The bye-week film session didn't lie, and what it showed was painful for the New Orleans Saints run defense.
Before Sunday's 23-22, overtime victory over Cleveland, the Saints were allowing 139.4 rushing yards per game (fourth-most in the league) on 4.8 yards per carry, and four opponents had gained at least 145 rushing yards against New Orleans.
But the Saints bowed up against Cleveland — 95 rushing yards allowed on 34 carries (2.8 yards per carry), allowing a long gain of 12 yards. New Orleans remains 29th in rushing yards allowed at 133.9 yards per game, but has something to build off following a critical week of self-evaluation. The Saints (3-5) hope to carry over the success into Sunday's game against Carolina (3-5) in the Caesars Superdome.
Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said the Saints didn't infuse anything new into the mix. They just better executed the old.
"We did what we did better," Staley said. "There wasn't one new defense that we hadn't run several times during this year and last. We just executed fundamentally better, executed the scheme better. I think all 11 guys played the right way for four quarters. It was just the consistency. We had it in that game, and I was proud of the guys for that."
Linebacker Kaden Elliss said Staley simply reminded the defense of things it had done, and was capable of doing again.
"I think Staley did a really awesome job of challenging us through the bye, immediately after the Pittsburgh game through the bye, and leading up to (Sundays) game," said Elliss, who totaled a team-high 11 tackles against the Browns. "A lot of self-scout, and it hurt to look at a lot of the self-scout to see the way we were tackling, the way we were taking on blocks, the lack of physicality that we had. And at the end of the day, it was just a challenge.
"It was (a challenge) with belief, one with an understanding that we have a special group and that we can still be a special group. But we had to be challenged to take a step and that's one of the great blessings of the bye week in the NFL. It's really hard to really sit back and self-analyze, because you already have to prep for the next week. So to have the time to do so, to challenge the group, and to hold us to the standard that is required here, that was a blessing and I'm glad we went out and responded."
It was exactly the response Staley expected and hopes to see again on Sunday against Carolina.
"There's been plenty of quality this year against some of the top runners in the league," he said. "We've just had some inconsistent stretches that I think have affected some of the numbers. I still think we've been playing tough, but there's a different level that you have to get to play the way that we want to play, that we expect to play. And I think that Super Bowl standard tape required more of us.
"That's what I was trying to show them, was the level that we have reached and then, hey, these are this group of plays where we've fallen short. And it's everybody in here, just doing a little bit more and then we'll like what we see a lot more. That's what happened against Cleveland."
