Saints Report #7 - October 29, 2017

Often when the Saints play in the Superdome, a track meet breaks out.  When John Fox and/or the Chicago Bears come to town, a football game is likely to break out.  That’s what happened Sunday when the Saints held off the Chicagoans, 20 – 12 in one old-fashioned slobber-knocker.

You know it’s a real football game when Drew Brees has to make a game-saving tackle.  I often say the team that runs the ball in the 4^th quarter wins the game, and the Saints were in position to do just that, but 2 Mark Ingram fumbles put the defense with the task of having to preserve the lead following Brees' clutch tackle after one of the fumbles.  For the last 3 years, that would have been a poisoning proposition for the defense. But, not this year, and not versus a rookie quarterback. 

QB Mitchell Trubinsky gave the Saints more trouble with his legs than his arm, but with a chance to tie the game on his last drive threw an interception to all-world rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore.  A huge 4^th quarter bomb by Brees to Ted Ginn, who has exceeded all expectations, set up the final score, a 49 yard field goal by Will Lutz.  Brees went over 6000 career pass completions, behind only Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, and surpassing my back yard record by 5000.

It wasn’t the Saints best game, but it goes nicely in the win column as their upcoming schedule looks daunting.  They still have to play the Bucs and Falcons twice, so it’s very likely the division will be determined internally in the final two months.  No matter what happens, we’ll always have October.

Saints Report # 6 - October 22, 2017

Rare wins - in the draft, and on the road.

The New Orleans Saints went to storied Lambeau Field and would have made Vince Lombardi proud (or sad, depending on how you look at it) with a solid fundamental performance in beating the Packers 26 – 17.  Around Midnight the Saints found themselves in first place in the NFC South.  After their horrid 0-2 start, the Saints have reeled off 4 straight wins.  No one is more surprised than me.  Well, maybe Tom Brady.

Suddenly, the offensive line of Armstead, Peat, Unger, Warford, and Ramczyk look like road graters and the running game the Saints have lacked for the last 5 years has returned.  Alvin Kamara looks like a combined Pierre Thomas/Darren Sproles and he is giving teams fits on the outside, while Mark Ingram seems to be cutting more and is more effective than he’s ever been on the inside. 

Surprise, surprise, surprise….
Three rookies are making significant contributions on defense, two on offense, and first round draft pick Marshon Lattimore may be the best cornerback in the NFL soon.
Rookie Marcus Williams took the free safety job from Vonn Bell.
Kenny Vaccaro is playing his best ball yet.
Cameron Jordan is getting enough support on the inside to allow him to unleash.
and finally, journeyman speedster Ted Ginn has made everyone forget Brandin Cooks.  

No didn’t see this coming, but I can see the hard-running Bears coming.  Will they wear the Saints down, or will the Saints push them into throwing a little more than they are used to?  Could the Saints 7really move to 5 – 2?  Check it out Sunday to see if the New Orleans edition of Wheel of Fortune continues.

Saints Report # 5 - October 15, 2017

The NFL season consists of 16 mini-dramas, plus a few more if things go well. 

Truthfully, most of them are forgettable and simply establish a won-loss record.  Few stand out and get burned into your memory.  Sunday’s 52-38 Saints victory over the Lions in the Superdome was a burner.  It was one of the craziest games I’ve ever seen.  Tell me you’ve ever seen:

• 90 total points
• 4 defensive touchdowns in one game, 3 by the Saints.
• Incredibly well placed punts by Thomas Morestead setting up 2 of those scores, and yet
• The Lions ran back a Morestead punt for a touchdown, which I think was his first ever
• At least 12 passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage
• Drew Brees throwing for less than 200 yards (breaking a 55 game streak)
• The Saints taking a 45-10 lead in the 2^nd half
• Only to give up 28 straight points.
• A leap like Alvin Kamara pulled off.

One other observation - this was one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen, and I was saying that when the Saints were up 5 touchdowns.  They stopped the clock erroneously in the first half, and then there was the Michael Thomas robbery where they apparently changed the rule to read "the receiver must maintain possession through the catch, through hitting the ground, through the tackle, and through eating soup the next day."  I don't complain about officiating too often because "I were one" but I thought the referee was aging before our eyes and wasn't going to make it through the game.  There's an old adage that "you could throw a flag on every play" and they seemed to want to test that theory.

So, the Saints have won 3 straight, which no other team in the NFL can say.  When I saw their brutal opening schedule I thought if they started 3-3, they’d be in good shape, and now they head to Green Bay with a chance to go 4-2, as they won’t have to face Aaron Rogers.  The defense’s confidence is growing as the defensive backfield has improved in step with the pass rush.  The running game has added a Mr. Outside in Kamara to go with Mr. Inside. 

A pass rush and a running game.  They go a long way, and suddenly they’re back.  I won’t get to go to that many games this year.  Sure glad I went to this one.  It’s gonna stick.