When you look at the two biggest football teams in Louisiana, you see two big similarities. The two have defensive coordinators in year two. You also don't need xray vision to see that these two have put their stamp on their two squads. OK ,enough wiht the twos already!
Alright, but it can't be denied that Greg Williams and John Chavis have done what they were brought in to do.
It didn't take long for New Orleans Saints' DC Greg Williams to change the culture of a defense that was an after thought in Sean Peyton's first three years as head coach. We all know that while the Saints enjoyed the #1 offense in the NFL in two(there's that number again) out of three years, the defense was less then spectaular, in fact it was pretty lousy.
In 2008 alone, the 8-8 Saints blew fourth quarter leads in nearly half of their 8 losses, finishing one game out of the playoffs. That defense finished 26th in scoring while the offense was first. So what did Peyton do? Something his predecessor refused to, cut ties with his long time friend, coaching associate and third year DC Gary Gibbs. Peyton recognized what previous Saints HC Jim Haslett would not or could not, the defense needed a change in leadership.
From day one of mini-camp the change in culture took hold. The defense becaome uber-aggressive. If nothing else was accomplinshed, that alone set the stage for what was in store for opposing offenses in 2009. The Saints D will challenge you every play of every day. The #1 objective? Create turnovers. The result? The Saints rocketed from -4 or 22nd in the giveaway /takeaway ratio to +11, #3 in the NFL. That stat alone made the switch worth it.
Now in year two of Williams system, the Saints D looks more aggressive and aimes to improve other areas. The most important being points allowed. The Saints under Williams did improve from 26th to 20th in the league, that number has to come down. Judging from game one it looks like they are on the right track. The Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-9, the fewest points ever for a win in the Peyton era. Why? Because Wlliams boys stuffed the running of Adrien Peterson causing a rusty Brett Favre to carry the load. He couldn't. Saints win.
In Baton Rouge, good defense is not only expected but demanded. LSU fans throughout the years could always hang their hat on a tough SEC caliber defense. So in 2008, coming off a BCS championship, head coach les miles decided to go with co-coordinators to replace the departed Bo Pelini. That was doomed from the start. Realizing, to his credit, co-cordinators would not work at LSU, miles made the switch and brought in Chavis.
Chavis, who came from the University of Tennesse where his defenses were always highly respected in the SEC, went right to work instilling leadership and discipline. Year one's defense yeilded 103 less points than 2008, 68 less than the BCS title team of 2007. The early returns on year two are promising. Despite a meltdown in the fourth quarter of the UNC game, Chavis' defense have looked faster,quicker and more physical. They have dominated their opponent for 7 out of eight quarters with aggressive run stuffing coupled with more bltitzing. Outside that quarter LSU has surrendured only 13 points. Because Chavis' defenses have always improved as the season progressed, this bolds well for LSU fans hoping the Tigers return to the days of hearing the band play the Chinese Bandits salute.
A huge caveat in 2010 is the poor quarterback play by the offense which could be the worst enemy of the LSU defense. Since LSU has no SEC caliber QB and the risk of leaving the D on the field to long wearing them out, look for the offense to go to a more conservative running and short passing game.
In year one in charge of their defenses, Willimas and Chavis changed the culture, laid the foundation and provided a launching pad. In year two they're ready to blast off.
No comments:
Post a Comment