The Athletic: How the Saints became better than the Panthers

[Mr. Scot]

(I'm gonna get a lotta sh-t for that thread title but that's what the article is about; don't blame me)

In an interesting twist on the usual journalistic methods, Panthers analysts Joe Person and Jourdan Rodrigue sat down with Saints reporters Larry Holder and Katherine Terrell to discuss the matchup of their respective teams.

Roundtable: How the Saints took the upper hand over the Panthers in the NFC South

It's a pretty good article and ends with predictions for tomorrow's game (only Jourdan picked us to win).

Excerpts:

Larry Holder: But seriously, it can be as simple as the Saints becoming an overall better football team. Cop out answer, but that’s the start. New Orleans has improved vastly on defense on every level since 2017. Better against the run. Better at linebacker, that includes Klein to a degree. And the secondary has actually become more of a strength than a liability. Having pieces like Cam Jordan, Sheldon Rankins, Malcom Brown and Demario Davis in the front seven probably helps when defending Cam Newton and Christian McCaffrey.

Katherine Terrell: When I left in 2016, the Saints couldn’t get it together defensively. Now it’s actually pulling the team through some games. Complete 180. I just think the Saints are a more balanced team now. They don’t have to have Drew Brees be Superman (can I reference Superman in a Panthers roundtable?).

Katherine Terrell: I’m sure Cam Jordan doesn’t think Kyle Allen is as fun to mess with off-the-field as Cam Newton. I think he misses Cam.

Jourdan Rodrigue: It’s like the Joker and Batman … they need each other …

Larry Holder: I’m expecting a Kyle Allen somewhere between the one we watched in Week 17 last year and the four-pick guy from last week. There’s been enough good tape on him where the Saints will definitely take him serious. But the Saints played without many of the starters last year and came with a vanilla plan. Dennis Allen will bring a more complex plan this time around.

Joe Person: The Panthers’ run defense has been bad most of the season, with the exception of the two Tampa Bay games. The guys up front have been getting out of their gaps. And while Luke Kuechly is still good at football, they miss Thomas Davis’ physical presence at the second level. This feels like a pick-your-poison deal for Ron Rivera: I mean, they can’t afford to load up the box too much because then those receivers have some very favorable matchups vs. Panthers’ D-backs.

Jourdan Rodrigue: I wouldn’t let last week’s success against the run predict Carolina this week. They’ve struggled all year and have historically struggled against Kamara. Missing Short has really hurt them — and when they trying to focus on issues on the ground against Atlanta last week, Matt Ryan has his way with them in the air. I do expect James Bradberry and Donte Jackson to bounce back on the outside this week — rare for those two to have back to back bad games — but they’ve also struggled to defend the middle of the field and that I think will be an area the Saints target, as well as on the ground.

[The Lobo]

Coaching is the biggest part. Sean>Ron and it’s not close. 

 

Pretty good read though thanks for sharing. 

[uncfan888]

Better managing.. Better coaching.. Pretty simple 

[Snake]

We have had Hurney and Ron together since 2017. That's why they have gotten better than the Panthers. 

[TheSpecialJuan]

Saints have a great GM

[mc52beast]

Ron refused to change his philosophy. We ran the same stuff over and over again and thought nobody would ever figure it out. 
 

Ron was too loyal to coaches who should’ve been fired long before they were. 
 

We had an owner who operated the team like it was something really cool when he started out and then got bored with it.

And I really hate saying this but Payton is a much better coach than Ron will ever be

[GoPanthers123]

Is it the same Saints who choke in the playoff and blame the refs? Same Saints who don’t have 1st and 3rd round draft picks next year?  Well I don’t agree with that article, let me just say that.

[KillerKat]

Saints have far superior coaching and always find a way to beat the cap limit. Every year we say they will be in cap hell and every year it turns out to be false.

[TheRed]

Their staff adapted and evolved with a changing league. It's that simple really.

Whereas on the flip side Ron Rivera was comfy just bringing in his best buds still living in the 90's/early 2000's and promoting from within on defense instead of risking hiring someone that could threaten his own job security if the going got tough and questions needed to be answered. Like right now.

[pantherclaw]

I don't think most fans give credit to the impact of.missing KK, and the team having to lean on so many young players playing. 

The players are being coached.  I don't doubt that. But it's a lot to over come, even with good coaching. 

[CBDellinger]

The saints had some pretty good drafts and one that they absolutely nailed in 2017.  That may end up being one of the greatest draft classes in the short history of the nfl.  Couple that with A HoF QB and it’s a winning formula. 

You gotta have some quality players on rookie deals to build a competent roster that can last.  Otherwise you end up like the rams next year.  

[Moo Daeng]

Does the article get in to how they did it or just that it happened? As in how they went about it? 

[1of10Charnatives]

1 hour ago, pantherclaw said:

I don't think most fans give credit to the impact of.missing KK, and the team having to lean on so many young players playing. 

The players are being coached.  I don't doubt that. But it's a lot to over come, even with good coaching. 

Ever since the current CBA went into effect, the path to success in the NFL now dictates you must get significant production out of some portion of your roster still on their cheap rookie deal. Hell an entire school of thought has arisen that the best way to get to the Super Bowl is draft a stud qb and load the rest of your roster while he's on his rookie deal cause the cost savings on that one player alone is huge. 

Bottom line, everybody has to lean on young players now. You cannot stock your roster with older players unless they suck

 

[pantherclaw]

26 minutes ago, 1of10Charnatives said:

Ever since the current CBA went into effect, the path to success in the NFL now dictates you must get significant production out of some portion of your roster still on their cheap rookie deal. Hell an entire school of thought has arisen that the best way to get to the Super Bowl is draft a stud qb and load the rest of your roster while he's on his rookie deal cause the cost savings on that one player alone is huge. 

Bottom line, everybody has to lean on young players now. You cannot stock your roster with older players unless they suck

 

I don't disagree with any of that. 

Expecting mistake free production from young players is asinine.