Saints: the timely return of Terron Armstead
The Saints are without Zach Strief for at least 8 weeks. With Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk in the line-up, the Saints should be just fine.
The New Orleans Saints had themselves a statement game against the Detroit Lions in Week 6. They controlled the line of scrimmage on both offense and defense. And Terron Armstead was back.
The offensive line play was particularly dominant. The Saints rushed for 193 yards on 37 attempts, good for 5.2 yards per carry.The pass protection was solid as well. They kept QB Drew Brees upright for the most part and didn’t surrender a single sack.
Part of the line’s strong performance can be attributed to the timely return of star left tackle Terron Armstead. He locked down Brees’ blindside, while impressive rookie tackle Ryan Ramczyk manned the right tackle spot.
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The Saints had been playing a combo of Ramczyk at LT and Strief at RT in the absence of Terron Armstead. It had yielded good results up until Strief went down with a knee injury.
The return of Terron Armstead has offered the Saints a degree of comfort along the offensive line. They managed well with a combination of Strief and Ramczyk, but when Strief went down the nerves set in.
It would have been too much to expect solid line play with Ramczyk on his own. Luckily the team has avoided that scenario for the most part.
Ramczyk’s versatility has buoyed this offensive line through its injury struggles. The decision to draft him in the first round was met with much trepidation by Saints fans. But without him, this team would be in a much worse position.
Now that Armstead is back, the Saints suddenly have a more youthful, athletic line to operate behind. The Saints will look to keep their strong play going against a stingy Packers defense in week 7.