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Will Smith: "The key is to make him do what he doesn't want to do."
Date : 14 th October 2005.
Having blossomed as an NFL playmaker at the same time and in the same division as Atlanta phenom Michael Vick, Dwight Smith knows all about Vick's affinity for utilizing quickness.
And not necessarily his own.
Vick's status as the league's fastest, most elusive quarterback is unquestioned. But Smith, the New Orleans Saints strong safety who, with Tampa Bay, spent four years chasing Vick, said what really gets opposing defenses in trouble is when they try to fight fire with fire — or speed with speed.
"If you're running fast and you don't know where you're going," Smith said, "he's going to use that against you."
Like many other teams in the league, the Saints still are trying to master that concept. Sunday at the Alamodome, the Saints will be looking for their first victory over a team with Vick on the field.
In three games Vick has started for the Falcons against New Orleans, Atlanta is 3-0. The Falcons are 0-3 in the three Saints games Vick has missed due to injury since he became the full-time starter in 2002.
Beating a Vick-led team is a significant hurdle for the Saints in their quest to reach the top of the NFC South. But it's not exactly a mark of shame that they haven't accomplished it yet.
"A lot of people have had problems with Michael Vick," Saints defensive tackle Willie Whitehead said. "He's that kind of guy."
Vick also is the kind of guy who causes defenses to adjust game plans, even though the Saints insist they won't change a thing Sunday whether the Falcons play Vick or backup Matt Schaub.
Schaub played last week as Vick rested a sore knee, but Vick participated in practice Thursday and should be ready for Sunday's game.
If Vick plays as expected, the Saints aren't planning on implementing any complicated schemes to stop him. They said their strategy would be similar to what they do against other quarterbacks, with an emphasis on not giving Vick too much room to scramble.
"You just try to keep him contained," defensive end Darren Howard said.
Said defensive end Will Smith: "The key is to make him do what he doesn't want to do."
And the only defense that can make Vick do that is a defense that plays under control. Dwight Smith said Vick pounces all over teams with defenders that try to do too much, leaving their assignments to fill in where they shouldn't.
On some of the great Tampa Bay defenses that Smith played on, veterans who trusted each other to make the right plays carried the unit. Smith said the Saints haven't developed that yet, but they will know it when they see it.
"There's only one kind of discipline," he said. "You either have it or you don't."
Smith doesn't have to convince coach Jim Haslett, who has been preaching the importance of a disciplined defensive approach against Vick all week.
"If you take the wrong angles, if you dip your head in where it doesn't belong, he's going to run around you," Haslett said. "You can have all the speed in the world and you're still not going to catch him."
Source : mysanantonio
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