There have been two major themes when it comes to Saints opponents this season: Limited tape and QB runs.
That'll be the case again this week with Josh Dobbs and Minnesota, marking the third consecutive week the Saints are facing a QB that wasn't the Week 1 starter. He got the better of the Falcons last week in ways that have given the Saints trouble in the past, as Deuce McAllister broke down on WWL this week.
Listen to the full breakdown from Deuce in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"We’ve got to be disciplined enough to be able to follow and understand what we’re doing and so guys have to understand it," McAllister said. "Guys just can’t say that I’m going to get a sack because now you’re gonna get burned.”
Dobbs, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Cardinals after a season-ending injury to Kirk Cousins, only threw for 158 yards in the game, but his 66 yards rushing stood out. He'll be happy to continue a trend of QBs picking up chunk plays on scrambles, like Trevor Lawrence did for the Jaguars as the leading rusher with 59 yards, and Tyson Bagent did in Week 9 with 70 yards on the ground.
A major issue in that was broken down by Saints head coach Dennis Allen in the postgame: Rush lane discipline. Too many players are rushing upfield all trying to get a sack and not accounting for the QB's legs. It's something that has to be fixed. That might require delaying the rush at points, not having linebackers drop as deep in coverage or other wrinkles.
"I think Coach Allen has gotten his players’ attention," McAllister continued. "Now, it’s one thing for me to get your attention and it’s another one for you to be able to go out there and do the job. All four guys can’t be attacking the quarterback to say ‘I’m going to get the sack.’ Because if that’s the case, all the quarterback is going to do is go where the weakness of where your defense is."
The Saints (5-4) face the Vikings (5-4) in Week 10 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. It's the Saints first trip up to Minnesota since the 2018 season, a game the Saints won 30-20.
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MORE FROM DEUCE
On handling Danielle Hunter
"They re-did his contract, remember, because you go back last year and he was ready to get out of there. This offseason he was still ready to get out of there, but they re-did the contract a little bit to give him some more money and so he’s been able to show them that, yea, I’ve still got it. I want to be paid amongst the top three, not this re-did deal, but he’s kind of proved it and earned it a little bit as far as, you know, what he’s been able to do. And so if I’m the Saints, I’m not allowing him to influence the game by single-blocking him every play. I am going to give him 60 different looks as far as whether it’s quick setting him, whether I’m giving presence with my receiver, whether I’m giving a chip, whether I’ve got the bal helping. I can’t allow him to just destroy my game.”
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On Paulson Adebo
“Keep stacking them. Keep stacking them. That’s the name of the game. What have you done for me lately? Keep stacking them. So, teams are going to say, hey, look, we still that — yes, you had a big game last week, but you get a little handsy. So, are you going to grab and pull. If that’s gonna be the case then it’s gonna be a flag. But if you’re not, we know that you have ball skills. We know that you can go out there and make plays with the football. The only thing that I have seen, really, that he has struggled with, Adebo, is when you have the quicker wide receivers, because if you don’t put a quicker wide receiver on him, then he’s probably going to be really, really physical with that guy and he’s going to be able to really have his way. But I’ve seen at times that quicker wide receiver — and that may be most physical corners — they struggle with that guy because maybe they can’t get their hands on him as much just because of the shiftiness or the quickness from that receiver. And so for Paulson, keep stacking them.”
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Saints as 2.5-point road favorites?
“You can say, hey, look, I don’t like the Saints offense as much as you want. I mean, but Bobby, let’s be honest. If they go out there and score 24 points and your defense gives you two or three turnovers and you’re on the plus side of the turnover margin, you should win that ballgame. And I think that when you look at it from a favorite standpoint, on the road, whatever it may be. You may say, hey look, we don’t love the Saints, but the data is the data, the numbers are the numbers, and this is what they have done, whether they’re on the road or whether they’re at home the last three-four games, they’ve put up points. They have gone over 300, 400, 500 yards from an offensive standpoint and now, they were 3-of-5 last week, but they’re scoring in the red zone. So if the numbers are telling me this, am I going to go with how I feel because I don’t like X,Y,Z? Or am I going to go with the raw numbers?"
