METAIRIE, La. – It used to be that New Orleans was where defensive backs ended up getting lost in the shuffle, where their careers flatlined before being resuscitated elsewhere or just ended.
Remember Eric Allen? That Pro Bowler forgot how to cover.
Jason David? Enough said.
That, well, that’s not so much the case these days.
Strong safety Roman Harper (drafted by the Saints in 2006) is playing the best football of his young career.
Right cornerback Tracy Porter (drafted by the Saints in 2008) is proving to be a key pickup in his second year.
Then there are the new guys – free safety Darren Sharper, in his 13th season, leads the NFL in interceptions and has returned three for touchdowns while left cornerback Jabari Greer is one of the best in the league in coverage.
And that has helped New Orleans’ defense turn into one of the NFL’s best. As of Week 7, New Orleans was ranked No. 11 after spending much of the first six weeks in the top 10.
The play of the secondary is opening everything up in Gregg Williams’ defensive playbook.
“When your corners don’t play as well as our corners play, you take people out of the interior part of (the defense) and you’ve got to help those guys a lot more,” Williams said. “Our corners are salty.”
All four players will have a huge role come Monday night when the Saints host NFC South rivals Atlanta in a nationally televised affair.
Falcons second-year quarterback Matt Ryan has slowed as of late, throwing two interceptions in each of the past two games while taking four sacks in Atlanta’s loss to Dallas this past Sunday.
But he’s still considered a bright spot on the Falcons’ offense, having guided the team to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth in his rookie season and a 4-2 start to this year.
With the New Orleans secondary playing as well as it is, teams are having a hard time figuring out just how to attack it.
“Guys are making plays when balls are in the air and they’ve taken advantage of the opportunities that they’ve had,” Ryan said. “The addition of (Darren) Sharper is big.”
He added, “Their DB’s are putting the onus on the quarterback to be accurate with the football and to make good decisions.”
For Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma, knowing the guys playing behind him have their men covered has opened up the field for him.
“For us, as a linebacking group, it allows us to be more aggressive,” Vilma said. “We can go out now and make sure let’s go get our guy. They’re going to lock their guys down in the back end. We’re not worried about that.”
While Sharper’s interceptions have made a difference, you could argue that Greer’s presence on the left side has been a greater impact.
Gone are the deep balls that are completed because the cornerback gets lost in the shuffle. Gone are the short passes turned into long gains because the cornerback misreads a play.
Greer is second in the NFL with 10 passes defensed and his side of the field ranks first in the NFL in average gain per pass.
But Greer won’t take credit alone, singling out Porter as having as much to do with the secondary’s stellar play as anyone else.
“Me and Tracy work hard,” Greer said. “After every practice, we’re making sure we’re doing something to improve our footwork. Anytime you feel comfortable in your backpedal, anytime you feel comfortable breaking on the ball, you can put yourself in position to make plays.”
Said Harper, “I think one thing you know is Tracy and Jabari, both of them can really run. Deep balls, post routes, that’s not going to happen. Guys are not just going to outrun them.”
And the result of that fact helps Sharper and Harper – and the defense as a whole – in the long run.
"They allow Sharper to go up the middle and take a gamble here,” Harper said. “It allows me to do the same thing. We understand the corner is going to be able to stay on top and cover in the back half just like when the safeties are deep, we’re going to give the corner free access to do what they have to do.
“It makes it a lot easier when everybody is trusting each other.”
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