Denver Broncos: Time to Pull Out All the Stops On Offense
By Carl Dumler
The Run Game: Formations/Scheme
The Saints run a very basic 4-3 defensive scheme. They do however have a little more unique defensive front than what many teams run. Size wise I would say they almost run with 3 defensive tackles and 1 defensive end. This could be on purpose for two reasons. This helps them get the 4 most talented defensive lineman on the field and helps them in the run game. While they haven’t been great against the run they are better in that category than against the pass. The Saints do help counter using such big guys by trying to bring the blitz. In fact they blitz the 2nd most in the NFL at 38.2% only behind the Broncos.
Now how did other teams attack the Saints formation wise? I saw a lot of teams try to spread them out. There are a few reasons for this. The first being the Saints have not been a great tackling team this year. So spreading them out allows a team to get players in one-on-one situations and see if they can break a tackle for a big play. The second that I will talk about more in a bit is with the DL being a bit on the bigger side they have sacrificed some speed allowing for RB’s to hit some holes and do well for big gains. Finally the Saints do not do a ton pre-snap of moving around so a QB can get a good idea of what is getting ready to happen if they do actually start to move a bit.