Saints Report #17 - January 9, 2022

"You’ve got to be kidding me.  This is what we get with a 17 game season.  The Saints?  So, let me get this straight, if we had stuck to the 16 game schedule, the 49’ers would be in already? "

"Roger, let’s not panic yet.  There’s still a half to play and although they’re down 17-3, we know the Rams aren’t a second half team and they’ll probably choke.  As for the Saints, we thought for sure after that Hurricane, down to their 4^th Quarterback, and all that covid, they were goners.  You gotta give them credit."

"No, no credit.  But I’ll say this.  You guys sure did a good job getting the National Media to ignore them until now.  If the 49’ers do lose, I want that blackout of Saints info to continue." 

"Roger, we’ve got Colin, Stephan, and Mike in our back pocket.  They haven’t mentioned the Saints all year.  The only one we can’t get to shut up is Kay Adams, and she’s on our own network." 

"Can we bring someone else in?" 

"Roger, she’s so popular it would be suspicious."

 "Ok, it's halftime.  Let's get to work.  Mary Ann, contact the replay booth and tell them which way to lean.  Also, reach out to the clock operator and tell him what to do." 

"If the Saints make the playoffs despite our efforts, put together a “preserve-our-ratings” task force.  First, start with sending Fauci down to personally sit with the opposing quarterback, I guess Matthew Stafford, for the week so he doesn’t get sick.  Isolate him.  Keep him away from his kids."

"Second, I want that Officiating Crew from LA that we sent to the Superdome to keep the Saints out of the Super Bowl, I want that same crew doing the Saints playoff game."

"Third, I want a deep dive into the Saints observation of protocols.  Surely, we can suspend someone.  Maybe Tom Benson?"

"Roger, Tom died years ago."

"Oops.  If the Saints don’t make the playoffs, let’s get the “Coach of the Year” criteria changed to “must go to a coach of a playoff team,” just to be sure Payton can’t win.  And why are the Saints allowed so many quarterbacks?"

"Roger, good news.  The Rams choked and it’s going to overtime." 

"Ok, make sure the Niners win the toss.  I want that crew on high alert for pass interference."

Ultimately, the Saints season of adversity ended with a Matthew Stafford interception in overtime, and the 49’ers got the playoff spot.  Stafford has the footwork of Stephen Adams (Slowfoot) who played for the Pelicans last year.  Should they meet again in the playoffs, the 49’ers will grind them into the ground with their running game.

The Saints finale was mostly satisfying.  Their 30-20 win over Matt “Turnover” Ryan and the hapless Falcons was good until the last drop, and then the shoe dropped when the Rams spit the bit.

Taysom Hill was nearly perfect until he got hurt.  If he really has a lisfranc foot fracture, he’ll be under the knife tomorrow. 

Trevor Siemian took over and was safe and flawless, helped substantially by the defensive takeaways.  The announcers were even impressed by the fact that the Falcons had three one play drives.  It wasn’t just Roger Goodell who didn’t want the Saints in the playoffs.  That defense and the Saints ability to play field position is enough to frighten every team.  Let’s hope that somehow the defense can stay together for next year.  They’ll be some salary wrangling to do.

I watched with admiration this year as Sean Payton unveiled his game plan for each game.  He took a team with a couple of quarterbacks who had no mobility, and one that had too much, and a rookie, and basically manipulated this team to competitiveness.  Yes, there were games that slipped away. (Giants, Titans, Falcons).  Kicking problems were embarrassing at times.  But, for obstacles overcome, adversity dealt with, and juggling of personnel, hats off to Sean Payton.  A 9-8 record is nothing to covid sneeze at.

Saints Reports # 11 and 12 December 2, 2021

A Tale of Two Thursdays.

It was the worst of times, then it got worser.

For some reason, the NFL decided to put the Saints on back to back Thursday night games, from the Superdome.  It couldn’t have gone worse.  Try to imagine the elation the home crowd would have felt in the Drew Brees era with two straight Thursday night games.  This is not those times.

I do have a theory.  The NFL wanted to roll out their latest versions of “the worst call ever” on National TV.  How long is this going to go on?  I hate the length of the games, but I’m with Bill Belichick on this one.  Every call should be reviewable.  Just like real life. The Saints win the twitter conversation every week.  It doesn't make me feel any better.

My Thanksgiving day was a family pleasure.  We didn’t cook, we traveled.  We just showed up, and it was great.  Our hosts experienced the same overproduction problems we have when we cook, unless you think 8 pies for 9 people is normal, but it was probably our first ever break from the heavy lifting.  After a great meal, we retired to our son’s basement to watch a scintillating Saints performance in a contest with the Buffalo Bills. Afterwards, I felt like I was the one that had been scintillated.  Keep in mind the Bills may be the best team in the NFL, and I predicted they will win the Super Bowl, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when the Saints got carved up 31-6.   The streak was at 4.

