NFC Championship game, Saints @ Bears

[ridonkulous]

Raise your hand if you picked the Saints to make the NFC championship at the start of the season.

Anyone?

I think I've seen maybe 6 quarters of Saints football this year. Can the Bears slow down Duece and Bush?

How is the Saints D? Is the defense good at disguising blitzes? Saints fans gimme a scouting report.

[lastchance]

I watched last night's game, they looked a lot like the Seahawks. Major holes in the secondary, but they can disguise it with blitzes. Jones + Benson may find room on the edges.

I think they can attack the Bears defense, but they'll have to do it with Deuce, because the Bears are great in pursuit. They should also have some success passing the ball, the bears really miss Mike Brown and Tommie Harris.

[Jack of Arcades]

Saints D does one thing well, and that's stopping the run between the tackles. They get decent pressure with their front 4, but nothing outstanding.

Fred Thomas gets burned repeatedly by speed receivers, so Bernard Berrian is going to be the offense.

Chicago, like last year, doesn't play #1 WRs well. Hello, Marques Colston. They do well against all other receivers, including TEs and RBs, so a lot of Brees's weapons should be taken away.

[wiper]

good luck taking away reggie bush...

if that happens, deuce goes for 120 on the ground, and brees probably passes for 280+...you almost have to let reggie get his 100 total yards..

[PokerFink]

Bears on offense

The Bears need to avoid making the same mistake the Eagles did - running up the middle. The Eagles tried various fast-developing running plays between the tackles and none of them worked. Their successful running plays were either draw plays or getting Westbrook on the edges. Bears need to copy that.

Saints blitzed a lot and constantly harassed Garcia. The Bears offensive line is not as good as the Eagles, and Grossman is not as elusive/mobile as Garcia, so Grossman could spend a lot of the game on his back. And we all know he makes a lot of mistakes under pressure.

If Fred Thomas (Saints CB #22) gets lined up on Bernard Berrian, it will be a long day for the Saints. Almost all the big plays the Eagles had in the passing game, including the long Donte touchdown, occured with Thomas singled on a reciever. They abused Thomas and the Bears should do the same.

Saints on offense

Unlike the Saints who defend well in the middle but can be exploited on the outside, the Bears are soft up the middle without Harris. Look for Duece to punish the Bears in between the tackles just like he did the Eagles.

As JoA said, the Bears are good at covering TE and RB which limits some of Brees' weapons. The Eagles did a really good job bottling up Bush, but he made some ridiculous plays to escape and turned them into big gains. The Bears tackle and stay at home better than the Eagles, so it will be difficult for Bush to do that again. I don't see Bush having a huge game.

Colston will have a big game.

Finally, the Bears are much better on special teams than the Eagles. Notice that the Saints were consistantly starting from their own 35 yard line after the Eagles kicked off. That won't happen against Chicago.

[Jack of Arcades]

Well, the Eagles were good against Tight Ends and Running Backs too. Brian Dawkins disappeared, though, and Brees was able to hit some tight ends and running backs for big gains.

[Triumph36]

I've only watched the Bears for 2 games, but I don't think Jones or Benson's strength is running outside the tackles - both of them seem to be bigger backs who have some speed but aren't going to remind anyone of Westbrook, Bush, etc. This obviously works to the Saints' advantage.

Weather's also a factor, though it remains to be seen how much of one. It's been unusually warm. I suppose both teams' vertical games can shorten if it is windy and cold, but who would get the advantage there?

Nice work with the avatar, JoA.

[Sluss]

[ QUOTE ]
Saints D does one thing well, and that's stopping the run between the tackles. They get decent pressure with their front 4, but nothing outstanding.

Fred Thomas gets burned repeatedly by speed receivers, so Bernard Berrian is going to be the offense.

Chicago, like last year, doesn't play #1 WRs well. Hello, Marques Colston. They do well against all other receivers, including TEs and RBs, so a lot of Brees's weapons should be taken away.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Bears offensive line does a good job against the front four. When Grossman struggles it is with pressure straight up the middle. I havn't seen alot of A gap blitzes from the Saints this year. I'm still not a fan of Simoneau in the middle.

I had to look back because I couldn't remember, but the Saints have not really played a big back this year (only Jamal Lewis). They are undersized on the line (except for Hollis Thomas) I wonder how they will do against Benson. The Bears are a different running team than the Eagles. I don't like the idea of changing your running game that has been pretty effective. The Saints made a point to not let Westbrook beat them.

The Bears do poorly against fast wide recievers (see Smith, Steve) Big recievers they play pretty well. Colston looked pretty nervous Saturday night. I don't know if that means he will have more problems in Chicago or will be over it. There could be problems if Joe Horn comes back, but I think he will stay pretty tight in the cold.

If the Saints stick with the run and not get enamored with the deep pass in the 2 deep holes they will have a good day against the Bears. Unless the Bears start tackling better than they have.

And yes I'm praying Ron Turner is devising ways to get one on one match-ups with Fred Thomas.

[mblax10]

[ QUOTE ]
The Bears do poorly against fast wide recievers (see Smith, Steve) Big recievers they play pretty well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. Charles Tillman had his best game of the year when he shut down Plaxico Burress. Let's hope we see a lot of Colston vs. Tillman instead of Vasher.

[ QUOTE ]
And yes I'm praying Ron Turner is devising ways to get one on one match-ups with Fred Thomas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it just me, or has Ron Turner not adjusted to opponents defenses all year? He seems to have the same general game plan and makes adjustments based more on score and how Rex is playing than what the defense is showing him.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

go Bears!