Saints Report # 3

The season of high hopes is slowly disintegrating.  In the most abysmal performance of the Sean Payton era, the Saints continued their road horror show by travelling to Dallas and getting manhandled in a 38-17 blowout.  They are now solidly in last place in the NFC South. 

With a quarter of the season in the books, it is now painfully obvious that the over-hyped Saints are destined to be an 8 – 8 team, assuming, as one must at this point, that the Saints will win all their home games and lose all their away games.  One strategy at this point might be to selectively forfeit a few road games and preserve their health.  After all, losing 6 straight regular-season road games, and going 1-8 in the last 9 makes every road game a long shot.

The recent history of Saints vs Cowboys contests is one of momentum.  One team gets rolling, and it’s over early.  The Cowboys led 31 – 3 going into the 4^th quarter and it was over despite some late saber-rattling by the Saints offense.

The Saints defensive line led the lack of charge.  They couldn’t stop the run – DeMarcus Murray ran easily.  They couldn’t pressure that most susceptible-to-pressure-of-quarterbacks Tony Romo. 

Critical drops by Colston and Graham, and fumbles by Graham and Cadet sealed the loss.  And I won’t even mention the Brees interception on, of course, a 2^nd and short play when the Saints should have been running the ball.

So what’s wrong with the Saints?  Start with the defensive line.  A great, or at least good pass rush from your front four is a pretty good starting formula for success in the NFL.  Stalwarts Cameron Jordan and Junior Galette have been absent.  The middles of the line has been worse.  The blitzes have been predictable and too over-done.  Rob – sometimes you only need to blitz one person, not four. 

The offensive line has been only marginally better.  Brees looks like he’s auditioning for Dancing with the Stars the way he has to boogey in the pocket.  No one respects the running game of the Saints, including the Saints. Let's just say there are many opportunities for improvement, but football is still first and foremost a game of power in the trenches.  That's where the Saints are losing battle after battle and I don't know if there is a quick fix for the shortcomings.  

Next up is Tampa Bay for a Superdome battle of the two last place teams.  Don’t get excited.  The Saints have an explosive offense and an explodable defense.  I didn’t like the Saints schedule the moment I saw it, and I still don’t.  Three of the first four on the road against good teams, and great teams coming to the dome in rapid succession.  Maybe 8 – 8 is optimistic.  The turnaround needs to start soon.  

Saints Report # 3

In a game memorable only for a sack that was the turning point for the sacked team, the New Orleans Saints slogged their way to a 20 – 9 Superdome victory, their 9^th straight home win. To a relieved who dat nation, the Saints restored their relevance by scoring 3 touchdowns, while allowing 3 field goals.

So, what does the 32 team NFL look like (besides a PR nightmare) after 3 weeks?

One team in the AFC is 3 – 0, the Cincinnati Bengals.

In the NFC team, 2 teams are 3 – 0, the Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles.

There are 3 teams that are winless, not surprisingly the Jaguars, Bucs, and the Raiders.

The other 26 teams are either 2 – 1 or 1 – 2 (like the Saints.)

So, the league has come back to the slow-starting Saints.

Sunday the Saints red zone defense was improved, as they turned threats into harmless field goals, although they gave up huge chunks of passing yardage on occasion.    When Vikings QB Matt Cassell broke his foot, rookie Teddy Bridgewater’s NFL career began.  Naturally he looked all-world at times against the Saints, but the Saints showed him their “bend but not break” defense, you know, the one they used last year.  The star on defense was Curtis Lofton who at times appeared to be reading the Vikings playbook.

The Saints started crisply on offense as their first two drives resulted in touchdowns.  Brees was efficient, and the running game was clicking behind Khiry Robinson and Pierre Thomas.  Then suddenly, the offense got a case of the “punts.”  As the 4^th quarter began, the Saints clung to a modest 13 – 9 lead, With the pressure ratcheted up on Brees, the play of the game came when the Vikings’ Captain Munnerlyn slammed Brees to the turf on a 3^rd down sack, drawing a personal foul penalty and a rare display of emotion from Brees.  What would have ended the drive restarted it, and the Saints 90 yard drive put the game away.

Stars on offense?  Start with Brandin Cooks, who made several difficult catches, and is playing like a 3^rd year receiver.  His chemistry with Brees is already evident.  Brees spread it around to his receiving corps, as usual, including touchdown passes to Josh Hill and Marques Colston, his 56^th TD as a Saint. 

