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Week 8 vs New Orleans Saints - Game Preview

Ryan Watkins · 2024-10-27T00:55:30Z

The Chargers face a New Orleans Saints' side that is teetering on the edge of existence. After starting out on fire outscoring their opponents 91 to 29 in the first two weeks, they have fallen to five straight losses including last week's 23 point defeat to Sean Payton's Denver Broncos to further compound their misery. It's tough to come back from five losses in seven weeks this season but their future hangs on finding some way to salvage this season. The Saints have been ravaged by injuries including ones to Derek Carr, Rashid Shaheed, most of their starting offensive line plus a host more on defense. I haven't watched enough film of them before and after the injuries to say how much of a contributing factor those players missing has played but for any team to lose seven starters is tough. Dennis Allen and his staff face a likely end to their stint in Louisiana but the buck unfortunately does not stop there for Saints fans. A lot of Mickey Loomis' misplaced salary-cap-be-damned bets of years gone by are coming to a sad realization next season so if they don't find a way to compete now, they will have a gloomy future heading their way. They made some steps towards that this week by extending Alvin Kamara but can giving a 29 year old running back a 2 year $24.5 million deal be considered good business?Offense Let's take a look and see what kind of offense our Bolts will be facing at SoFi stadium on Sunday. Jesse Minter will be tasked with facing what is left of Klint Kubiak's starting offense which has looked a shadow of the downfield passing attach we saw with Derek Carr over the first two weeks of the season. His oblique injury has forced to play the rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler, who they drafted in the 4th round out of South Carolina, to be thrust into the starting spot way ahead of schedule. Whilst the Saints Although Carr is officially listed as Doubtful, this is apparently a mechanism whereby they can assign his as the emergency 3rd quarterback instead of a healthy scratch. So there is a chance the Chargers' old AFC West rival makes a surprise start especially after he was seen throwing off to the side of practice this week. This is probably a ploy to make the Chargers split their game preparation due to how different the Saints' offense has been since Carr went down. With Spencer at the helm the Saints have been running a 'Dink & Dime' offense averaging an ADOT of 7.1 yards per attempt despite passing over 35 times in each of the two games he has started. Derek Carr was averaging 9.5 yards per attempt and that's even factoring in the three games after the league's defenses figured out their downfield attack concepts forcing him to revert back to his 'checkdown charlie' normality. The two offenses have been very different so to make Minter prepare for both is probably a smart play. Offensive Data from Sumer Sports The Saints' offense sits just behind the Chargers in terms of overall EPA/play even though they have outgained our Bolts by 387 yards, 13 touchdowns and 71 points. That difference is found because they are playing from behind as their leaky defense has meant they have been out of games before they can even get going. Kubiak's scheme seems to be predicated on two key concepts, attacking the weak side of two high defenses and bringing defenders into the box by utilizing 2 or 3 players in the backfield. Translation: they want draw you in and then pass over your head to the side that your two high defense isn't prepared to defend.They use the 1x2 formation, that's two receivers to the weak side with one to the strong side, more than anyone else in the league at 17.8% and they have the 3rd highest success rate from this formation. On the face of it they're a primarily 11 personnel team but when you take out 'garbage time' they end up as a heavier personnel team as the data table below illustrates. They run multiple back sets at a top 8 rate across the board with a generally high EPA/per from those looks. The Saints' non-garbage time offensive personnel usage (Sumer Sports) I would hope to see Minter break his tendencies against this look because to run a Cover 6 defense with a light box just isn't going to matchup well against this kind of offense. Additionally their offensive line is still down to two starters and the remaining five are not playing well. Last week Taliese Fuaga (14.6%) and Trevor Penning (16.7%) yielded the 5th and 7th worst pressure percentages of any linemen, with the rookie allowing a league-high three sacks against the Broncos. If there were ever a time to rediscover the exciting pass rush concepts from Minter's Michigan days, this would be the week. Bosa coming back may unlock some more natural pressures but I would sincerely hope this isn't the sole reliance on stressing the pocket because it has not been successful over the last few weeks. The run game has been something they have had to commit to even though it's been dismal viewing, they have ran the ball 21 ti...

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Week 8: Saints @ Chargers

Last Post by KevDiego 1 year ago

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KevDiego

Oct 27, 2024 3:13 pm

(@kevdiego)

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And... Running on 1st down again. That. Never. Fucking. Works

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Erick V

Oct 27, 2024 3:14 pm

(@evolz3737)

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BANG!!!

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NickCoulter

Oct 27, 2024 3:14 pm

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Told ya

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Kyle DeDiminicantanio

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Oct 27, 2024 3:14 pm

(@kylededi)

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WE DID IT!!! WE THREW AN EXPLOSIVE PLAY TOUCHDOWN!!!

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Arne-sixpakfrombelgium

Oct 27, 2024 3:14 pm

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Holy shit. What a play!

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Buck Melanoma

Oct 27, 2024 3:15 pm

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Hot damn!!!

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Family. Trust. Respect.

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Erick V

Oct 27, 2024 3:15 pm

(@evolz3737)

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Look what happens when you actually have real offensive players on the field!!

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KevDiego

Oct 27, 2024 3:17 pm

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McConkey had no separation on that play. Herbert showed great trust in Ladd throwing is where he could make a play.

Great play by both.

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KevDiego

Oct 27, 2024 3:20 pm

(@kevdiego)

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Bosa on the field.

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KevDiego

Oct 27, 2024 3:22 pm

(@kevdiego)

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Now, put the game away.

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Erick V

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Oct 27, 2024 3:23 pm

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KevDiego

@kevdiego exactly. A nice 7 min scoring drive would be great, even if it’s just a FG

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Week 8 vs New Orleans Saints - Game Preview

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