One of the greatest facets of life in the NFL, particularly for a struggling defense, is that last week goes away once next week rolls around. The Saints defense will try to erase all memory of their season-opening letdown at Lambeau as they come home in week 2 to face the other team from the NFC North that was at one point only sixty minutes away from last year’s Super Bowl, the Chicago Bears. Now that the emotion of week 1 has died down, its time for the Saints defense to dig in and protect the Superdome for the first time in 2011.
PASS DEFENSE
Well, it’s another week, and for the Saints that means another rocket-armed, gunslinging quarterback to play ball against. This time it’s Jay Cutler, a young QB whose tendency to throw the ball as hard as he can, anywhere on the field, sometimes seemingly without much regard for what might happen on the other end has drawn much comparison to Brett Favre. Cutler started out 2011 with a 312 yard, 2 TD performance in week 1, and while it was nice to see him cut through the Falcons like warm butter, the Saints need to make some changes if they want to have better luck than they did last week against Aaron Rodgers.
Cutler brings with him a whole stable of receiving threats that includes not only wide receivers, but also a running back (Matt Forte) and a guy who used to play defense (Devin Hester). Forte led the bears with 90 receiving yards and a receiving TD last week, and it will be up to the Saints linebackers to ensure that there isn’t a repeat on Sunday. Forte is a matchup nightmare because of his ability to catch balls out of the backfield, and Gregg Williams will need to shore up his scheme this week to keep the duel-threat in check.
Aside from Forte (don’t worry, we’ll get back to him in a minute), the Bears bring number one WR Johnny Knox, Roy Williams, and the shifty Devin Hester to the party, and each play a certain role. The Saints will presumably use Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter in some combination to take care of Williams and Knox, but Hester is a different animal that presents a lot of the same problems for a defense as a Reggie Bush or Darren Sproles. The Saints will be in their nickel package a lot when Hester is on the field, which is the unit that fared poorly in Green Bay.
It is important that Williams doesn’t abandon the blitz this week after a poor showing in week 1, as Jay Cutler is known to be rattle-able and prone to poor decision-making in those situations. The defense should have a good number of opportunities to cause turnovers in this game. Williams needs to figure out how to get in Cutler’s head without leaving too much space on the field for one of the most dangerous checkdown options in the NFL to operate.
RUN DEFENSE
It’s fitting I guess, covering the Saints, that we should be spending so much time talking about a Tulane graduate. Bears RB Matt Forte undeniably represents the biggest threat against the Saints evening their record this weekend. Forte has gained the fifth most yards from scrimmage since he came into the league in 2008. When Forte runs, Sedrick Ellis better be on his game, and Shaun Rogers and Aubrayo Franklin better give us some type of evidence that they belong on the field at all. When Forte catches the ball on a screen, the Saints linebackers better be ready to move.
The front seven is a big liability when Forte is on the field, but the Bears also have the right personnel for some trickery with Devin Hester lining up all over their offensive front. Balancing nickel personnel and properly preparing for Forte is the biggest challenge the Saints face this week in terms of scheme.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Jonathan Vilma vs. Matt Forte. Yeah, I know you’re probably getting sick of reading about Forte, but you’re going to get sick of watching him pretty quickly if he wins this matchup. Vilma has to be able to control the gaps in the running game to keep Forte out of the second level, and he will probably be counted on often to sniff out screen plays and make plenty of tough open field tackles.
With the secondary focused on Cutler’s other receiving options and controlling what he can do with his cannon of an arm, Vilma will be counted on to force Cutler’s oftentimes unsteady hand by taking away his most reliable option.
