Saints: Run defence leaps and bounds ahead where it was last year
The defence stuffed the running game in the New Orleans Saints‘ first live tackling drill of training camp. The next step is translating that success into the season. Getting tougher against the run is one of the top priorities – if not the No. 1 priority – for New Orleans Saints.
The New Orleans Saints finished 21st in rushing defence on their way to winning the Super Bowl. And the number of big plays they gave up were ugly. Counting the playoffs, they allowed 4 runs of 65 or more yards. They gave up runs of 20 or more yards in 11 games.
Baltimore, which had the NFL’s No. 1 rushing defence, allowed one run of 30 yards or longer.
New Orleans defensive co-ordinator Gregg Williams scoffed at the suggestion he could live with the long runs as a byproduct of his aggressive scheme.
During the opening tackling drill, linebackers coach Joe Vitt screamed before almost every snap that the offensive players considered the defence soft against the run. He kept telling his guys to “look them in the eye.”
The defence followed by locking the running game down, an infrequent occurrence last year.
