Harbaugh says the Saints defense has an “encyclopedia of blitzes” on third down

SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh held a press conference Friday afternoon. Here’s what he said about the Saints defense, courtesy of the 49ers.

The Saints defensive players have talked a little bit about just adjusting to Saints defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme, which I guess happened when he was first with the Giants. It took him a little while. Is there anything unique for their defense that it might be a process to pick up that scheme?

“Just looking at it from an offensive perspective if you look at it and know where that defense was last year with St. Louis and how intricate it was. And they had more volume and just to see how it’s progressed up until now, yeah, you can see. I don’t know the nuances and the complication of the calls, etc. or how tough it is to learn. But, you can definitely see it building and growing to what it was three years in St. Louis. Not quite there yet. And then the third down package, just an encyclopedia of blitzes and looks and they do a tremendous job getting you off the field on third down.”

Is there more zone blitzing under Spagnuolo than they did with former Saints defensive coordinator Greg Williams?

“More?”

Yeah.

“Yeah, there are differences in the two schemes. And then there’s been some carryover. You can see some of the fronts and defenses that they use have been he’s incorporated some of Greg Williams’ style, of defense. But, this is much like the St. Louis defense that we saw twice last year, Spagnuolo’s defense.