Next up is a trip to Dallas to play the NFL’s most unpredictable team.  Which Tony Romo will show up?  Do the Saints have anyone that can remotely come close to covering Dez Bryant?  Will the offense come close to its 40 first down performance of last year?  Will Jerry Jones have any more pictures released?

Stay tuned.

Saints Report # 2

Pat Sajak, “The category is Before and After.”

R_A_

WO_

IS M_

Sean, “Can I buy a vowel?”

No, time’s up, the answer is

ROAD WOE IS ME.

No trips to the playoffs for you.

The Payton era of Saints football will be remembered as follows:
One Super Bowl (hopefully more) 
Record Setting Offense
Road Woe is Me

For the second consecutive week the Saints went on the road, brought a porous defense, played a sloppy game, and lost on a field goal at the end.

Don’t get too upset.  This was not unforeseen. 

Starting 0-2 in two away games was a huge fear, but is not surprising given the road woes of the Payton era.  While often dominant in the Superdome, the Saints are an average road team.

The question is why? 

In their 26 – 24 loss to the usually cooperative Cleveland Browns, the Saints defense made Bryan Hoyer look like a genius as he consistently read the Saints defensive tendencies.  Tendencies.  The league has figured out the Saints’ tendencies, like blitzing too many players on the biggest play of the game.  Charles Durning's legacy endures.

Meanwhile the Saints offense sometimes confounds the most ardent supporters.  Apparently the league read the Sports Illustrated NFL preview edition where the writer explained that Sean Payton likes to come out in a lot of different formations to start the game to see what defenses are going to do.  What the article didn’t say was they are all passing formations.  So while most teams smash a little mouth to start the game, the Saints do a little dance, just to see what their partner’s going to do.  We can establish the run game later, after we’ve given up the first few possessions. 

Most frustrating down?  Second.  For some reason the Payton playcard dictates shotgun on second down, even if it’s 2^nd and 6.  Why not just run the ball?  It is a confounding tendency that they treat 2^nd and 4 as a passing down.   “Hey, we can run it 4 yards, or we can go with an empty backfield!”  Makes for a lot of unnecessary third downs.

When the Saints run the ball well, as they did after the first quarter (yes even Mark Ingram), they are hard to stop.  Critics like to blame the offense for the road woes, and sometimes that’s true.  But, the opposing team’s noise should make it harder for your offense.  Home field should be worth 10 points off.  At the Superdome it certainly does.  The offense has been frustrating, and a pick 6 Brees toss may have been the deciding factor, but the truth is that the offense, while not dominant, has played well enough to win.

But, to win on the road, the defense must travel.  Ours just doesn’t.  It looks like the addition of Jarius Byrd, and the position change for Kenny Vacarro has been a wash.  The Saints linebackers are too slow to cover, and one cornerback is a magnet for the opposition to pick on.  Jabari Greer retired this week after last year’s injury.  Greer and Tracey Porter, or Keenan Lewis and Patrick Robinson?  Who would you take?  Right about now the Who Dat nation would trade PRob for a Roast Beef Po-boy from Parkway Tavern, because well, we know the gravy covers the roast beef, and we like coverage.

Next up, Adrian Peterson and his Viking band of disciplinarians will undoubtedly get a warm welcome in the Superdome.  The NFL has had the worst two weeks in the history of the league, and the Saints have been right in step.  Unfortunately, and rather surprisingly, the Carolina Panthers have picked up where they left off, and the Saints are already in a divot.  If the team must win 11 games to make the playoffs, that means they must go 11 – 3 the rest of the way, and even that won't secure the home field advantage we obviously need even more than I thought we did before we got rock and rolled in Cleveland.  11 - 3 is possible I guess.  But, only if something changes on defense.  Like our tendencies.  

Here's the locker room scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6mpHW3SMcc

Saints Report #1 - September 7, 2014

The only thing missing Sunday was Steve Spagnoulo as the Saints reverted to their defensive form of that lost year of 2012 by allowing a whopping 568 yards to Atlanta.    The Falcons’ 37 – 34 overtime victory was not unexpected, but still a bitter way to start the season, especially since the Saints squandered a 13 – 0 lead.

How did Matt Ryan throw for a franchise record 448 yards?  The pocket.  The Saints surprising approach was to pressure Ryan not at all.  The pocket might as well have been the Great Wall of China.

