Familiarity breeds familiarity. The Saints and Falcons are familiar to each other. They don’t like each other much. Neither do the fan bases. So, the Saints 21-16 win Sunday should make Saints fans happy. You know, a W is a W and all that. It was the 9th straight win on the season, and moved the Saints to 8-0 without Drew Brees in the last 2 years.
But it should have been a lot easier.
The game almost got away because, as is often the case, Sean Payton was thinking too much. This year, as is often the case, the Saints defense came through to save Sean some embarrassment.
Going into the 4th quarter the Saints had been dominant and led 21-9. Just like two weeks ago, the Falcons had only been able to muster 3 field goals. The Saints recovered a Matt Ryan fumble and set up shop on the Falcons 18 yard line, poised to put the game away. Four plays later the Saints had the ball on the 7, first and goal. To almost any coach in America, it’s time to pound the ball and run the clock.
To Sean Payton, it’s time to experiment.
A two yard completion set them up on the 5. Then Taysom Hill, who fumbles like he’s doing a rendition of Tiki Barber, coughed it up on the most unnecessary scramble this side of a Waffle House. The Falcons recovered, and recovered the momentum that’s been missing since a certain Super Bowl. The Falcons would be assured of 3 more possessions. You do the math. They scored on their first drive, but fizzled after that, and the Saints held on, watching the next two drives ending with a Ryan pass falling to the end zone turf. Fortunately, the Falcons fizzle a lot and the Saints stayed in the driver’s seat for top seed.
So, let’s talk Taysom. First, we must acknowledge that we have been spoiled by the accuracy and analysis of Drew Brees. Taysom had a good game, except for the fumbleitis. He put it on the carpet 3 times. That’s not good. But he’s better than I thought he would be with his accuracy, and he puts figurative mustard on the ball. He makes up his mind pretty quickly where he’s going with it, and soon the defenses are going to feast on that. His running ability adds a dimension, but also a couple of risks. He may indeed be the quarterback of the future for the Saints, but I promise there will be growing pains and mistakes ahead. Right now, the Saints defense is playing so well that they can be a giant mistake eraser. That won’t always be the case. But, Taysom is 3-0 and he’s done what he had to do.
As for Payton, despite his penchant for experimentation,
you’ve got to give him credit. The
reason the Saints have done so well without Brees is their ability to game
plan. It’s rare that the Saints don’t
have a top-notch game plan.
The first challenge of a coach in the NFL is to win your division. After Carolina won the division three Cam
Newton years in a row, the Saints can clinch
their 4th straight division championship. If they beat Carolina in
the final game of the season, they will be the first NFC South team to ever
sweep the division.
Because of the familiarity factor, splitting the 6 division
contests and winning most of the rest of your games, is a pretty good
strategy. Payton has been better than
that. This is the 8th time
the Saints have swept the Falcons since Payton arrived. His division won-loss record goes like this:
20-8 over Falcons
16-12 over Panthers
18-10 over Bucs
The Saints control their destiny, but will probably have to win out to get the bye, as Green Bay shows no signs of faltering. The biggest test will be Kansas City in two weeks. The Saints aren’t familiar with them. The rest of the football world is.
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