Saints Report #7 - October 31, 2021

Sean Payton loves us.  He loves us not.

His stellar game plan led to a 36 – 27 Saints victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

But his clock management put a game in jeopardy, for the second time this year.  Fortunately, it was Halloween in New Orleans, so a repeat of the Giants debacle was not going to happen. 

The Bucs took a 27-26 lead with 5:44 minutes left.  Jameis Winston had exited the game in the first half with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.  The Saints were counting on backup Trevor Siemian for a game winning drive.  With two minutes remaining, the Bucs were down to one timeout and the Saints had a first down within the 10 yard line.  Good clock management would dictate 3 runs and kick a field goal, leaving Brady about 40 seconds and no timeouts.  So, of course, Payton, in a strategy reminiscent of the Saints playoff loss to the Rams a few years ago, called 3 pass plays that had no chance.  The Saints kicked the field goal to lead 29 – 27, and Brady would get the ball back with 1:41 plus a timeout.  It looked like a layup for the GOAT.

But Dennis Allen’s defense bailed Payton out.  PJ Williams intercepted Brady and ran it in to the end zone, and a shell-shocked Brady only had two sacks ahead of him.   Brady had a three turnover day.  I enjoy them when I’m hungry, but not great for a quarterback.

The Saints deserved to win.  They had dominated early, scoring 23 straight points to lead 23 – 7. Then Brady orchestrated his comeback, although the failure on a 2 point conversion was key.  Winston got hurt when he scrambled out of the pocket and was tackled by the shoulder pad in a tackle that illustrated why horse collar tackles are illegal.  At this point Winston had continued to surprise defenses with his running ability, having run for several first downs.  Unfortunately, the scrambling did him in.

The Saints stubbornly, and admirably, stuck to running the ball.  There wasn’t much yardage there, but their commitment to the run helped the unexpected passer – Siemian.  Here’s a scouting report – I always liked him when he was with the Broncos.  He doesn’t have a big arm, but he’s smart and accurate, and is close to Brees in tools.  Looks like he’s about to get another shot at an NFL starting job.

He ended this game 16-27 for 159 yards.

So the Saints beat the Bucs for the 6^th straight time in the regular season.  Of course an argument could be made, and Bruce Arians would probably make it, that the Bucs beat themselves with one crucial penalty after another, often extending Saints drives.  Sometimes they were even petty.  But, the Saints often play the bully roll, and pay for it.  In the end, the last Saints drive of the day gave the Saints a lead Brady couldn’t touch. 

So the surprising Saints are 5-2 and yet have only played two home games.  With 4 of the next 5 at home just imagine if the Saints flex that dome field advantage.  It could be like Halloween every night.  

Saints Report #6 - October 25, 2021

 

The Saints went into normally rainy Seattle and put the clamps on the Seahawks to the tune of 13-10 in a part time storm on Monday Night.  Another ugly win to move to 4-2.

The game resembled a fight scene in the rain in The Matrix, minus the grace and stylishness, unless you watched Alvin Kamara who put forth a fantasy dream night.  Suddenly the Saints have rediscovered his effectiveness when the ball is tossed to him, and without that it would have been a gloomy night, where we would have said “Why don’t we just get in the running car?”

The two teams pushed inefficiently against each other except for one touchdown drive a piece.  A lot could be made of the sluggish offenses, or the good defenses, but the truth of the matter is that this game was won by the kickers.  The Saints continuously flipped the field position behind the leg of punter Blake Gillikin, and they got two field goals from their 4^th placekicker of the year, Brian Johnson, while the Seattle kicker was going 1 for 3,  Where did Brian come from?  Sean Payton met him last Monday and his heart stood still, when it appeared Johnson could actually put the ball between the uprights.  This was to become even more important the next day, when kicker #1 Will Lutz was declared out for the season after a setback in his recovery.  Hang on Brian, Brian hang on.

The Saints continue to fly under the radar, rating rarely a mention in the national media.  No one believes in the Saints yet but the next week’s opponent, Tampa Bay will lead the Saints into the heart of their schedule, including Dallas and Buffalo.  I truly believe it takes a strong franchise quarterback to win the Super Bowl, and each season starts with about 10 – 12 of those.  I regret to say that this will probably not be the case for the Saints this year.  I’m not a Winston hater.  I think he’s doing fine, workmanlike stuff.  But he’s not going to carry this team, and the days of a dominant defensive team, which the Saints are, racing through the playoffs is over.  The rules favor the offenses, and there are too many stars out there.  Would love to be wrong, but instead, I’m going to appreciate this team for what it is – a hardnosed defense minded team, and I look forward to next Sunday’s showdown with Brady.  I think he’s in for a dogfight.