Quarterbacks have a mental clock running in their head as they drop back.  Here’s what a typical Ryan sequence had to have been like:

Count one:  I see the safeties are deep, I’m going to have to throw underneath

Count two:  Roddy White should be breaking open pretty quickly

Count three:  Julius Jones should also be open now

Count four:  No reason to hurry here, I’m thinking about pizza after the game

Count five:  This is nice protection and I’m guessing the kids will want pepperoni, but I really like sausage

Count six:  I wonder if Tony Gonzalez is watching the game.  He’d really enjoy this

Count seven:  Let me move a little here as there’s a little commotion on my left

Count eight: Zip

Lesson 1:  Very few teams have the cornerbacks to cover both Julio Jones and Roddy White, and the Saints are one of them.  The Falcons, with the addition of Devin Hester have 4 legit wide receivers.  If you think you can sit back and play coverage, you’ve got what we’ll call “The Spags.”

On the offensive side of the ball, the Saints were efficient, but their two turnovers cost them dearly.  Both teams had end zone turnovers. The Saints marched down the field and Brees tried to force a ball into Brandin Cooks in the end zone and the interception cost the Saints precious points.

Then in overtime, the normally reliable Marquis Colston had a rough day, dropping the first pass, then catching and fumbling the second.  Matt Bryant kicked the tie breaker through from 52.

Other than that, the Saints offense looked sharp.  Brees threw for 333 yards and looked primed for another productive year.   Rookie Brandin Cooks showed great promise, and I’ll bet anyone who wants to bet $1, that he caught more passes (7) in this game than Nick Toon will in his NFL career.  Toon was inactive after being kept on the squad, but Robert Meachem was active even though he was cut and brought back.  Just thought I would mention that mystery.  Yep, we kept Toon, but cut Ryan Griffin, who after a rough opening Sunday for QB’s will undoubtedly get picked up this week. 

Lesson 2:  the Saints offense is probably good for about 34 a day.  Rob Ryan’s defense looked terrible and all they have to do is hold the opponents under say 30 a game and the Saints will be fine. 

So now the Saints travel to Cleveland.  One has to get excited about what could be going through Johnny Football’s mind should he get on the field:

Count 1:  Whoa, where is that linebacker running to?

Count 2:  Hey this is fun and these guys are really fast

Count 3:  Where did my slot guy run off to?

Count 4:  I wonder if my pictures are safe in the cloud?

Count 5:  All these celebrities had their nude pictures stolen from the cloud and published on the internet but where are they and why can’t I find them?

Count 6:  I’ve got to find Jennifer Lawrence’s pictures.

Count 7:  I better run 

Count 8:  Zip.  I wonder if I'll ever meet Miley Cyrus?

Saints Report - NFL Preview edition

February 1, 2015 – The Shootout to end all shootouts.

After the 2 star quarterbacks were done throwing darts, it was a kicker who decided the highest scoring, and only overtime Super Bowl in history, as the Saints beat the Patriots 48 – 45.

Sean Payton had no choice but to send out Shayne Graham to try the game winner from 48 yards, despite misses from 42 and 35 earlier in the game.  “One of the reasons we went with a veteran kicker this year, was we knew he could rebound from adversity, and he certainly had to do that tonight,” said Payton of the veteran Graham who drilled the game winner as the French Quarter went crazier than usual. 

Through all the offensive fireworks that Tom Brady and Drew Brees provided, how could a defensive player be named Super Bowl MVP?  Well, pick off a Brady pass to set up the game-winner, along with 12 tackles and a fumble recovery – that was the formula used by NFL Defensive Player of the Year Kenny Vaccaro, who was all over the field making plays and had to be helped off at the end like a Kellen Winslow.

It was Vaccaro who provided the latest heartbreak for Brady, who up until the overtime had been flawless, going 40 for 45 for 407 yards, records unlikely to ever be broken, unless of course the NFL tightens the defensive rules again in the future.  Brady’s 6 touchdown passes, 3 to Rob Gronkowski, were almost matched by Drew Brees, who was 32 for 40 for 353 yards, which may be even more amazing when you consider that Bill Belichick’s defensive game plan was so effective in taking away the Saints main weapons.  Darrelle Revis blanketed NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Brandin Cooks and held him to only 3 catches for 25 yards.  Jimmy Graham’s regular season record setting performance (1412 yards) was but a memory, as the Patriots held him to 45 yards on 4 catches.  But, in the end the Saints had too many weapons, and Marques Colston (12 catches for 145 yards) was the one who took most advantage as he and Pierre Thomas (8 grabs) and Kenny Stills (6) kept the chains moving.

