Worst secondary in the league?

[boxer]

It just seems that we have been coming out soft in the second half these last few weeks. Is it scheme or lack of? We just don't seem to be a very good second half team. I think we should have beaten the Giants (though that was a loss I can live with) and totally put away the Saints, but we come out soft in the second half. I really can see the theory that some have that we play not to lose.

They certainly keep me reaching for the Zanex.

[dksmith17]

I think our missing DTs clearly effected our pass defense. It seemed that our outside pass rush was effective for the most part but Brees always seemed to be able to step up in the pocket and make plays. In the first matchup against him this was usually not a possibility because of Maake Lewis and Johnson's ability to crash the pocket. But yes a simple inside blitz scheme could have prevented this. That was one thing that I thought was missing the whole game. Especially considering Mike Bell does not have great pass blocking capabilities.

[ckad79]

We played against the #1 offense in the NFC and Brees was going for a record, so our secondary had plenty to work against.

Still, I really think our secondary is really our weak spot. I don't have much faith in it going into the playoffs.

[catz]

21 - good but losing a step every game.

[SorthNarolina]

If these problems continue in the secondary(mainly lucas) we STILL will play a lot more attention to the defensive line in the offseason

I'm officially into blind playoff homerism mode so as far as I'm concerned panthers rule and everybody else sucks

[Davidson Deac II]

Its interesting how much emphasis fans put on the passing game, both in a teams ability to pass and ability to defend the pass. I guess its because passing is more glamorous, But despite what people think, our pass defense is average.

Its our run defense that should concern us. There, we are decidedly below average. The teams we are likely to face are running teams. Only Arizona and Philadelphia are pass happy and we are less likely to face them.