Sunday night's debacle in Dallas shouldn't be pinned on the Saints' defense alone. The number of guilty parties after their 38 17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys was roughly equal to the number of seats on the team plane. And nobody was shying away from that fact after the game.
But the Saints' offense has a track record that offers hope and optimism going forward. Heck they even tried to turn this one into a real game with two quick second half touchdown drives.
It's the defense that remains the biggest question mark after yet another meltdown Sunday night. It let Tony Romo throw for 262 yards and three touchdowns while DeMarco Murray ran for 149 yards and two scores.Definitely I think now after these couple games it is a big deal now said safety Kenny Vaccaro one of many who had started to chafe at the constant line of questions about what was wrong with the Saints' defense after the first two losses. First it's like 'OK we're starting slow.' But once you're 1 3 it's like 'OK now we gotta ...' The first 25 percent of the season's over. So I don't know.
Those questions were especially hard to ignore this week in Dallas where so many people who follow the Cowboys were asking both before and after the game if the bloom was off the Rob Ryan rose
Ryan was hired as the Saints' defensive coordinator last year after being fired by the Cowboys following a disappointing second season as their defensive coordinator in 2012.
It seemed as though Ryan got the last laugh on the Cowboys when New Orleans routed them 49 17 in the Mercedes Benz Superdome last season. But now Ryan has admittedly found himself in a spot once again where he needs to prove it.
The New Orleans defense was supposed to be more loaded than it has been in any time in the Sean Payton Drew Brees era. They finished fourth in yards allowed and points allowed last year and then added Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd for good measure.
Instead they're currently ranked 29th in the NFL in yards allowed 27th in points allowed and 31st in turnovers forced (one which came way back in the first quarter of Week 1).
It's nothing about the scheme Saints middle linebacker and captain Curtis Lofton said. What it comes down to is you gotta whup the man across the line from you. And if you don't do that then you're not gonna be successful. If you gotta man him up then you man him up. If I gotta tackle the running back I gotta tackle the running back. It's plain and simple. There's no magic schemes. You gotta whup somebody in front of you.
So what is it exactly that's not working for the Saints' defense
The only correct answer is Everything.
They haven't been able to force turnovers. The pass rush has been practically non existent this may be the biggest head scratcher of all since both Cameron Jordan and Junior Galette emerged as 12 sack guys last season. Blitzing hasn't worked and not blitzing hasn't worked.
They missed tackles in bunches in both Week 1 at Atlanta and Week 4 at Dallas. They had breakdowns in their coverage assignments during the first two weeks before Ryan simplified his checks and adjustments last week. And that seemed to work in a 20 9 win over the Minnesota Vikings. But it sure didn't work at Dallas. Nothing did.
I felt like we were heading in the right direction we took a small step. But we took three steps back today and that can't happen said Lofton who insisted confidence hadn't wavered but that reality hasn't disappeared either.
You can't run from 1 3 Lofton said. So when you watch film we don't point fingers around here we use thumbs. The first thing I'm gonna do is see how I can get better and help this team win. If each guy does that and is accountable to each other then we'll get where we need to get to.
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