The Patriots heartbreak followed their own breaking of hearts in the AFC Championship when they again went into Indianapolis and ended the Colts season, as Brady outdueled NFL MVP Andrew Luck in another overtime thriller 38-32.

The Saints were not well received in Phoenix, as they had broken the hearts of Arizona Cardinals’ fans in the NFC Championship game in the Superdome.  Arizona’s dream of playing a home game in their Super Bowl was ended when Brees’ final minute touchdown pass to Graham snatched victory from their grasp 24 – 21.  As his Saint’s teammates hilariously tackled Graham before he could dunk, New Orleans began to party as only it can.

It all begs the question.  How good are they really?  Brees and Payton?  Brady and Belichick?  Joined at the hip like no other coach/quarterback tandems, how good would the 4 have done without each other?

One of the four will have to retire before we get an inkling..

THAT’s how the upcoming NFL season will end.  How will we get there?

Well for the Saint’s it won’t be easy.                                                                                                                                      

There are 3 basic obstacles. 

First, there are injuries.  If the Saints can stay healthy, to put it simply, they are loaded.  They have assembled a cast of complimentary talent that rivals their 2009 club.  New playmakers like Cooks on offense and Julius Byrd on defense, and the continued emergence of Vaccaro bode well for the Saints. 

Second, there is the West Coast.  The Saints have lost in the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years on the West Coast, and home field advantage for their high powered offense is essential.

Which brings us to the brutal schedule. 

Two games on the road to start the season is almost not fair.

It starts with a critical in-division matchup with an Atlanta Falcons team that will undoubtedly be surly and ready to show that they never want to star in “Hard-Knocks” again.  The Falcons have added Devin Hester (putting all the heat on punter/kick off man Thomas Morestead) and Osi Umenyiora and with their two star wide outs healthy, the usual home and home rivalry split is a probability.

Next it will be 2 games potentially against rookie quarterbacks, which the Saints have a history of making stars out of.  First up a trip to Cleveland.  Will Johnny Football be the starter by week 2?  Let’s hope not.

Will Teddy Bridgewater be the Vikings starter by game 3 for the Saints’ home opener?  Let’s hope not.  Young mobile quarterbacks (remember RGIII?) scare me.

So we’ll have a pretty good idea of how things look after the first 3 weeks.

The second scary part of the schedule comes in October when the Saints must play the Packers on a Sunday night, come back on Thursday night against the Panthers, followed by the 49’ers the next Sunday.  That’s a tough 2 weeks.  November is equally difficult with an AFC North sprint with the Bengals, Ravens, and Steelers back to back to back.

It’s brutal, and the NFL ices the cake (and probably the field) with their annual dispatching of the Saints to Soldier Field.

So, once again it will be just like Ringo says.  The Saints won’t go undefeated, but they now realize that outright clunkers like last year’s games against the Rams and Jets are extremely costly in terms of home field advantage in the Playoffs.

Other Predictions:

The Seahawks will look dominate until about midway through the season.  That’s how long teams are usually super – about a year and a half.

The Broncos will start slow, but end up in the playoffs until Manning has his usual season ending clunker.

Green Bay, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Arizona (surprise) will be division winners, with the 49’ers and Seahawks as the wild cards.

Denver, New England, Baltimore and Indianapolis will be division winners, with Miami and Pittsburgh as the wild cards.

What has distinguished the last 2 Super Bowl winners has been the breakthrough of til-then non-elite quarterbacks Flaco and Wilson.  Luck is the most likely to take the next step, but his team isn’t quite strong enough despite being in a cakewalk division.  Super Bowl XLIVXIC or whatever it is should see a return to a top 5 QB winner.

There, now you can take a vacation in South America since you already know how it will end.

At The Cinema - August 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy – 7

You’ll like this movie if you like

• Star Trek light
• Star Wars light
• Chris Pratt

So this is what it has come down to.  The only box office word-of-mouth break-out hit of the year is this mishmash.  This is one of those video-game resembling movies with a decent plot and a bevy of quips and one—liners.  It stars Chris Pratt as a super-hero of the future.  He wants to be called “Starlord,” but it’s a running joke that no one takes him seriously enough to call him that.  That kind of encapsulates the movie. 

