Same Old Story? Saints Will Be on Cusp of Playoffs in 2009

The New Orleans Saints have wasted two years of quarterback Drew Brees’ prime.

After missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season since Brees led them to the NFC Championship game, they fired defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs, replaced him with the highly respected Gregg Williams, and revamped their suspect secondary.

The changes should make them good enough to return to the postseason, but it’s hardly a slam dunk. The offense needs to be just as explosive as last year, when Brees nearly set the NFL single-season passing record and New Orleans led the league in yards and points. The defense, still no juggernaut, needs to come up big in critical moments.

The pass defense, which ranked 23rd last year, will make or break the Saints’ season.

Last year, the defensive backs came up empty too many times, even when they were in perfect position. Case in point: Carolina receiver Steve Smith’s 39-yard catch of a jump ball in tight double coverage near the end of regulation in the season finale. That play, which never should have happened, helped the Panthers kick a field goal with one second left after New Orleans had rallied from a 30-10 deficit to go ahead 31-30.

The off-season changes came quickly. 

The Saints cut starting safeties Josh Bullocks and Kevin Kaesviharn and picked up 11-year NFL starter Darren Sharper from the Minnesota Vikings. They also signed Pierson Prioleau, a veteran safety who played for Williams in Buffalo, Washington and Jacksonville. They join Usama Young, who will switch to free safety from corner-back, and Roman Harper.

Sharper, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, is on the downside of his career, but the Saints don’t need a world-beater. They just need a guy who won’t get beaten by seemingly everyone in the world. 

The Saints’ top three corner-backs should be free-agent pickup Jabari Greer, who returned two interceptions for touchdowns for the Buffalo Bills last season; Tracy Porter, who started the first five games as a rookie before being sidelined with a dislocated right wrist; and rookie Malcolm Jenkins, the No. 14 pick in the draft. All are potential upgrades, but they are unproven in New Orleans.

The key to a turnaround may not be the new players, but the new guy coaching them. Williams, a nine-year coordinator and three-year head coach, brings better credentials than Gibbs, who never had run an NFL defense when Saints coach Sean Payton hired him.

Williams’ defenses have ranked 10th or better five times in the last nine years and have finished third or higher three times—once each during his stops at Tennessee, Buffalo and Washington. The Saints finished in the bottom 10 defensively the past two seasons.

Williams should coax more production out of highly paid ends Charles Grant and Will Smith, who combined for six sacks last season. The Saints were 22nd in the NFL with 28 sacks, exposing their undermanned secondary.

If the pass rush and coverage improve even marginally, the Saints will make a run at the playoffs. They were closer than their 8-8 record indicated last season, losing five games by three points or fewer and scoring 70 more points than they allowed.

They re-signed their two key unrestricted free agents—linebacker Jonathan Vilma and offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb.

Their kicking game, which cost them two games early in the year, improved dramatically when midseason pickup Garrett Hartley connected on all 13 of his field goal attempts.

They will miss the power running of Deuce McAllister, but his bad knees reduced him to a short-yardage specialist. A healthy Reggie Bush and the underrated Pierre Thomas, who averaged 4.8 yards a carry last season, can hold their own in a pass-first offense.

The Saints have no shot, though, if the passing game falls off even a little bit. New Orleans was No. 1 in offense primarily because of Brees’ brilliance. He was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 5,069 yards—15 shy of former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino’s record total in 1984. Brees camouflaged the flaws in an average receiving corps with his pinpoint delivery and terrific decision-making.

The receivers, not the running backs, are the Saints’ most significant concern on offense. They struggled to get consistent separation, leading to Brees’ high interception total (17) as he tried to force the ball into tight coverage.

Marques Colston, who missed five games after injuring his left thumb in the season opener, dropped numerous passes when he returned. He finished with a career-low 47 catches.

Lance Moore, who emerged as Brees’ go-to-guy in Colston’s absence, averaged a modest 11.7 yards on his team-high 79 catches.

Devery Henderson, the Saints’ best deep threat, averaged a whopping 24.8 yards but had only 32 receptions because of his inconsistent hands.

Tight end Jeremy Shockey, limited by a groin injury, had zero touchdowns among his 50 receptions and averaged only 9.7 yards on his catches. He was less effective than backup Billy Miller (45 catches, 579 yards).

Second-year wideout Robert Meachem was virtually invisible, busting too many assignments to earn consistent playing time.

The Saints have enough pluses to make the playoffs and enough minuses to be looking at tiebreaker scenarios as they chase that elusive goal in late December.

Marino, the man Brees chased all of last season, missed the postseason four years in a row in the prime of his career (1986-89) because the parts around him weren’t good enough.

That’s one mark Brees has no interest in catching, but he is in danger of inching closer this year.