September 27, 2024
THE WIZARDRY OF OS
If you are over 45, you will understand I felt the same feelings watching at home after the Saints loss that I did many times walking out of the Superdome from 1988-1993.
The Saints stifled
on offense except for a few big plays. The defense forced turnovers and set up the offense, but the offense can’t finish or make plays. Nevertheless, the Saints played with a lead until the last two minutes.
scored late, the Saints offense could respond, and they lost.
Insert the 1998-1993 49ers (or sometimes the Ram or Falcons) in the blanks and the Eagles last Sunday and the paragraph is true. The blame falls on the same SEC teams that haunt LSU fans. The Eagles have the Georgia defensive middle and Jalen Hurts on offense. Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Nakobe Dean controlled the middle of the line of scrimmage (losing Eric McCoy hurt a ton). There is not much to do when you are overmatched in the middle of the line of scrimmage, in the middle of the paint in basketball, or on the mound in football.
The good news is we know the Saints have some quality ingredients, but the margin for error in the NFL is small, and the injuries are building.
While in the comfort of my air conditioning (how can anyone fault LSU fans roasting in the Sun in this day and age), I enjoyed watching the second half when LSU was the team I wrote about before the season started. Sure, we want LSU to be dominant on offense and defense, but that is not the roster LSU has this year. Regardless, there is a formula where the Tigers can be very good this year and we saw it in the second half.
Complimentary football is when the offense and defense help each other. The offense sustained drives, keeping the defense off the field. The defense got off the field on third down, and the offense followed it up with another long drive by running the ball and taking what the defense gave.
All the talk about LSU’s offensive line not having the run game mindset does not take into account three factors that must happen to be good in the run game. It starts with the physical, but then moves to the mental.
First, you must block the right people. Second, the play caller has to mix things up while making sure everyone knows who to block against any front. Finally, the back must have the right timing and read the blocks to find the right hole. These three aspects take practice. Yet, because NFL and college teams wisely prioritize getting to the season healthy in fall practice, the reps don't really come until game time.
Overall, there is reason for optimism for LSU even without Harold Perkins. The question is whether we will see something similar to what we saw in the second half against UCLA against teams that haven’t struggled to beat Hawaii and got blown out at home by Indiana.