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Between the meetings at the Saints' facilities on Airline Drive and the Wednesday night guided tour and the subsequent hotel meetings, the defense coordinator was questioned on a matter that had plagued him for years.
Every year, the saints prepare to face many types. Many of them cause problems. But Atlanta receiver Julio Jones is one of the toughest players he had to play against?
"Yes," he said energetically, punctuating the answer with a chuckle. "It's probably as succinct as I can say."
Jones reminded the saints why he had to be feared and respected. He had another big day, but it was hollow because the Falcons accumulated a lot of passes before falling into the hands of the Saints 31-17 on Thursday night.
We'll talk about how Jones totals 147 of Atlanta's 377 yards. But first we must establish that the Falcons had only 26 yards in 16 attempts, and 16 of those yards were on a pair of passes by Matt Ryan.
It was a one-dimensional mistake that was supposed to fly the ball in the air, and that was exactly what New Orleans wanted to play. He knew that if Ryan had to pass the ball, the secondary team could stay solid and the assault of the passes could take off a quarter.
"We knew that this week, Atlanta had proved it, if the game does not start early, they will be scared of the first leg," said defensive tackle Tyeler Davison. "It's what happened today."
The Saints did not do anything special or unique to smother the Falcons on the ground. They knew how Atlanta was trying to run and it helped them keep Atlanta under-6 yards in their first three scopes, but that was simply done by staying basically solid.
Atlanta tried to come back to the ground game, but it never really worked. Once New Orleans realized that there would not be many pressing attempts, it was time for the defensive line to get to work.
Six bags. Thirteen quarter shots. Nine tackles for a loss. The impact of manufacturing one-dimensional Falcons was visible.
"It allows you to play quarterback," said defender Alex Okafor. "As the game resumed and they moved away from their race, we had more hits and more bags. It was just a good match for us.
The performance has this group feeling confident.
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"It's been preparing since last season," said Okafor. "We saw our potential last season. This year, things have not started as planned, but every week we have improved, and I think we are just starting. And we are becoming, not only the defense, but the team we want to become. "
As for Jones, there is no doubt that he managed to get some numbers against a new Allen plan. After leaving Marshon Lattimore on Jones and letting him go to work the previous three times, Allen asked Eli Apple to handle this task, often with some help with security.
The reason for this change could be due to broadcaster Calvin Ridley dominating all the players he was associated with in Atlanta until Lattimore joined him with just over nine minutes in the third quarter. Everyone was doing better this time, but it was clear that Lattimore might well fight the receiver faster and Jones could be prevented from doing explosive games with help during this meeting.
This week was not perfect, and New Orleans would much rather not pass the 383 yards, which is more than it gave to the Falcons in a third week game, when seemed completely out of control for high school. But the difference is that this one has never adopted this feeling.
There were only three really great passing games for Atlanta on Thursday. A 37-yard win where Mohamed Sanu made a good deep run with Lattimore on the cover, a 50-yard gain where Calvin Ridley took the best over PJ Williams on an extended play and a 21-yard gain over Jones on a fourth game in the fourth quarter.
It's a fictitious exercise to say, "Take off these three games and it's a different game" because the Falcons could win three of their four turnovers and it's a different game. But the distance of Jones (147) and his teammates is a viable outcome for the Saints against an offense that can display numbers and a wide receiver that can haunt the dreams of a coordinator.
Especially when this total is compiled against an offense that plays as the defense wants.
"We made them one-dimensional. By the end of the third quarter, the fourth quarter is over, they are already in the game for 11 assists, "said linebacker AJ Dit Klein. "Obviously, for us, we do not want to give up so many yards for fewer passes.
"But to get them into the third and last, the fourth and the last, you have to consider that a positive point. they are taking more and more risks. "
The saints have abandoned too much of these third and fourth attempts, and there were too many yards, but Okafor is right. This defense is in the process of getting in shape. This creates turnarounds. These are the quarterbacks. Nobody can run on it. Everyone can do more than pass the ball, but even that does not work a few weeks.
He clicked. New Orleans has a defense more than enough to complete its attack. The most important thing is simply to maintain it and see where it can go in January.
Follow Nick Underhill on Twitter, @nick_underhill.
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