METAIRIE, La. – For much of the 2009 season, the Saints secondary has been the bane of opposing quarterbacks’ existences.
New Orleans was at or near the top of the league in interceptions. The Saints were tops in interceptions returned for touchdowns.
But in the past two weeks, against the likes of Jason Campbell and Chris Redman, the secondary has been silent, allowing big plays and coming up with no interceptions.
Yet, it’d be hard to say anyone in the Saints locker room is overly concerned.
“It’s not concerning for me at all because we know what it is we’re doing to mess it up or make mistakes,” rookie cornerback Malcolm Jenkins said. “It’s things that are simple to correct.”
And the team still picked up wins, improving to 13-0 and moving steps closer to securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
In the past two games, the Saints have given up five of the 15 longest pass plays this season. When extended to 20 plays, it’s seven of the longest.
Redman, who finished with 303 yards on 23 of 34 passing, hit a 50-yard touchdown to Michael Jenkins. He also hit a 38-yarder to Jason Snelling.
Campbell, who finished 367 yards on 30 of 42 passing with three touchdowns, completed a 44-yarder to Antwaan Randle El, a 40-yarder to Devin Thomas and a 38-yarder to Santana Moss.
The Saints hadn’t allowed a 300-yard passer since Week 2, meaning nine quarterbacks – including Tom Brady and Eli Manning – couldn’t hit that threshold.
In the past two weeks, two quarterbacks who could be considered average did it.
What it comes down to, the players said, was executing the defense that’s called and not taking risks.
“We’ve just gotten beat a couple times as of late. Teams have capitalized on that,” safety Darren Sharper said. “Early in the season we would make those plays. This game is a long season. There are going to be times you give up things. There are things we can correct and things we can get better at.
“It doesn’t come down to ability. It comes down to executing the defense properly. That’s what we know we can correct. We know we’ll be fine to correct those things.”
The recent problems go far deeper than the secondary, however. Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams linked the big-play issues with a lack of a pass rush.
New Orleans sacked Redman once and Campbell no times. In the previous 11 games, the Saints had recorded 26 sacks. Quarterbacks are finding they have more time to scan the field and more time to allow receivers to get open.
Part of the problem for New Orleans is that teams are going “max protect” against New Orleans now, pulling in everyone they can in to block while sending out fewer and fewer receivers.
That’s changing how guys like defensive end Will Smith go about playing their position.
“When you know the quarterback is not going to hold the ball as long as he has in the past, you just have to continue to rush, but when you know the ball is coming out hot, get in the passing lanes and bat the balls down,” Smith said.
Added Williams, “When a quarterback time to has as much time as he wants to to pat the football, to reset, to pump fake and to not be put on the ground, sometimes that’s rush, sometimes it’s coverage.”
Still, the plays are happening due in part to the aggressive play by the Saints secondary. Sharper has admitted that he, on occasion, jumps routes. Jenkins plays aggressive, too. Ditto for safety Roman Harper.
Jenkins said he and his fellow defensive backs have to learn to play a little bit more controlled.
“A lot of times, you can’t jump everything,” Jenkins said. “If you have a third, stay in your third. Just do what the defense calls for you to do. A lot of the times, we were making plays when we might have did something on paper that we weren’t supposed to do. Some of those little things are coming back to haunt us because we’ve been able to do it all year.
“We’ve just got to continue playing by the book and pick and choose when we’re going to make a play.
