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You can attribute that to a lot of things," defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins said. "To sum it up in few words as possible, we just aren’t executing. We aren’t doing everything we need to do to get the stops when we need the stops. We’re on the field too long and the longer we’re on the field the more chances the offense has to attack you."Coverage problems have been the chief culprit, allowing offenses to crack open the defense early and set up the running game. One way to help the secondary is to augment a pass rush that showed signs of life against Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriots. "We are just a split second behind on making these big plays, especially up front," Klein said. "We are right there. If you go and break down the tape, our D-line is right there. We just have to do better in the back end of covering — giving them a few extra seconds."New Orleans may also look to expand its blitz packages, trying to create free rushers who can eliminate the time a passer like Brady or Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford — both passers get the ball out very quick — has to find the matchup he wants."We've got to keep looking at creative ways to apply pressure on the quarterback," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "Each week, depending on who we're playing, certainly the clock in that player's head, we've got to continue to look to affect it."Pass rush and blitz packages aside, the Saints defense isn't going to be able to pull itself out of this slump if mental mistakes continue to plague the unit. With that in mind, the Saints veterans say the game preparation has to be better all-around."I don’t want to say it’s extra work. It’s the quality of work," Klein said. "You can sit and watch tape for four or five hours, but if you’re not looking at the right things it’s not gonna do you any good. ... And I don’t want to say individually, but I think collectively as a group getting together with a few guys, if that means the linebackers and the DBs getting together or the whole back seven getting together for an extra 30 minutes, it makes a big difference."New Orleans needs something to make a big difference right away. #ndn-video-player-3.ndn_embedded .ndn_floatContainer { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }... (The Advocate)