Saints Report #6 - October 25, 2020

Dear Diary,

I went back to New Orleans today.  I had hoped it would be a triumphant return, but I ran into an obstacle, my old buddy Drew Brees.  We lost 27-24, and the Saints moved to 4-2.   I wasn’t buying into the narrative that Brees has lost his fastball, and sure enough he was zipping it all over the field today.  It looked like to me he was dropping back a little deeper than usual and we couldn’t put much heat on him.  But, what was really frustrating was that I felt like we had walked into a sandlot and Drew picked 4 guys I didn’t even know and started drawing up plays and completing passes to them.  Someone named Marquez Callaway caught 8 passes.  He’s an undrafted free agent from Tennessee.   He only caught 30 passes as a senior.  How the hell did the Saints find him, and in the same place they found Alvin Kamara?  Don’t the other teams visit Tennessee?  Even perennial practice squader Austin Carr caught a pass today.  I’m surprised they didn’t pull Colston out of retirement.

Anyway, we hung in there pretty well all day.  I played against that defense last year in practice, and while I have a lot of respect for them, I didn’t think it would be hard to move the ball against them and it really wasn’t.  The Saints really got lucky at the end of the game.  We were already in field goal range to tie the game at 27, but I messed up and got sacked by Marcus Davenport.  Not only that but he sacked me in the exact spot where it would be a NFL record 65 yard field goal attempt.  Unfortunately, our kicker Joey Slye kicked it right down the pipe, good from 64, but a yard short.  Heartbreaking. 

The Saints converted an amazing 12 out of 14 third downs.  It was textbook.  Thomas Morestead took the day off.  Brees completed his 7000^th pass.  I can’t even imagine that.  He and Brady both have 558 touchdown passes.  I wonder which one will blink first and retire. 

It was great to be back in the Superdome, even though it was sparsely populated.  I missed them chanting “Teddy, Teddy,” but I look forward to playing the Saints again in Charlotte.  Of course, I think the rest of the league is a little concerned about the Saints passing game when Michael Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders come back and join Callaway and Tre-quan Smith on the field.  Not to mention that the Saints ran the ball really well today and controlled the clock.  They’ve got a pretty good formula on offense right now.  I don’t know if it’s enough to get them to the Superbowl, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

Guess Brees isn’t done yet.   I never thought he was.  

 

Saints Report #5 - October 12, 2020

A Pothole that swallows your car
A diet of Roast Beef Po-Boys
A Scary movie
Living in a hurricane cone
Eating fried foods
Being a Saints Fan

These are Things that are bad for your heart.

The Saints beat the Somewhere-in-California Chargers in overtime 30-27 on Monday Night Football in the typical Saints play-just-barely-well-enough-to-win victory.  Apparently Louisiana voodoo was pointed straight at the poor Chargers kicker Michael Badgly who missed an extra point and clanked the ball off the upright with what would have been the winning field goal as the fourth quarter came to an end. 

It was the 37^th fourth quarter comeback win for Brees, who always relishes his victories over the Chargers, since they jettisoned him with a broken wing.  Of course, one of the ways you get a lot of comeback wins is to be behind a lot, and the Saints first half was as lackluster as a Hallmark movie.  It was looking like the Saints had forgotten how to matriculate the ball down the field.  No matriculation at all.  Matriculation absent.  Devoid of matriculation.

So the Saints fell behind 20-3 and Brees finally put together a drive and snuck the ball in from the one as the first half expired after what looked like an extended argument with Payton over the play call.  Then the Saints started clawing their way back in the second half.  The defense decided that they were not going to be known as the typical star-making-of-a-young quarterback Saints team, and began to slow Justin Herbert, who looks like the real deal.  The Saints finally began matriculating as Brees began picking the Chargers defense apart.  It was like old times as he engineered the tying drives.  The Saints successfully matriculated and scored a couple of times.  The game moved to overtime after the clank.  The Saints, who had won the toss, looked like they were going to drive for a winning touchdown, but the drive stalled and the Saints had to settle for a Lutzomatic field goal.  The Saints defense stiffened and Marshawn Lattimore who had been toasted with butter a few times already came up with a game-sealing 4^th down tackle to end the Chargers night.

So, the Saints go into the bye with two weeks to get their matriculations in order.  They’ve gone 3-2 with no Michael “Tyson” Thomas and are tied at the top of the division with the Brady Bucs.   In this game Brees went 33-47 for 325 yards.  In his Super Bowl win 10 years ago he went 32-39 for 288 yards.  Despite all the fan and media consternation about arm strength, Brees is still pretty good.  He’s efficient and smart.  The thing I notice about his arm strength is it’s still there, when his feet are planted and he can load up and use his whole body, and nobody has better footwork than him.  But, the miracle off-balance throw is no longer in his rep.  He knows how to stay in games, and he knows how to win games.  When the game is on the line and you need that drive to win or tie, the odds are high that he will matriculate the ball down the field in a way that would make Hank Stram proud, although I still wish they would run the ball more.  Let’s take a week off.  Our hearts need it.  

 

Saints Report #4 - October 4, 2020

We struggle in the beginning.
We dominate in our prime.
Then, we hold on for dear life toward the end.  

Such is life.

And such was the Saints game in Detroit Sunday.  The Saints scored 35 unanswered points on 5 straight touchdown drives.  The Lions had 2 touchdowns on each end of those dominant drives, but ended up on the short end of the 35-29 score.

I thought the Saints were going to get torched on this day.  Among their injuries were their two starting cornerbacks, as well as 3 other starters.  They had a sleep-robbing Covid scare upon arrival in Detroit that lasted into the night.  Their offense had been sputtering without Michael Thomas and the vultures were circling Drew Brees right arm like it was going to fall off any moment.

My fears were quickly affirmed when the Lions drove for a touchdown on their first drive of the game, and quickly followed with another when Brees’ very first pass was batted at the line of scrimmage and floated into the arms of a waiting Lion.  So the scene is set, the Saints are 1-2 and down 14 on the road 5 minutes into the game.  The Bucs could take control of the division at 3-1 with an expected win over the Chargers and the Saints would be on the verge of digging another early season hole.

So, what happened?  Drew Brees came alive like Frampton could only dream of.  Mixing in all the passes it was said he couldn’t throw anymore with a solid running game, the Saints drove and drove.  Latavius Murray and Alvin Kamara were gouging the Lions.  In fact, and you won’t believe this, on a third and goal from the 6, the Saints called a running play and it worked.  Murray burst through the line into the end zone.  For a team that will throw 1 yard touchdown passes all day long, this was a breakthrough moment.  They would grind the Lions all day.  By halftime the Saints were up 28-14 and one possession into the second half it was 35-14, and all that was left was to withstand the comeback that characterizes most NFL games.

Positives were many.  The Saints stuck with the ground game so much you’d of thought Payton had read my blog last week.  But what may have been most important was the contributions of Tre’quan Smith and Emmanuel Sanders who looked like they had finally read the same page as Brees.  Smith could have easily been the MVP of the day with two clutch catches and two TD receptions, one of which was spectacular.  So, the absence of Thomas may be a blessing in disguise, as the Saints may emerge with a more formidable passing game that is not reliant on him.  It was all a most pleasant surprise.  The vultures retreated, Kamara smiled, and the Saints now look to beat the Chargers of California before what looks like an injury healing bye week.

The hope is that this season may culminate with more than “hanging on for dear life.”

Such is life.  Such is the life of a Saints fan.