attitude

Once again this is really epitomized by Allen. I would also include Chad Greenway in this as he is another guy who seems to fly around the field and provide tremendous attitude for this defense.

They are a bunch of guys who just refuse to be beat. They will lay the wood, much like the Saints did against Arizona last weekend. A fast and physical defense is tough to beat.

Scheme

As I already mentioned, it is a fairly simple scheme, but it is one in which each player knows his assignment, and therefore he can simply react to what is happening naturally.

Changes made are normally subtle, which makes it very difficult to pick up on until you've had numerous reps against it.

The scheme is a base Cover Two defense. Yes, they will press receivers, but there will be times where they back off and give a soft look.

Occasionally, you'll get a blitz or three-man front look, and it's the rarity of these which make them difficult to adjust to.

Within the Cover Two scheme, Jared Allen and whoever else lines up at defensive end (I say whoever, because Ray Edwards is questionable or perhaps even doubtful for this game), are given free reign to rush the passer.

Therefore, it becomes a one-on-one matchup against an offensive tackle. Allen normally lines up against the left tackle, since that is the QB's blindside. He is explosive off the ball, and has multiple pass rush moves.

To be completely honest, he is the Vikings' best defensive player on a very talented unit. I might even go so far as to say he is the team's best player, and the roster includes Favre and Adrian Peterson.

So with all this being said, how should Sean Payton and Drew Brees attack this defense? It is a Cover Two, which is a style they've had some struggles with over the years, most notably in the NFC Championship three seasons ago.

Attack the Weaknesses

Okay, so that is a pretty obvious comment. But this defense has some very obvious weaknesses.

First among those is the edge in the running game. Because their ends are always looking to get upfield to get to the QB, you can use that against them.

The Cowboys had success running counters and counter trey, which is where you have a pulling lineman come and cut off that end who is trying to get upfield. You have the running back then run inside of that block.

Of course, you have LBs trying to fill that inside gap, which it is necessary to have a second pulling lineman come into that hole and clear it out. The Saints are a good trapping team, and Pierre Thomas, and Mike Bell are both good at running this play.

It is also possible to seal off those rushers on the edge and run outside of them on off tackle or stretch plays. For this, Pierre and Reggie are the best options, since they both have the speed to get to the edge and possibly make something happen down the field.

Finally, running inside is much easier to Pat Williams' side. All you must do is have a check-with-me at the line, find Pat and adjust your run to the side he is on. You seal him off, have your playside tackle kick out on that end and run off the guard's butt. Bell and Thomas are the best options for this type of run.

If you haven't guessed yet, I truly believe the Saints must run the football in this game. It is possible, even though Minnesota is known for having a good run defense. The benefits of a successful running game are obvious.

Most notably, it sets up your playaction game.

And that is the second weakness I see in Minnesota's defense.

The linebackers and safeties fly to the football very quickly and get out of position, opening up options down the field on quick playaction routes.

Look for Sean Payton to dial up playaction screens, where he is finding a guy in the middle of the line instead of outside as is normally where those screens go.

But also, look for Brees to come up off a playaction pass and hit some quick look passes where the safeties have lost their ground.

Finally, once this has all been successful, look for Brees to come up off playaction and look for Devery Henderson or Robert Meachem deep. It will be there as long as the Saints can protect, which reminds me to explain how to slow down Jared Allen.

As I already said, one way to slow this beast down is to run the football at him. Obviously, the age-old belief is to throw screens and run draws on a good pass rushing team. Draws could be difficult, unless it's against a three-man line in a short-yardage situation (more on that in a bit).

When you decide to throw the ball for real, there are a couple more options. I think we'll see some playaction to Allen's side, in which Brees then rolls right to avoid Allen. Also, look for some straight dash passes, where Brees never even play-fakes, but simply rolls right.

When the Saints decide to simply drop straight back, look for the Saints' line to slide left, so that Carl Nicks can help if Allen gives an inside pass rush move. Also, look for some two-back looks, or an extra tight end to be moved to his side as well.

In other words, Sean Payton isn't going to just give Allen one look. He's going to constantly change things up to make Allen play with some confusion.

So I've gone through all the nitty gritty aspects of the gameplan. Now to the part you probably are most interested in, the passing game. And specifically, the route concepts the Saints are most likely to use against this Cover Two.

Regardless of straight drop back, or playaction, the Saints are going to look to hit a lot of throws to the middle of the field. In the red zone, that quick play fake and quick hitter over the middle should be good for a touchdown.

The Saints used that for a TD to Lance Moore against the Giants this season, and I think at least one more time, if I remember properly.

Also, look for some quick and deep hitch type throws where the receivers look to find an opening in the zone and simply "sit down." They will probably run some of these from some empty or other types of spread formations.

Also, against a cover two, the corner routes, where the receiver gets higher than the corner, but shallow in relation to the safety, will be open. Those must be thrown over the corners head, and quick enough before the safety has time to break on those throws.

Look for Jeremy Shockey and Marques Colston to catch some of those passes.

Finally, don't be surprised if the Saints run some crossing routes to take advantage of the linebackers fleeing the middle of the field.

I think it to be so important for the Saints to get off to a fast start in this game, especially offensively, which will only help the defense. And it will allow Sean Payton to keep the Minnesota D guessing.

So balance is key. Of course, in the last NFC Championship the Saints played in, balance clearly eluded Payton. I don't think he'll make that same mistake this time. And I honestly believe this is the moment Drew Brees has been preparing for his entire football career.

And I know New Orleans has been waiting for this for over 50 years.

It's almost here. I don't even live in New Orleans and I'm pumped! I get chills thinking about how loud and crazy the dome will be on Sunday. Let's advance to Miami boys.

Geaux Saints! Can't wait to start discussing a Super Bowl Game Plan!