Black & Gold Xs and Os: New Orleans' Week One Defensive Game Plan Vs. Detroit

On Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, Matthew Stafford will make his NFL debut in the Louisiana Superdome versus the New Orleans Saints.

If you've read anything I've written over the past year related to the draft or college football, you know I've been very harsh toward this young man. Well, I wish I could say I've changed my stance, but frankly, after watching some tape from preseason games, I have to say I think the Lions are making a huge mistake in throwing Stafford out there in Game One.

The kid is a very slow decision-maker. He processes information very slowly. He is not accurate. He has virtually no touch. He cannot throw on the run effectively. Worst of all, he is not a very good leader.

This article is not intended to be another Stafford-basher. I brought this up to make a point though. That point is that if the Saints give up more than two offensive touchdowns to the Lions on Sunday, it's a flat-out disgrace.

But this article is not meant to be an editorial; it's an informative piece on what to expect when Detroit has the ball on Sunday. So without further ado, here goes.

What Detroit Does Offensively

Formations

Detroit, under Scott Linehan, the former Rams head coach, is likely going to come out with a fairly simple offensive game plan for the young rookie. This will no doubt include formations and personnel.

The Lions like to use a lot of Base (21) personnel—two backs, one tight end, and two receivers. From this personnel grouping, they will run a lot of I-Formation and offset-I stuff. This keeps the tight end in line and the fullback either straight behind the QB or to one side behind the guard.

Occasionally, they'll put that fullback into some kind of motion to give him a head start into his block or into a pass route.

Detroit also likes to use 11 personnel—three receivers, one tight end, and one running back. Most often they will pass out of this formation. They will also use some two-tight end sets, which they'll use for the running game but also to pass out of.

Detroit has shown little to no use of four-or-five wide receiver sets throughout the preseason and likely will not due to a lack of depth at the receiver position.

Motions

The Lions' use of motion is actually very simple, and they've shown a pattern, at least on film, throughout the preseason. That pattern is that a receiver will come in short motion—start out wide and slowly move inside no further than the end of the offensive line.

When the player does this, he is going to run some kind of crossing route. I saw nothing else on film. Can it really be that simple?

The fullback will occasionally move around, and the tight end may as well, to give themselves better angles on their blocks.

Play Concepts

Detroit is going to run the football a lot since they are starting a quarterback who should be starting his true senior year of college. They will use a lot of their base personnel to do this, for two reasons.

The first is that this gives them seven good blockers to go against either a seven- or eight-man front. The other reason is that this is simply their best personnel grouping.

They will run a lot of zone plays, where they try to get the defense slanting one way and have their quick running backs—Kevin Smith and rookie Aaron Brown—cut back against the flow of the play.

They will also try to run some trap plays where they pull a guard and try to hit the play in the "B" gap. On this they double-team the DT, Sedrick Ellis, and try to trap the end (Will Smith or Charles Grant, or whomever).

These are their two favorite running plays. They'll try to disguise this by doing different things personnel and formation-wise.

The other way they like to get the ball in the hands of their backs is via the short pass.

The main routes they run are screens, which they will probably run a lot of, since they'll be expecting a lot of pressure from a Gregg Williams defense. They also like to throw to their backs on checkdown routes and swing routes to get Smith or Brown out in space (similar to the Saints with Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas).

Play action will also be a choice meat for Linehan on Sunday. He will likely try to get the running game going in order to get that eight-man front and then throw over the top of that with his strong-armed QB.

Finally, Calvin Johnson is the only real weapon to be worried about in the intermediate or deep passing game. They will try to motion him to get a running start on those crossing routes. They will throw the ball to him on quick screens to let him make a play. They'll also throw deep to him up the sideline.

Aside from that, Bryant Johnson will catch a few balls in the intermediate passing game, and Brandon Pettigrew may be a nice checkdown option when Stafford is pressured, but the Lions' passing game is not going to be very complicated or difficult to stop.

What the Saints Need to Do to Stop Them

Stack the Box

I think it's a really simple defensive game plan for Gregg Williams and the Saints defense this week. You're facing a rookie quarterback who should not be starting. He makes decisions slowly. The running game is decent. Make the rookie QB beat you.

I would have eight men in the box to start the game in order to stop the run. That eighth guy is Roman Harper, who excels near the line of scrimmage and at blitzing the QB.

With the eight-man box, the run blitz is no longer necessary. Instead, simply play straight up, fill your lanes, fly to the football, and try to cause turnovers.

I would simply play cover three, meaning the corners drop to about 10 yards and keep the receivers' patterns in front of them. The safety—Darren Sharper—does the same thing in the middle of the field. Allow Harper to play the tight end one-on-one. Use the outside backers to play the curl-flat areas (hashes).

I would simply rush with four guys, but every now and then, change who those four guys are by zone blitzing. Make it Harper, or a corner every now and then. Send Jonathan Vilma or Scott Shanle.

Give the Rookie Different Looks

I started to allude to this at the end of the last section but want to expand on this thought. The Saints do not need to blitz like crazy in this game since the Lions' O-line isn't very good. A four-man rush should work enough of the time to get some significant pressure.

However, give Stafford different looks. Align in a cover four and then send Harper or a corner. Set up that eight-man box and then play cover four. Blitz from a base defense. Heck, rush only three men and drop eight. He's a slow decision-maker. Utilize that to your advantage by giving him a different look every snap.

Keep the Ball in Front of You

The only way the Lions have a chance to score in this game are if Calvin Johnson beats the defensive secondary deep or if the Saints don't play assignment football in the run game.

I suggest the Saints play their corners in off coverage, or zone, most of the time. Stafford is going to want to force the football down the field. He'll get greedy and throw a few picks. Heck, even some cover two would work, because it emphasizes keeping the ball in front.

This will also be effective with those running backs catching the ball out of the backfield.

A heavy pass rush, of course, also helps stop the deep passing game, as it generally forces poor throws.

Special Situations

The Lions are going to try to get Stafford in good situations on third down by running the ball and throwing short passes on first and second down.

Therefore, in short-yardage situations, it is important that the Saints are prepared for the play action game, one area where Stafford is generally pretty good. This is where he will most often look to hit his running backs and tight ends, but he could also try to hit a big one with CJ.

Because of this, I would play eight men in the box but actually play coverage. This way they can quickly react to the run and come up to stuff it, but are ready to get to their proper zones and take away the short pass.

They should take away the flats with outside linebackers and play robber coverage with Harper and/or Vilma in the intermediate area and Sharper deep. This way Sharper can help to the outside with Johnson.

In long-yardage situations, Detroit will most likely throw screens and run draws. Therefore, I would not be too aggressive in these situations, but play zone and come up ready to tackle them short of the sticks.

In the red zone, Johnson is the guy. They'll try to hit him on fades, slants, and back of the end zone crossing routes, or they'll give the ball to Kevin Smith.

Therefore, I would put my most physical corner on Johnson and put Sharper to his side and bracket him (that corner is probably Randall Gay; although he gives up some size, he has a great knack for slowing down bigger receivers).

Once again, I'd crowd the line of scrimmage with eight guys but play heavy "B" gaps, instead of the somewhat standard "pinch the 'A' gap" defense that many teams play in the red zone. If they beat you up the middle, that's okay—it means they had to trick you to be successful.

Finally, in two-minute situations, I would play cover two and make Stafford put together a drive. I wouldn't blitz, which kills me to say. Maybe slant your D-line, but that would be about it. Keep the ball in front of you and roll coverage towards CJ.

Like I said, it's a pretty simple game plan this week. Don't let Kevin Smith or Calvin Johnson beat you. If you're going to go down, make it be because of the rookie QB.