Iron Saint

Meh. He played well on the special teams units but despite safety becoming a dire position we needed a warm body at, he was a complete non-factor on defense to justify keeping him around. He averaged 10.2 defensive snaps per game across 12 games last year and couldn't overtake Howden or Abram for the position (both of whom were brought back this year). Maybe he'll play better at CB for y'all but I wouldn't hold out much hope. As mid of a head coach Allen may be, he knows his stuff regarding the secondary so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on it.

Last two years there's been a dip in the run defense compare to the few years preceding it, however after an overhaul of the entire interior last year the run defense improved back to 4th place in scoring but were still 22nd in yards and YPC. Bryan Bresee was 2nd on the DL in TFL (and sacks, along with 3rd in pressures) last year despite only playing less than half of all defensive snaps (48.7%) and is poised for even more playing time as the team expects him to continue his 2nd year leap. The addition of Young will also allow for a solid rotation of him, Jordan, and Granderson (all solid run defenders) to keep each other fresh. Willie Gay joining the front 7 also adds some sideline-to-sideline mobility against the run which also should help some from hemorrhaging yards like last year. It's still deafening though, especially for Week 1.

I don't think y'all will be as bad as most are saying. Could easily see y'all winning at least 7 again, possibly 8 or maybe even 9 games. Thankfully as weak as the NFC South is, our teams also have a relatively weak schedule rotation this year (AFC South and NFC North who both have a lot of question marks in both divisions) so a few ugly wins could be had in some of those games. The toughest part of y'all schedule is due to finishing 2nd in the division last year resulting in y'all having to play Seattle and Miami, who despite both winning only 9 games last year, were deceptively solid teams. Ayeee, we had both of those last year! And that's the cold hard facts about it because y'all got our ***es twice because of it. That 10-7 game was honestly embarrassing on both accounts. Thankfully though y'all took two players that factored into both those poor metrics off our hands for us so I do have so say thanks. And Atlanta took the other one.

Probably referring to this regarding their playoff stats...

It's a combination of many factors including but not limited to the following: selectively deciding which of our players will be re-signed and at what price and will rarely, if ever, deviate from those values; our the front office usually has a set price in mind for not only our own guys, but any potential free agent signings as well allowing some players to walk in free agency for big money deals and collecting compensatory picks for their departure (this piggybacks off the first point) and using those picks either to package and trade up for higher value players (and hitting on them) or using them to provide quality depth; I'll also include strategic free agency signings that don't factor into the compensatory formula such as players that were released (like Carr despite us signing him to a massive deal and it not offsetting any potential comp picks) using void years sparingly and only on players the team is confident will sustain playing at a high level; the void years is a newer tactic and this seems like common sense but this is where teams that aren't very cap savvy quickly get burned by adding void years to oft-injured or old, declining players that end up getting released way earlier than the team intended forcing them to eat massive amounts of dead money years earlier than more than originally intended resulting in teams having holes across their depth chart without the available money to fill them factoring in the annual growth of the salary cap due to the revenue generated through the NFL's broadcasting contracts and maximizing those profits now instead of waiting until those future years; this is probably the biggest one and not something a lot of teams do (especially those sitting with a lot of cap space every single year), this one is the only reason that after the COVID season we had a larger dead money hit than the organization was planning for because that was the first season since I don't remember when that the salary cap didn't increase a significant amount

Got younger for more production and smaller contracts to the two DT's, Davenport lost his starting job halfway through the year and Granderson was far more productive despite playing less snaps, and while Elliss saw significant snaps, it only happened because the guy in front him went down in the Baltimore game; when Werner was healthy Elliss only saw the field in base sets and came off in nickel.

He'll fit right in because our run defense stunk last year compared to previous years, LOL. 2022 Saints defense vs. rush: 25th (attempts), 24th (yards), 14th (TD's), 20th (YPC) 2022 Panthers defense vs. rush: 23rd (attempts), 18th (yards), 21st (TD's), 12th (YPC) We gave up 316 rushing yards to y'all last year and the Falcons went for 200+ in both games.

#9 is the starting point to get that paw in the door, boys and girls. Hell yeah! Show me the picks! Realistically have a better chance of making Corral look like Garrett Grayson or Ian Book but fork over the goods and we can see. LOL.

Damn, this thread is making me sad by reminding me we were one pick away from Mahomes falling into our lap.

I think all our guys will play this week, Kamara and Winston included. Winston shouldn't be as hampered as he was last week if his injury is actually what's being speculated as (transverse fractures) which were the same injuries Cam Newton had after the car wreck in 2014 and Derek Carr had in 2017 (both missed a game but played the following week). It'll be a pain management deal, but he shouldn't be in nearly as much pain as last week. Defense indeed has been stout (only allowed 3 TD's so far) and should be even better if Adebo returns this week after missing the first 2 games. Our OL however has been a bit shaky compared to previous years. We've been running the ball well (including pushing around the Bucs' front 7 last week), but pass protection has a lot to be desired allowing 20 pressures on 74 pass attempts (10 sacks, 6 hits, and 4 hurries) through only 2 games. If y'all can generate pressure consistently all game, y'all will likely win with how anemic our offense has been. First one to 10 might win, LOL.