If the Trevor Siemian era is to be remembered, all 4 games of it (to this point) it will be remembered for Payton’s most cautious play calling of his tenure.  The Saints rarely threw the ball on first down, presumably to reduce the sacks of the immobile QB. Almost every promising situation was punctured by a sack, and once the announcer version Drew Brees noted that Siemian doesn’t step up into the pocket, it got repeated by every commentor on the web.  Why isn’t Taysom in there?  Wait, we’ve got another 4^th down pass by the punter up our sleeve. 

The Saints defense performed fairly well, in both games, but you can only ask so much. They are the best run stopping bunch in the NFL, and the secondary is way better than I thought they would be, but they wear down and the law of averages catches up with them.  Then, it’s not pretty.

On the second Thursday, it was Taysom Hill’s turn finally, after signing a mega contract that will pay him handsomely if he can actually play quarterback, and well if he can’t.  Payton is clearly enamored of the Hill skill set, enough to put Mrs. Benson’s money where his mouth is.

So, how did it go?  It went 4 interceptions, one a pick-six.  Yes, he injured his finger early, and his running was exciting at times, but the Saints were overmatched again.  The Saints scored late on a nifty run after catch by Deonte Harris to pull it close 27-17, but this just highlighted that Harris may be the only receiving threat the Saints have, he’s just missing about 8 inches of height.  He’s also appealing a 3- game suspension which would cripple the Saints, when he has to serve it.  The gamble of not drafting a wide receiver is officially a bumble.  Look, I know few teams that could lose 3 offensive linemen, and be down to their third quarterback and still be competitive, but the lack of wide receiver talent is glaring given that there have been great receivers go in the first round the last few years.  The streak is at 5.

So, after more than half of the greediest season in NFL history, 17 games with no roster expansion, there is one thing I’m sure of.  A running QB makes no sense.  He will get hurt.

Saquon Barkley, an immensely talented running back, has played 36 games in 4 years.  Injured
Christian McCafferty is out for the season, again
Alvin Kamara has just missed his 5^th straight game.  The Saints are 5-2 with him, and 0-5 without him.
Dalvin Cook is out.  Cam Akers is out.

And these are just the running backs.  They can’t stay on the field.  The game is too violent.  Check out the Tom Brady documentary on ESPN 3.  You can’t help but notice the violent hits from 20 years ago that just wouldn’t fly today. 

Meanwhile, Let’s look at the QB’s:

Jameis Winston got injured scrambling.
Russell Wilson missed several games, and doesn’t look good since he came back
Taysom Hill apparently has the same injury now. 
Cam Newton and Big Ben can’t throw.
Kyler Murray is on the shelf.
Lamar Jackson may be the most exciting player in the NFL. He gets hurt too much.

Now, just for fun, let’s look at Alabama Quarterbacks in the NFL.

The jury is still out on Jalen Hurts.  He can run the ball very well, and hasn’t gotten hurt yet, but hasn’t proven he can throw it at the NFL level.

Tua Tagovailloa is not what everyone thought he would be, and the injury he suffered to his hip late in his college career, while scrambling, may be why.

Then there is Mac Jones, who yes, landed on a good team, but is a statue in the pocket, reading defenses and distributing the ball.  I still think this is the prototype. 
So, who do I want?  Bama’s Bryce Young.  Can we draft him early like the Celtics did Larry Byrd?

Saints Report #10 - November 21, 2021

The Saints traveled to Philadelphia, and they wish they hadn’t as the Eagles dropped the Liberty Bell on them to the tune of 40-22, and the Saints had to rally to get it to that point.  The game featured a dismal performance by the defense, and a dreary performance by the offense.  The special teams didn’t contribute, other than it is becoming apparent that the Saints best player is their punter.

Any hope that the Saints had evaporated before halftime.  Jalen Hurst scored two touchdowns to power the Eagles to a 14-0 lead.  The Eagles ran the ball on the Saints easily for most of the game.  The Eagles fumbled deep in their own territory, the Saints who had been unable to move the ball, accepted the gift and were down 14 – 7.  The Eagles kept driving, but added two field goals.  Then they tried to give the Saints another gift, by fumbling deep in their own territory again.  This time the referees called it dead, saying forward progress had been stopped.  It certainly looked worth a challenge as the two minute warning approached and Payton had plenty of time to challenge, but he didn’t.  We wouldn’t know for another minute or so, but the game was essentially over. 

Then, Trevor Siemian gave a gift of his own, a pick-six to Darius Slay and the Saint were submerged at the half 27-7.

The Saints then waited until the 4^th quarter to begin their normal too-little-too-late comeback.  Siemian picked things up late, but it was his worst game of the year, and there were plenty of players simulating his performance.  It was a drab, dull, desultory effort, but let’s face it, it was by a bunch of guys who would not normally be playing.  Neither of the offensive tackles started, and it showed.  Payton doesn’t like to make excuses about injuries, but this has gotten ridiculous.  Meanwhile the receivers seem to be on a one-play quota per game. 

