NEW ORLEANS — This past offseason the New Orleans Saints pursuit and eventual acquisition of Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr made all the headlines. Saints coach Dennis Allen and New Orleans Saints going all in on a veteran quarterback Allen had a connection to was huge news and much discussed nationally. Dennis Allen made a move for his defense that garnered hardly any attention nationally because national experts didn’t understand why he did it, but in my mind it was as critical a decision as signing Derek Carr.
Dennis Allen decided to remake almost the entire Saints' defensive line.
The Saints added three new defensive tackles and let Marcus Davenport, Shy Tuttle, and David Onyemata leave via free agency. The Saints had a massive change at safety in 2022 that was similar to the defensive line renovation this year, with one big difference: The Saints WANTED the changes on the defensive line.
The Saints in 2022 had to replace over 2,000 snaps at safety when Marcus Williams went to Baltimore and Malcolm Jenkins retired. If Jenkins had decided to keep playing and Williams had taken the Saints contract offer, Dennis Allen would have happily had both on the 2022 defense.
The Saints' changes on the defensive line in 2023 were by choice.
It was always hilarious this past offseason to read Bill Barnwell, and other national experts wonder how the Saints would replace all the departing defensive linemen. As if Davenport’s half-sack and the barely above-average play of Onyemata and Tuttle was some gigantic hole that might prove impossible to fill.
The Saints' run defense in 2022 gave up 4.5 yards a rush and was ranked 24th in yards allowed. It wasn’t like Dennis Allen was replacing some Hall-of-Fame built defensive front.
The Saints signed both Eric Shepard and Khalen Saunders within about 20 minutes of each other on the same day in March, selected Bryan Bresee in the first round of the NFL draft, and, through two weeks they are significantly better at defensive tackle.
Dennis Allen had this idea that moving on from below-average players on the defensive line wasn’t wild and crazy. Imagine that.
The best part is if Shepard and Saunders come anywhere close to maintaining the level of play they’ve shown the Saints will have made two excellent free-agent signings.
The run defense for the Saints through 2 weeks is 14th in rushing yards allowed, but even that doesn’t tell the entire story, as two long Bryce Young scrambles would make people who only look at box scores think the Saints' run defense is average.
Bryan Bresee would be a huge story this week if his sack-fumble on Bryce Young weren’t negated by an illegal contact penalty. Bresee is going to be a dominant force and the best Saints defensive tackle since La’Rio Glover. I said what I said, go argue with a wall.
The improvement on the defensive line isn’t limited to defensive tackle and run defense. The Saints are getting an improved pass rush. As Locked on Saints podcast host Ross Jackson tweeted, the Saints already have half the QB hits they generated for the ENTIRE 2022 season.
The main engine of the renewed quarterback pressure is Carl Granderson. Granderson has 6 QB hits and 2.5 sacks. Granderson has continued his late 2022 season ascension when he took snaps away from underperforming Marcus Davenport.
Granderson looks like a complete defensive end, and he is on track to get PAID come next March. If teams can’t center their entire focus on Cam Jordan, look out kids, we are going to be having a Saints sack party on the regular.
Dennis Allen decided the defensive line wasn’t good enough in 2022, and so far, the massive renovations are paying off.
Saints Fan Mood and Meditation Music: Don’t Worry, Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin
I see all these Saints fans in my Twitter mentions saying the Saints can’t keep winning like this or Derek Carr is no good, or Pete Carmichael isn’t calling the right plays, or whatever. Stop. All I see is 2-0. Let me enjoy the winning.
The Games
Last Week: 3-2
Season: 6-4
New Orleans (+1.5) at Green Bay: The Saints will be without safety Marcus Maye, who begins a three-game suspension. Green Bay is likely to be down two starters on their offensive line and possibly without running back Aaron Jones.
The Packers struggled last week stopping the run against the Atlanta Falcons, giving up over 200 yards rushing.
The Saints have to find a way to keep Derek Carr from getting beat to a pulp. Carr has been sacked eight times in two games. That’s a pace of 68 sacks for the season, which isn’t going to be survivable for Carr.
Jordan Love has avoided throwing any interceptions so far, but he was awful in 4th quarter in Atlanta as the Packers blew a double-digit lead.
The Saints' offense hasn’t been bad, as they only have four drives all season where they failed to get at least one first down.
The Saints are due to hit some of those big plays early and unleash their defense while playing from ahead. Let’s dream about 3-0 in style.
Saints 34-14
Detroit (-3) vs. Atlanta: Lions, you can't be America's darlings if you lose to the Falcons. It's in Federalists Papers #79 by Alexander Hamilton. He sang about it and everything.
Lions 35-23
New England (-2.5) at New York Jets: Is Mac Jones even average? Or is the Patriots entire offense just sorry? We are about to find out!
Patriots 17-13
Minnesota (-1) vs. Los Angeles Chargers: The team that can never win close games against the team who can't win close games anymore. Sean Payton could have waited another year and got the job he really wanted.
Vikings 27-23
Philadelphia Eagles (-5) at Tampa Bay: The Bucs are 2-0, and I have no idea if they are even decent because everyone beats Chicago. Did you know the Bears haven't won a game since before Halloween in 2022!
Eagles 24-16
Ralph Malbrough is a contributing writer and Saints fan living in Houston. Email him at saintshappyhour@gmail.com, find him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter at @SaintsForecast or download the Saints Happy Hour Podcast.
