Call it heresy, but I call it truth: the Saints' two-headed rushing attack is holding them back. For an offensive mastermind like Sean Payton, having those two backs, with all those other weapons, is akin to a meth addict seeking a fix. He just can't help himself. In the process, he appears to overthink and, in his own words, "get too cute." Part of it is a Martzian tendency to stray from the run altogether, the other is the constant juggling of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush. In the last two games (last year's NFC Championship against the Bears and Thursday's Colt disaster) it has been the Saints' undoing. When balancing McAllister and Bush, the carries are not interchangeable; it's not enough to just make sure anybody is running the ball. Sometimes it's about sticking with Deuce, who gets sorely forgotten amongst the playmakers in New Orleans but who, in all reality, powers the offense. Nevermind that he averaged 19 carries per Saints victory as opposed to 11 per loss in 2006, a pretty telling stat in itself. Late in the season, when the offense was almost unstoppable, McAllister ran the ball 26 times for 136 yards against San Francisco (a 34-14 win), 21 times for 111 yards against Dallas (a 42-17 win), and 21 times for 143 yards against Philly in the playoffs (a 24-21 win). Bush, in those games, had 10, six, and 12 carries respectively. In the last two losses? McAllister has 16 total carries, which just isn't right considering the type of defenses they were facing. The way to attack a Cover 2 is in the middle of the field with hard running up the gut, forcing the middle linebacker or a safety to line up in the box. This is Deuce's specialty. By running infrequently, and primarily to the outside, the Saints were playing right into the hands of the Colts' speedy defense. They face another Cover 2 defense this week against Tampa, albeit an older and slower version of the Colts' crew. McAllister has proven his worth over and over, and if the Saints want to light a spark under their flailing offense, they'll give him the ball early and often. Fan House
I agree with that. Deuce got very little pub for a very good season last year. He has been a consistent hard charging runner who makes good cuts and always gives extra effort. I know Bush is extremely talented, but he's also best utilized in space. In last weeks game, the Saints looked the best in the first half when both Deuce and Bush were in the back field together and the defense couldn't focus on either player. Deuce would get a good carry up the middle, then they'd run a counter for Bush and were making yardage. If Bush got 15 carries a game and Deuce got 20 with Bush getting 7-10 passes thrown his way per game as well, they should have a very solid balance.