It’s mildly entertaining, but so is sitting on the beach watching the surf.  They’re both simple, and their impact lasts only until something else catches your attention.  While the impact of the movie lasts only a few minutes, don’t underestimate the effort.  There is so much packed on-screen in every scene that it is CGI overload in the way that we’ve come to expect of our videogames.  The senses are overwhelmed with information. 

If you enjoy this, you won’t have to wait long for the sequel, I’m sure.

Scanning the Satellite.

The 2014 Summer Box-office is down 25%.  There has been a long list of things that were going to bring down movie theaters.  First it was TV, then color TV, then cable, then VCR’s, then satellite, then DVD’s, then Blu-Ray DVD’s.  Pronouncements were always premature.  But maybe, just maybe, the end is near. 

Streaming is here, and Netflix is only the beginning.  What was at first a computer activity, now is big screen, big impact.  I admit, I was late to the party.  Why go the the theater and watch someone text when you can sit at home and watch someone text?

Kings of Summer – 8

This was a modest indy hit last summer and it’s a light hearted variation on Stand By Me.  Three young high school lads decide to run away from their oppressive parents.  They build a house in a remote area of some woods, and decide they’ll live off the land, if you consider sneaking to a Boston Market living off the land.  It’s all as heartwarming as it sounds.

Here’s the good news.

It’s documentary season on the Heavyweight pay channels, and there are some whoppers.

The Cheshire Murders – 9

In 2007 a bucolic Connecticut community is shattered by a horrible murder.  Two burglars take a family hostage and brutally murder the wife and two daughters then burn the house down.  The husband, a respected doctor, survives the beatings and fire and the two perps are easily caught leaving the scene.

Over the next few years the investigation is conducted and it proceeds to trial.  It takes over 2000 interviews to seat a jury in New Haven, as the residents of Connecticut are all too ready to kill the defendants themselves.  The anguish of the residents, the family, and even the jurors as they view the evidence and pictures from the murder scene is palpable.  As the trial proceeds they are visibly shaken. 

The irony is that both had confessed, and the sole reason for a trial (and the resulting millions in expense) was to determine whether or not there would be a death penalty.  While all this was going on the state of Connecticut was debating a change in their death penalty law.

This HBO documentary captures the devastating impact of a crime on a family and a community so well, that you may be shaken as well. 

Captivated:  The Trials of Pamela Smart – 8

Before there was OJ, there was Pamela Smart.  She was a teacher who allegedly got three teenagers to murder her husband.  There was a high-profile trial, one of the first with cameras in the courtroom.  This was definitely beneficial for the making of a TV movie with Helen Hunt playing Pamela Smart, then a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman.  The witnesses today are now confused about what they said and heard.  Was it real?  Was it in the first movie?  Was it in the second movie?  How bizarre is that?  Imagine the appeals that go on to this day.

Kidnapped for Christ – 9

Parents send their at-risk teens to an enclave in the Dominican Republic for just $72,000 a year (more than Harvard.)  The camp will “swat” the gay out.  Corporal Punishment, solitary confinement, and pushups galore are just a few of the fun activities that are on-tap for the captured.  The brainwashing is high intensity, and it all resembles a concentration camp.  You can’t leave even if you aren’t buying in.  

This is religion at its scariest, and it is amazing that director Kate Logan was given access to Escuela Caribe.  She starts out as a willing advocate, an Evangelical Christian film student, excited to document the teenagers’ transformation during their stay at a “Christian therapeutic residential boarding facility.”

As she begins to witness abuse, she becomes part of the story, and this Showtime documentary focuses on 3 young people who long to escape.   Soon, her blood is boiling and yours will be to. 

The Armstrong Lie – 8

Filmmaker Alex Gibney set out to chronicle Lance Armstrong’s comeback.  Had the legendary Armstrong Arrogance not prompted the attempt to recapture the glory, we probably would’ve never known how much he’d cheated, and the lengths he’d gone to cover it up.  Gibney was there to capture the wheels coming off the Armstrong myth, as he was exposed as a doper.   It’s not what he set out to do, but talk about being in the right place at the right time.  This is compelling and fascinating and another lesson in how far athletes push themselves.  Whatever it takes.  Watch and be warned.