Tag: Gregg Williams (Page 4 of 5)

      Super Bowl XLIV Preview: How will Saints defend Manning?

      February 2, 2010 /

      Over the next two weeks, Saints’ defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has the unenviable task of trying to do something that not even Rex Ryan could accomplish: Stop Peyton Manning.

      Actually, “stop” isn’t the best term to use here, seeing as how nobody can actually stop Peyton Manning. “Contain” would be a better word, although that doesn’t make Williams’ job any easier as the Saints prepare to take on the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.

      Thanks to Ryan’s guidance, the Jets had the No. 1 defense in the league this year and if there were any team that could contain Manning, many thought it would be New York. Instead, the Colts racked up 30 points and 461 yards of total offense on the NFL’s best defense, as Indy beat New York 30-17 in the AFC Championship Game last Sunday. The Colts also finished with 19 first downs and even rushed for 101 yards despite having the league’s worst ground attack.

      Ryan’s game plan was simple: Shut down Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark and force Manning to use his other weapons. And, much as they’ve done all season, the Jets executed Ryan’s plan by holding Wayne to only three catches for 55 yards and Clark to four receptions for 35 yards.

      The problem was that Manning did use his other weapons, which then went on to torch the Jets’ secondary. Pierre Garcon hauled in 11 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown, while rookie Austin Collie caught seven passes for 123 yards and a score. Ryan forced Manning to beat him with Garcon and Collie and that’s exactly what he did. That also freed up Clark to reach the end zone in the fourth quarter and pretty much put the game out of reach.

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      NFL Playoff Preview: Championship Sunday

      January 24, 2010 /

      New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts
      3:00 pm ET
      TV—CBS

      The New York Jets and their brashly confident head coach Rex Ryan just keep believing they can beat anyone. And while rolling over the fading Bengals twice was impressive, going into San Diego and beating a Chargers team that many expected to go to the Super Bowl was another thing entirely. Sure, they had a few breaks go their way, like Nate Kaeding missing three field goals, but the Jets came to play, and they held Philip Rivers and that high-flying offense to 14 points. It goes without saying that facing Peyton Manning’s Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium will be just as challenging, if not more challenging for Ryan’s upstart squad, but anyone who counts out their “ground and pound” offense and stifling D isn’t paying attention. Meanwhile, the Colts will not be pulling their starters in the third quarter as they did against Gang Green in Week 16, and they proved to everyone last Saturday that resting those players allowed them to be a step quicker than the wild card Ravens. Sure, the Ravens held the Colts to 20 points, but the Colts’ defense squashed the Ravens’ #5 ground game, allowing just 3 points, and they hope to do the same to the Jets’ top-ranked rushing attack, daring rookie QB Mark Sanchez to beat them through the air. Last week, Sanchez made just enough plays, but he needs to be wary of that quick, opportunistic defense of Indianapolis that forced four turnovers against Baltimore. THE PICK: COLTS 20, JETS 16

      Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints
      6:40 pm ET
      TV—FOX

      While both the Vikings and Saints struggled at bit down the stretch, they both flexed their collective muscle last weekend while eliminating the Cowboys and Cardinals, respectively. Minnesota sacked Tony Romo six times while holding a hot offense to just 3 points, and their own QB, old man Brett Favre, threw four touchdown passes and looked like a man half his age running around the field. New Orleans, after allowing a 70 yard touchdown to Tim Hightower, allowed only 7 more points the rest of the way, and D-coordinator Gregg Williams made all the necessary adjustments to stop Kurt Warner from keeping up with the Saints’ high-flying offense. And as for that offense, Drew Brees kept his gaudy completion percentage up high by going 23 of 32 (71.9%) for 247 yards, 3 scores and zero picks. And Reggie Bush was absolutely electrifying, rushing for a 46 yard touchdown and returning a punt 83 yards for the score that ultimately put the game out of reach. So what happens when these two superpowers meet in the, ahem, Superdome? It’s easy to say it will be a high scoring affair, but not when you consider how good each defense looked last week. More likely, it will be a close game, and one that will be determined in the final minutes or even in overtime. I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about this game, so I’ll say it….get your popcorn ready! THE PICK: SAINTS 27, VIKINGS 24

      NFL

      Saints dispel momentum argument

      January 16, 2010 /

      After Tim Hightower took the handoff and broke off a 70 yard touchdown run on the first play of the game on Saturday, you could almost hear the wheels turning in people’s heads.

      The Saints, losers of three in a row entering Saturday’s Divisional playoff game, were about to fall victims to “Big Mo.”

