Payton and Brees, стр. 21

Meachem thrived as a complementary piece in the Saints system. During his first four years, he averaged 35 catches and six touchdowns a season and posted a healthy average of 16 yards per catch. In March 2012, the San Diego Chargers signed him to a four-year, $25.5 million contract and made him their No. 1 receiver. But the Chargers lacked the Saints’ vision, and the marriage proved to be a disaster. Meachem failed to land a starting job. He caught only 14 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns and was released a year later.

The Saints re-signed Meachem and plugged him back into their system. He enjoyed two more productive years with the Saints before retiring after the 2014 season.

“San Diego thought Robert Meachem was terrible, and they threw him out after a year,” Lombardi said. “Well, Robert did some things very, very well. He had speed, and he was strong, and he was excellent at tracking a ball downfield. He was not a great transition guy, breaking down and changing directions. For him, the route always needed to be a 200-yard dash or rounding second to third, where he can kind of make circular cuts. The minute he had to break down he’d get covered. So we just said, let’s never have him do the things that he’s not good at. It’s all about moving the chess pieces around.”

The Saints have stayed true to this maxim over the course of the Payton-Brees era. Over the years, the Saints offense has strayed from its West Coast roots and morphed into its own unique system, but it will always play to the strengths of the players on the roster in any given season.

When the Saints had star running backs McAllister and Bush in 2006, the offense morphed into a more run-based attack. When they won the Super Bowl in 2009, the offensive plan featured the team’s quartet of receivers: Colston, Meachem, Moore, and Devery Henderson. When Jimmy Graham came on board, game plans were highlighted by plays to the tight end. In recent years, the staff added a read-option run package to the playbook to take advantage of quarterback Taysom Hill’s skill set.

“Coach [Payton] and Pete [Carmichael] and Joe Lombardi and the rest of that offensive staff put so much time and attention into every little detail,” Hill said. “What makes those guys special is they never ask anybody on our team to do something that they can’t be successful at.”

When players leave the Saints, the plays are not discarded entirely. The plays remain in the playbook. But the game plan changes year to year, according to the available offensive personnel.

“When you watch the Saints, you’re not seeing necessarily seeing the old-school, West Coast–type offense,” said former Saints offensive assistant Joe Brady, who is now the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. “You’re seeing more conventional plays. You’re going to see a little bit of everything in terms of a Sean Payton’s vision for an offense molded with what you know Drew and players on that year’s particular team are good at.

“When you’re game-planning and you’re watching Coach Payton, Pete [Carmichael], and Joe [Lombardi] put together these plays, it’s fascinating how they find ways to put their players into positions to be successful,” Brady said. “They know this is what this guy does best, let’s get him on this spot on this play. It sounds simple but it’s really difficult to do at the level they do it at.”

Of course, none of this Xs and Os wizardry works if you don’t have time to execute it. Brees and the receiving corps can be world-beaters at their respective crafts, but if the opposing defensive line is dominating the Saints offensive line, none of Payton’s offensive mastery will matter.

Consequently, the Saints have always fielded strong offensive lines in the Payton-Brees era. Payton learned the importance of having a dominant offensive line from Parcells, and the Saints have invested heavily in this area throughout his tenure. Guard Andrus Peat, tackle Ryan Ramczyzk, and center Cesar Ruiz were first-round draft picks. Center Erik McCoy was a second-round pick. Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead was selected in the third round. The Saints traded for center Max Unger in 2015 and made guard Larry Warford a priority signing in the 2017 free agency period.

“[Payton] totally understands the importance of the offensive line, the front office understands it, Mickey [Loomis] understands it,” Strief said. “And I think a huge part of it, too, is you want to make Drew’s career go as long as you can and the single best way to do that is to have him not get abused every week.”

But everything starts with Brees. It all works because of his rare ability to process the information overload, adapt seamlessly to the changing personnel, and execute flawlessly during the heat of battle on game days.

“The system is great because he’s so great; it’s because of Drew,” Lombardi said. “There’s a lot of good stuff we do, but it’s all predicated on him. Just like we try to put this receiver in this spot and that spot. Drew can do this, so let’s do it.”

What started out as a pure West Coast offense has become its own distinct entity in the Payton-Brees era. The offense has morphed and expanded and changed so often over the years and become so customized to Brees’ strengths, it’s become its own unique system.

When Lombardi left New Orleans to become the offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions from 2014 to 2015, he tried to take some of the concepts and philosophy with him. But the system he ran there looked and operated nothing like what Brees and Payton ran in New Orleans.

“It’s really Sean Payton’s offense now,” Mark Brunell said. “If you look at his DNA and the influences he’s had and the people that he’s been around, it’s very much West Coast, but it’s really evolved, and Sean has put his own stamp on it. It’s just years of Sean