AGRI Biz

This week against the Carolina Panthers' defense, the New Orleans Saints face a formidable challenge. It is the first team they have seen this year that plays a base Cover-2 defense. In the past, the Saints have not done as well against this style of defense. Of course, over that same stretch they tore apart man-to-man defenses. This season they've found some difficulty against man-to-man defenses, but tore apart zone coverages. So ...

After watching the past four games the Carolina Panthers have played, it is very clear their offense is very good at one thingùrunning the footballùand not so good at anotherùthrowing it. Anyone probably could have said the same thing, without breaking down the Panthers previous four games. I hope to give you some more patterns and tendencies to watch for on Sunday afternoon. One of those is that the Panthers routinely run the ...

I could've picked any number of offensive players for the Saints this week to represent them on the "gameplan picture." But I picked Thomas. Perhaps it is because I am desperate in fantasy football, as I'm down 31 points headed into Monday night's game. Maybe it is because I feel that for some reason after two-plus solid seasons, Thomas is still not garnering the kind of respect he deserves. Most likely, though, ...

Lost in the euphoria of the Saints miraculous comeback Sunday evening was the fact the Saints probably played the worst football not only of their season, but perhaps of any team's season in the first half. They couldn't block, they couldn't throw, they couldn't catch a pass, they couldn't tackle, they missed assignments, took poor angles, and perhaps worst of all, just looked extremely flat, and therefore lost (like the show, ...

I'm calling it now. This will be Reggie Bush's breakout game for the 2009 season. He will get the ball early and often against an aggressive Dolphins defense. I could finish the article right now, and some of youáwould think I'm brilliant, while most would think I lost my mind. Okay, so there's a little more to the Saints offensive game plan than giving Reggie the ball as much as possible. ...

I chose this picture to highlight this article because it is exactly what everyone has come to believe the Miami Dolphins' offense is all about. Their staple is the "Wildcat", or so everyone thinks. And there is no doubt that they are the NFL's inventors of this offense and do run it better than anyone. But we've romanticized the "Wildcat" to the point that it's practically a folktale. Truthfully, the Dolphins offense ...

In my preview columns for the game against the Giants, there were a few areas I thought to be very important in order for the Saints to come out victorious on Sunday. In my estimation, they did all of these very well. 1. Eliminate turnovers, because the Giants score off them. The Saints had zero turnovers in Sunday's game. Drew Brees only threw one pass all day that could've been picked, ...

After watching nearly four full games of the Giants defense, I've come away with a few trends and patterns that Sean Paytonùas a playcallerùand Drew Brees can take advantage of in Sunday's mammoth matchup of unbeatens. Most prominent among these advantages is the Saints ability to run the football against a less-than-great run defense. The Giants main difficulty in defending the run is being overaggressive and not playing gap-assignment football. Linebackers and ...

If you followed any of the NFL offseason discussions in the spring or summer, you would know that one of the largest questions was who, if anyone, would step up for the Giants at the receiver position? That question has been answered and then some. Steve Smith leads the league in yards and TDs. Mario Manningham is a big-play threat extraordinaire. Hakeem Nicks in recent weeks has provided a third-wheel to ...

The New York Jets are a good football team. Their offense is dangerous, but their defense is proven lethal. They are coordinated by their head coach, Rex Ryan. And they are a reflection of their head coachùconfident, brash, and down right good. They like to throw the kitchen sink at you and when they've done that, then they blow up the house. I once heard a college offensive coordinator talk about Nick ...