Again, neither fans nor the media influence the job security of a head coach; especially in a small market like New Orleans with a stable ownership and front office like we have in place. The media might have far more pull in larger markets like New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, ect. But not here. If the fans and media in smaller markets had that much pull, wouldn’t Rhule be fired by now? Also that first article made me laugh on the discussion about how bad Allen’s defense is only a year into his tenure at DC. Fast forward to three top-10 scoring defenses (including two top-5’s) later, safe to say the media doesn’t know . Unless a team ponies up to the asking price, he won’t be on a sideline until 2025. And that’s only if his contract doesn’t “freeze” due to him not coaching. I’ve seen conflicting stories of whether it does or not.

Dang, I must’ve missed the meeting where the fans got to vote on the job security of the head coach! I didn’t even get as much as an email despite having club seats! C’mon now, you know every fanbase has its share of *** clowns that just want to remain miserable regardless of how things play out every season. We’re no different. Hell we had threads by those aforementioned “fans” wanting to get rid of Brees for challenging the franchise tag we used on him. There’s a reason we aren’t paid as fans.

Pepperidge Farm also remembers he had just signed a 5-year extension (through 2020) before the start of that 3rd 7-9 season in 2016. He wasn’t going to get fired 1 year into that extension that was paying him $9M per. TL;DR - his seat wasn’t hot

Exactly, the technology is there to drastically improve the quality and accuracy of calls in games and the NFL either drags their feet in taking advantage of it or downright refuses to implement it. NFL officiating in its current state is not a flaw, it's a feature which the league office will use to their advantage at every step.

Hate seeing any team get outright screwed, division rivals included, but welcome to the club. The league office especially has it out for small market teams because they know they can get away with it.

I appreciate the generous offer, but I'll have to decline the offer of defection, friend! LOL, it's actually funny you mention that because within the last week I had a similar offer to switch allegiances on the Falcons board. Safe to say I'm not that depressed! I guess I'm just being to nice to y'all these days when I post. But I do sincerely appreciate the kind words, I just love football and enjoy posting on a variety of NFL boards, getting to read y'all views of y'all team (and our team when we're scheduled to play soon). I find it can certainly improve one's knowledge of the NFL and its players as a whole. Here and there I'll engage in a little smack talk, but it's largely all lighthearted and fun.

Yeah, he started at LT that game because the guy in front on him didn't play while recovering from injury. It's not that hard to understand. If they were both healthy, Hurst was going to be starting Week 1, period. Saints tackles Trevor Penning, James Hurst exit practice with injuries - 8/17/2022 Saints’ James Hurst looks ready to go for Week 1 - 9/2/2022 Yeah, we'd totally be holding Hurst out of preseason games as a precaution if he was going to back up Penning all year. I honestly wouldn't have even quoted your first post if it wasn't so blatantly inaccurate. You brought this upon yourself. I appreciate your generosity, kind friend! I'll be sure to put it on the highest shelf above the mantle. Not gonna lie though, a roast would be fun.

Again, no clue what you're talking about. Penning wasn't drafted to replace Hurst, he was drafted to potentially be the future successor to Terron Armstead who is in Miami and not splitting reps with Penning. Hurst entered camp the incumbent LT1 and he exited camp as the LT1, they gave Penning the opportunity to take the starting job and even though he progressed from where he started camp, he didn't surpass Hurst. And that's good y'all rookie tackle won his starting job. It has zero bearing on whether our rookie tackle won his job. Penning was with the 1st team OL against the Chargers because Hurst was still dealing with his foot injury. If Hurst didn't injure his foot in joint practices with the Packers, Penning doesn't get those additional snaps. Even if Penning didn't injure his toe against the Chargers, guess what? Hurst would still be starting Sunday against the Falcons. Penning was with the starting OL the last preseason game out of necessity. The same reason Ramczyk started his rookie year, out of necessity because Armstead was injured at the start of 2017. Are you actually that dense or should I draw you a picture in your favorite color crayon for you to maybe grasp it better? And I post here (and quite a few other NFL boards, including all NFC South boards) because I typically get very good football conversation out of the majority of posters here, unlike this **** stain of an argument you're trying to prop up.