Three straight losses and that dreamy 5-2 start has transformed into a 5-5 nightmare.  They face two strong teams on successive Thursday nights, and expectations have to be low at this point.  There’s still time to have a good year, but the personnel doesn’t appear to be present.  I’m getting flashbacks to those three straight 7-9 seasons.  Ugh.  

I've been watching a lot of college football to try to spot the Saints QB of the future, as I don't think he's on the roster.  The task is extremely difficult because of a) the idiotic targeting enforcement, and b) I don't see any superstars.  This weekend I was kind of impressed with a lefty, Brennan Armstrong of Virginia.  But, deep down, I'm just not sure Sean Payton relishes starting fresh with a rookie.  I'm not sure the fan base does either.  

Saints Report #8 - November 7, 2021

Any Saints loss to the Atlanta Falcons is heart-breaking, end of the world sorrowful, but this one was a throwback to the 70’s, with a last minute dagger that felled the Saints 27-25. 

The Saints played a pretty lackluster first 3 quarters, allowing Matt Ryan to chop up their vaunted defense with mostly short passes, with an occasional embarrassing long one thrown in.  The Falcons led 24-6 with 8 minutes left, and it all seemed a formality.  The Saints were going to squander their chance to take the division lead.

There are a lot of tried and true ways to lose in the NFL.  Here are a few:

• Sleep walk through 3 quarters and let the other team jump out to a big lead
• Drop about 7 passes
• Fail miserably on a couple of critical two point conversions
• Lose a fumble in the pocket in the middle of the comeback.
• Waste a stirring comeback by leaving the veteran opposing quarterback too much time to mount a comeback of his own.
• Put a rookie man to man on the best receiver with the game on the line.

Consider all those boxes checked.

The Saints trailed by 18 with 8 minutes left and mounted a thrilling comeback, as Siemian and Taysom Hill began to sling the ball all over the field.  It was the most remarkable comeback since the Brees-led one over the then-Skins of Red back in 2017.  When Kenny Stills caught a touchdown pass with 1 minute left, Saints fans were ecstatic, but also knew that was a lot of time for Matt Ryan.  He needed about 10 seconds of it.  His 64 yard pass to Cordarrelle Patterson over rookie Paulson Adebo took the wind out of the Superdome faster than a bomb cyclone, whatever that is. The Falcons won it on a short field goal.

The Saints are a puzzling lot.  They’ve lost to three teams, the Giants, Falcons, and Panthers that now have worse records than the Saints.  They beat the two teams, the Bucs and Packers that are the favorites to play in the NFC Championship. 

They broke their improbable 3 game winning streak.  Instead of a remarkable 6-2 record, they stumble to 5-3, making their playoff odds significantly longer.  Three of their next 4 opponents, Tennessee, Dallas, and Buffalo lead their divisions, and the one that doesn’t, Philly, is in 2^nd place.  Cakewalk it ain’t.  These 3 losses to teams they should have beaten would have provided a margin for error they don’t have now.  Going into December at or under .500 is a very real possibility.  Meanwhile, their home field advantage seems to have evaporated and escaped through that fire on the roof a few months back.

They’ve hidden their major deficiency – wide receiver, until today.  Against the Falcons, drops were plentiful, and separation was not in evidence until late in the game.  My personal opinion is that OBJ is a head case, but he’d easily be the #1 receiver on this team.  Not that I’m advocating.

Tight End Adam Trautman contributed a couple of critical drops, but came alive in the 4^th quarter.  They say he’s a good blocker.  Whatever.

Mark ingram looked good in the first quarter, then he disappeared, into the “minimal use” bucket.

Atlanta receivers, on the other glove, were wide open all day.  If this is evidence of game-planning by their first-year coach, Arthur Smith, the Saints recent superiority may be in jeopardy.  While Atlanta upped their series lead to 54-51, the Saints are 21-10 since Payton arrived, including 6 out of the last 7 until today.  It would be nice for recent momentum to continue.

Taysom Hill embarrassed the Birds last year, and zinged two completions right before Siemian’s game-changing fumble.  Payton may not have been convinced Hill was ready after his concussion, and Siemian played pretty well, but I’m thinking the decision will be tougher next week.  The loss was certainly not Trevor’s fault, but could he win a Super Bowl?  I don’t know.  Could Nick Foles?  Brad Johnson?  Jeff Hostetler?  Trent Dilfer?  How much has the game changed?  I just don’t know.  No one is talking about his big arm, that’s for sure.

Today reminded me of the Minneapolis Miracle.  The Vikings jumped out to a big lead.  Brees piloted a brilliant comeback, one that should have made it a signature win.  It all went out the window on an improbable bomb to Stefon Diggs, whose part was played today by Patterson.  After what the Saints did to Brady last week with under a minute left, this outcome was particularly surprising.  The defense was a step slow all day, and Patterson one-on-one with any rookie is a full load, although they did contain rookie phenom tight end Kyle Pitts.

So, a puzzling day in the NFL all around.  In future opponents, Jacksonville embarrassed Buffalo, and Denver surprised Dallas, so they’ll be more focused.  Let’s hope the Saints are. 

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.