      But almost immediately after Hightower crossed the goal line, New Orleans reminded us of how good it was for most of the season. Drew Brees marched the Saints down to the 1-yard line on the ensuing possession and Lynell Hamilton capped the drive off with a 1-yard touchdown run. Then the Saints added a touchdown, then another, then two more before half to take a 35-14 lead.

      All of a sudden, “Big Mo” was looking for a backdoor out of the Superdome to save himself from further embarrassment. The Saints added 10 more points in the second half to trounce Arizona 45-14 and set up a date with either the Cowboys or Vikings in the NFC Championship Game.

      Momentum can be a crucial factor in sports. But talent, preparation and execution will win out every time. People forgot how explosive Sean Payton’s offense could be and how opportunistic Gregg Williams’ defense could be with a full complement of players. Save for Charles Grant, the Saints were almost completely healthy on the defensive side of the ball and it showed today, as they harassed Kurt Warner and held a Cardinal offense that scored 51 points last Sunday to just 14 on Saturday. They also forced two critical turnovers and could have added one more to that tally had the refs not called a cheap roughing the passer call after Darren Sharper intercepted Warner in the second quarter.

      Even though they had lost their previous three games, don’t forget that Payton and his coaching staff had two weeks to prepare for the Cardinals. Teams with the top two seeds in the playoffs don’t just get an off week to rest up – they also get two full weeks to study their opponents’ weaknesses. The Saints proved today how valuable it is for teams to earn the No. 1 seed in the postseason.

      Granted, New Orleans won’t be as fortunate to face a defense as bad as the one that took the field for the Cardinals over the past two weeks. But if Payton’s offense is clicking as well as it was today, then either the Cowboys or Vikings are going to have their hands full next Sunday.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      NFL Week 12 COY Power Rankings

      December 6, 2009 /

      Just like Drew Brees, we have to give Saints’ coach Sean Payton love for the way his team manhandled the Patriots on Monday night. It wasn’t so much the fact that the Saints’ offense resembled an arena league team again, it was the way their defense made Tom Brady and company look terribly average—and of course, beatable.

      1. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Once again the fact that Payton gave up a quarter million dollars of his own money to lure Gregg Williams to run his defense was a stroke of genius, because this defense is suddenly shutting people down. And by people, we mean guys named Brady, Moss and Welker.

      2. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The bottom line is, no matter how much talent the Colts have, or how they have had to come from behind a lot lately, they still have a rookie head coach who is 11-0 and has already clinched the AFC South.

      3 Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—It’s positively mind-blowing to think that the Bengals are not only sitting in first place in the AFC North with a 2-game lead on both the Steelers and Ravens, but that they have run the table in their own very tough division at 6-0. Don’t think these guys won’t make some noise in January.

      4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—When you have guys named Favre, Peterson, Allen and Harvin making you look good, it’s easy to say anyone can be Brad Childress. But remember, he stuck his neck out to bring in half of those guys, so we prefer to use the words “borderline genius.”

      5. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—We like the fire this guy displayed last week when he dropped the F-bomb on national TV, but we also like the way he has won at least 3 more games to this point than we all thought he would.

      6. Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans—We had to add one more name in here this week, because turning a team from 0-6 into 5-6 and a dark horse playoff contender takes more than sticking Vince Young under center.

      Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Jack Del Rio, Jaguars; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Mike McCarthy, Packers

      NFL

      Bush has solid day as Saints edge Rams

      November 15, 2009 /

      Reggie Bush has been criticized throughout his career for not being able to run between the tackles, but nobody can argue what he can do in open space.

      In the Saints’ 28-23 win over the Rams on Sunday, Bush rushed six times for 83 yards and a touchdown, while adding two receptions for 15 yards and a score. He showed his incredible athleticism several times throughout the game, including on a 15-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter in which he launched himself into the end zone.

      Bush has taken a backseat to Drew Brees, the Saints’ bevy of receivers and even the play of the defense under new coordinator Gregg Williams. But he remains a key cog in this explosive Saints’ offense and as long as he stays healthy and continues to accept his role in a crowded Saints’ backfield, he’ll remain a perfect fit for Sean Payton’s offense.

      While the Saints improved to 9-0 on the season, they’ve suffered some injuries the past couple weeks and I think that’s why their games of been close of late. They should have destroyed a bad Rams team and instead, they allowed St. Louis to hang around until the fourth quarter.

      Hopefully key players like Darren Sharper (who didn’t play today due to an injury) and Tracy Porter (who suffered an injury during the game) won’t be out long and the Saints can continue to play perfect football.

      NFL

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