It was this time last year I blogged that the Saints made a mistake hiring defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Essentially my point was that his scheme took more time to master than the Saints had to master it. What the Saints needed was a turn-around specialist.
Well either Sean Payton, while exiled to Dallas, read my blog or he saw the same thing I did. Upon his return to the Crescent City he fired Spags before ordering his first po'boy. Payton inserted Rob Ryan, who himself had been fired from the Dallas Cowboys weeks earlier.
Here we are, ten games in and Ryan's voodoo has revived a defense so beat up, battered and bruised physically and psychologically, they were left for dead. Then hit Ms Mae's to celebrate the resurrection.
The numbers don't lie. From historically bad results under Spagnuolo in 2012, Ryan's defense of 2013 rank 4th in average yards per game, 3rd in passing yards per game and most importantly from 32nd to 17th in rushing yards per game. And they are getting better.
It's been widely stated that, given the Saints high powered offense, all that was needed was a middle of the road defense to return to the playoffs. However, based on recent performances, this defense is on the verge of becoming, dare I say, dominant?!?!
Yes. Dominant. Ask Dallas and San Francisco. Each held to less than 100 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in respectively.
Now come those hated 2-8 dirty birds. If this were any other 2-8 team I'd be concerned of a let down. But, this is Atlanta. There will be no let down. The Falcons have called it a season. Hit by mass attrition by key personnel via retirement, free agency and injury, Atlanta's window seems to have been slammed shut. Plus, with their defense ranked 26th in the league, chalk up win number 9 for the good guys.
As for head coach Sean Payton? He must be in heaven. His choice for DC is not only turning his defense around, but he is right out of central casting for New Orleans itself. No coach has engrained himself into the fabric of the city as quickly as Ryan. Is there any place more New Orleans to celebrate a victory than Ms Mae's? He had NOLA at hello after that one.
After shaking off some early season rust, Payton is back to form. He has the offense ranked 2nd in total yards per game. In September, I said let's wait for the maligned offensive line to gel, well based on the last two games, they have and the running game is on the verge of exploding. Note to NFL defenses, don't let the Saints running game get going.
Put this together and it gives me that feeling of '09 and '11. That feeling that right now, no team in the NFL is better than the Saints.
The Saints are making their move.