Meanwhile, some other comments about sports:  The Pelicans are back, minus Van Gundy, “airball” and “slowfoot,” my two least favorite players from last year.  I won’t say their names.  Unfortunately Zion is hurt and reportedly way overweight.  New Orleans teams don’t seem to “stay in touch.”  See Michael Thomas. 

I’m enjoying baseball.  I remember Lolich and Gibson, Koufax and Ford, and those great pitching duels.  It’s now a parade of relievers and the strongest bullpen wins.  I’m ok with that.

Here are some important lessons from sports of today:

• Replay has gotten out of hand.  I didn’t think it possible to make the last 2 minutes of an NBA game last longer, but I was wrong.  We beat everything to death.  
• Yelling at the top of your lungs is important at the end of every big play.  I plan on applying this to my life.  Wait until the next time I successfully parallel park.
• Someone should be designated to bring water to every celebration, especially at home plate, to douse the pile with.  It’s kind of funny to see. 

Saints at the Bye

This is the Saints bye week report.  Sorry, I did not write about the last 2 games until now, as I was on the disabled list getting a new knee.  Unfortunately, I was joining Michael Thomas, Wil Lutz, Erik McCoy, Terron Armstead, Deonte Harris, Taysom Hill, Tony Jones Jr, Marcus Davenport, Chase Hanson, Kwon Alexander, Ken Crawley, Nick Vannett, Tre’Quan Smith, and others on the sideline. 

Put them together with those from last year who aren’t here:  Drew Brees, Latavius Murray, Thomas Morestead, JT Gray, Trey Hendrickson, Sheldon Rankins, Malcolm Brown, Josh Hill, Jared Cook, Alex Anzalone, Emmanuel Sanders, Michael Burton, and Janoris Jenkins totals 26 absent.  All but Brees are contributing on other teams. 

And the Saints are 3-2 at the bye. 

Imagine if it was your company and you experienced that kind of turnover and absenteeism.You’d take 3-2 all day long.  And you’re just a bad quarter away from being 4-1.

Yes, the Saints last 2 games were experiments in what to do with 11-point fourth quarter leads. In the first, they just blew it to the Giants. 

If you’ve ever been a manager, you’ve had a bad day at the office.  You went against your instincts and hired the wrong person.  You chewed someone out for something that wasn’t their fault.  You made the wrong choice and it backfired.  You just made a stupid decision and it was costly.

Sean Payton simply had a bad day at the office against the Giants, something we’re not used to (except in the playoffs.)  Except for a three straight touchdown stretch in the second and third quarter, the Saints bungled decision after decision. They held a 21-10 lead with 8 minutes left, and then the Giants did to us what we are used to seeing the Saints do to teams over the last 15 years.

Squandered a time-out and a challenge with one of the most meaningless challenges of a spot I can ever remember seeing. 

Having a kicker that is obviously mediocre try a 58 yarder but not a 43 yarder.

Having only one running play that Taysom Hill can run.  His previous 2 spectacular runs were kind of a tip for the Giants to move the Titanic into that particular hole.

Having Taysom Hill throw a bomb which he didn’t have the arm for, thus an interception.

Not Throwing one pass to Alvin Kamara, who carried a career high 26 times.

Defense was no better

The annual Joe Montana create-a-star award goes to Daniel Jones who racked up over 400 yards passing and looked all world.  For one week.

Paulson Adebo, who appears to have the physical tools, got picked on all day, and the Saints lost in overtime 27-21.

Almost all those strategic errors got rectified the next week when the Saints when to DC and beat the nameless team 33-22.  As good as Ron Rivera appears to be as a coach, he rarely can handle Payton.  Blake Gillikin had the best game I’ve ever seen a punter have, as he seems to be on a mission to revive the coffin corner.  He deposited three punts of 53 yards or more inside the 5-yard line, completely changing the game.  Likewise, Marshon Lattimore seemed to take every ball in the air as a personal insult.

There are 3 things that I think are the most difficult in sports:  1) hit a round baseball moving very fast with a round bat, 2) hit a golf ball where you want it to go, and 3) cover a wide receiver.  I looked at the Saints secondary as their weakest link, but Lattimore may be the best in the game right now, Adebo has improved and looks like the steal of the draft, and if he’s not, linebacker Pete Werner is.

Being 3-2 at this point is a testament to organizational stability.  The first three draft choices are contributing.  Other than the place kicker, the Saints have been able to reload, restock, reboot, and stay competitive. 

Then there’s Jameis Winston, who has held his own.  While throwing to an all-new receiving corps, he has cut down his mistakes, but not eliminated them.  He’s thrown some good, bad, and ugly passes.  But, it ain’t a beauty contest and the reality of it is that the Saints are a middle tier team right now.  The question is, when some starters come back, can they make the jump?   

At the bye, all things considered, I’ll take 3-2.