Penning gave up 5 pressures, a sack, and a penalty with the 2's in the first preseason game against the Texans. Does that sound like a player on track to win the starting job to you? They were giving him the opportunity to win the job, but he started very sluggish and wasn't capitalizing on it and they weren't going to give it to him so no, he wasn't on track to be the clear cut starting LT going into Week 1. He didn't start making significant strides until after Hurst went down with his foot injury before the 2nd preseason game with the Packers. Yes, they were giving him some reps with the 1's in practice before then but he wasn't ahead of Hurst at any point during that time both were practicing. Granted, he started improving when he got more time with the 1's but until his injury and in the event he didn't win the LT1 job outright before the season, his role was more than likely going to be the first man off the bench whether it be in case of injury to Hurst or Ramczyk or even as the 6th OL, but they wanted him to have some live snaps. Again, this is the same situation we had when Ryan Ramczyk was drafted in the 1st round of 2017. Ramczyk didn't immediately supplant incumbent RT1 Zach Strief in camp that year. However Ramczyk did end up starting Week 1... but at LT, due to an injury to Armstead. And Ramczyk was much more pro-ready than Penning was/is. These are the facts, so no, you don't know what you're talking about despite the incessant goal post moving gymnastics you're trying to pull off. But LMAO, I've only posting here for those reasons? I've been posting here longer than you have. And thankfully I have because if I did just start posting here, I'd wrongly assume the other posters here were just as ignorant as you are but I know they aren't. You're giving everyone here a bad look not only to opposing fans but your fellow Panthers fans that would potentially consider signing up here with your bad takes.

Can't wait to bury him into the Superdome turf again Week 2.

Damn, 8 captains? Nice. I think we normally do 6, or at least have recently, but we have at least 2 spots up for grabs this year ourselves.

Pretty far out considering the game is Sunday, but if it does pour then at least the field won't get torn to shreds the first game of the year with the turf. LMAO, that's phenomenal.

Wait a minute, you can only recognize Lattimore out of that list of starting defensive players while simultaneously in the same breath trying to tell me who the LT1 is on MY team? LOOOOOOOOOOOOL. Go sit down somewhere and peddle that trash to someone that actually believes you know anything about football. You're done, my guy. And that's cool, y'all then lost the following game where we started our TE at QB.

Hate to break it to you, but Penning wasn't going to be starting this year. Hurst was, and still is, LT1. Even though they spent a 1st to draft him, he wasn't immediately the heir apparent to Armstead. The same way that Charles Brown (our 2nd rounder in 2010 who Armstead ended up replacing mid-2013) wasn't the heir apparent going into 2011 when our RT Stinchcomb retired. Ramczyk, who was much more pro-ready, wasn't originally going to be a day-1 starter either but ended up starting Week 1 due to Armstead's propensity to get dinged up, even in camp. Penning was very raw, but they saw the potential he has and he's already made massive strides in his game in his first camp. Missing a significant portion of this season however will delay any further development which is very unfortunate but he will be a name y'all will hate for years to come. No one gives a **** about the coaches missing, they shutout Brady in Tampa without Payton. It was the myriad of players on the field we were missing that led to that Week 2 whooping. No Lattimore, no Davenport, no Onyemata, no Alexander, no Gardner-Johnson. Literally half of the starting defense didn't play in that game. However, they all were on the field for the 2nd game and what happened? 10 points. First game y'all had 5 players with 35+ yards receiving, second game had 0. Passing attack was entirely blanketed and y'all couldn't run the ball, which to be fair y'all were missing McCaffrey who is more than half y'all offense so maybe it's fair. Eli Manning still going to end up in the Hall of Fame though. But on the real, those Giants teams just got insanely hot at the right time and playoff Eli for some reason was ridiculous on those runs. Oddly enough though, without our 2011 defense absolutely ****ting the bed not once, but twice in the last 4 minutes of the playoff game against the 49ers after Brees piloted 2 comeback drives to take the lead, Eli likely doesn't get that 2nd ring because they would've gotten dominated again in New Orleans the next week. See, it all circles back to the defense failing to protect a Brees lead late in playoff games.

You clearly misread the part where I said “sustained success”. Less than a season’s worth of games between 2 QB’s across multiple seasons ≠ sustained success. Also curious how you left out Siemian going 0-4 to support your point but I can’t blame you there. But last I checked, any QB will lose a lot of games when the 3rd ranked offense in the league is scoring 28.8 ppg and the 31st ranked defense they share a locker room with is giving up 28.4 ppg. But that still doesn’t answer the question if Payton gets the credit for that season. LOL, “hissy fit”. Hey, if I get quoted/mentioned, I’ll necro-bump a thread to reply if I have to, you know that about me. And that’s a solid stat pull (that’s what I expect of you ), however you’ve already deviated from your original argument. You stated Mahomes dragged “a weak defense” to the Super Bowl (your words, not mine) which you immediately backtracked on in your next post confirming they were 7th in points and middle of the pack in yards. Same with Burrow except they were middle of the pack in both yards and points. Neither of those defenses would be considered “weak”; average to above-average, yes. That’s why I said it was a disingenuous argument when you made it. As for the Brees portion of that, not a surprise you had to use the last 3 years of his career when his arm strength was clearly in decline to prop that argument up (and he still made deep playoff runs 2 of those 3 years) while simultaneously leaving out he won a Super Bowl with a defense ranked 20th in points and 25th in yards. Only the 2011 Giants have won a Super Bowl with a defense ranked lower (25th & 27th) than the 2009 Saints in both points and yards in the Super Bowl era. And yes, it’s clear the Saints didn’t make the playoffs in 2012 and 2015 but the point I was making bringing up those seasons is Brees willing his way to 7 wins those seasons is nothing short of a miracle itself. Very few QB’s (if any) could’ve dragged those sorry *** defenses to 7 or more wins.