Saints Report #13 - December 8, 2019

It was like a slasher movie.  Two offenses going up and down the field gashing each other repeatedly in one of those bloody games we get every so often.  It was the game of the year in the NFL, which doesn’t make me feel any better.

The hated (almost as much as the Falcons) San Francisco 49’ers traveled to the Louisiana Superdome determined to wrestle NFC home field advantage away from the New Orleans Saints.  They pulled out all the stops and emptied their trick play book to take a 48 – 46 victory.

Most would argue that the Saints made a strategic error, when early in the game, capitalizing on a penalty on a touchdown, they tried a two point conversion from the one yard line when Jared Cook’s 2^nd receiving touchdown made the score 13-7.  There were 2 unfortunate results.  Cook suffered a concussion on the play and did not return, and the play call fooled nobody.  The missed conversion hung over this game like a blimp running out of gas.

I would argue that another error was just as costly.  At the end of the 1^st half, the Saints were clinging to a 6 point lead, but the 49’ers were driving.  They had a 1^st and 13 on the Saints 35.  They gained 8, giving the 49’ers 2^nd and 5 from the 28.  The Saints called a time out with 1:46 on the clock in the hopes of getting the ball back.  Why? Payton calls these defensive time outs on a wing and a prayer all the time, and they inevitably just take the clock pressure off the offense.  He called another one at 1:31 on 3^rd and 1.  Sean Payton is an incredible coach, but there’s two things he does that I hate.  Defensive Time-outs when the odd are against you, and on offense lining up in an empty backfield on 2^nd and short.  Unnecessary gambling.  Anyway, the 49’ers scored to conclude a wild first half of 8 touchdowns. 

Going into this game I was thinking the Saints biggest challenge would be stopping George Kittle, the league’s best tight end.  The Saints chose to put rookie CJ Gardner-Johnson on him, and he held his own until the 4^th quarter.  I was also worried about the Saints linebacker corps, with AJ Klein and Kiko Alonso out, replaced by Stephon Anthony and Craig Robertson, and that slight speed differential was costly, particularly in the track-meet first half.  San Francisco led 28-27 at the half. 

In the league’s highest scoring game so far this year, the two quarterbacks, Brees and Garoppolo were magnificent, both throwing for 349 yards.  Brees threw for 5 touchdowns and Michael Thomas had his usual terrific game.  With the Saints down 45-40 and needing a touchdown, the Saints got the ball back with 2:23 left.  He then came up with one of his patented drives, ending in a 18 yard touchdown pass to Tre’Quan Smith to take a 46-45 lead.  Unfortunately, the Saints had scored too quickly and there were 53 seconds left on the clock.  With 3 timeouts left, the 49’ers drove, converting a 39 seconds-left 4^th and 2 for a mere 39 yard gain, with a 15 yard penalty tacked on.  Robbie Gold kicked the winning field goal and the Saints had another heartbreaker to put in their pocket.

The Saints fell to 10-3 with 3 games remaining, and are now third in the NFC.  The Saints playoff positioning took a huge hit, but if they get healthy, there’s no reason to panic.  It probably means an extra game in the playoffs.  The worse news is that there will inevitably be a trip or two to the west coast, and the skies have not been too friendly to the Saints out thataway.

There were some positives.  Special teams were a difference maker for the Saints, as Deonte Harris had a great return game.  Of course, the fake punt that backfired was a strange call.  Again, I liked the decision, but the red team was ready for the play that was called.  Latavius Murray averaged 10 yards a carry and Alvin Kamara averaged 2.  Defenses have caught up to Kamara and that swing pass has lost its effectiveness.  The same can’t be said for Michael Thomas, who had another spectacular game, including his performance on a 4^th quarter drive that was almost all him.  Nope, can’t fault the offense for this one. 

On the defensive side, the Saints continue to struggle at corner with the PJ Williams/Eli Apple alliance having a tough time.  Cornerback in the NFL is almost impossible to play, and I’m sure it will be addressed in the off-season.  Until then, avert your eyes when playing against a good passer with two speedy receivers, and just hope the pass rush gets home.  The Saints have a history of anointing quarterbacks into superstars.  Let’s hope that’s not what happened to Garoppolo. 

Next up, an unexpectedly critical Monday Night game against the Colts.  Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck are retired, right?

At the Cinema - November 2019

Ford v. Ferrari – 9

Sometimes Hollywood gets it right and just provides a rocking good time at the multiplex.  Here they are helped along by two great actors.  Matt Damon plays legendary car designer Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale is his hall of fame driver, Ken Miles.  Together they pledge to Henry Ford II that they will design and race a car that will win the “24 hours of LeMans” and break the Ferrari stranglehold on that famed race.  This is a crowd pleaser with a lot of great racing footage (although it does go on about 15 minutes too long.)  Just sit back and enjoy.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - 9

Not quite as innocent as you would expect, this is a thoroughly enjoyable movie with Tom Hanks as the famed Mr. Rogers.  Mr. Rogers is the subject of an Esquire article written by reporter Lloyd Vogel, played by Matthew Rhys.  This is a true story, although the reporter’s name has been changed from Tom Junold, and the story of the movie is a rather routine one about Vogel’s horrible relationship with his father and how his relationship with Rogers is the guiding light in Vogel’s efforts to reconcile with his dad, played by Chris Cooper, who is sliding toward death. 

Although Hanks doesn’t appear as much as you would think, his performance is extraordinary and anchors the movie.  It’s hard to portray someone everyone knows, and somehow Hanks captures the kindness and sweetness of a man whose spirit would be of great use in today’s world.

This is a great companion piece to last year’s award-winning documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Both movies bring to life Mr. Rogers’ everlasting legacy.  Few people have had such impact. 

 

The Irishman – 7

Director Martin Scorcese is the master of dark criminal violence.  With classics like Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Departed on his resume, I’m sure he intended this to be his epic – his masterpiece.  At almost 3 ½ hours it’s marathon length could boast that as one of its qualifiers.  Unfortunately, it takes more than length to join the likes of Gone with The Wind (3:58), Lawrence of Arabia (3:48) and The Sound of Music (2:55).  He also may have mined the vein once too often.  The vibe of freneticism that makes Goodfellas so rewatchable, and now a classic, is missing here. 

Don’t get me wrong.  The material is here.  The Irishman is Frank Sheeran, a  Teamster official who rubbed elbows with many mobsters when he wasn’t rubbing them out.  His friendship with Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) and his work for the Ruffalino crime family of Pennsylvania is the crux of the movie.  He does jobs for Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) who is his mentor.  Add Harvey Keitel and Bobby Canavale and you’ve got an all-star cast, and they are all terrific.

There are some brilliant scenes, and as you would expect in a movie this long, some dead ones.  There is a long connective back story of Sheeran and Ruffalino on a car trip and it is tedious and drawn out.  As you would expect in a movie like this, there are time jumps, and that brings us to the main problem here.  While the acting is great, the stars are de-aged by computer, rather than having young actors play the parts.   So, while DeNiro and Friends may be able to pull off the emotion, they can’t match the energy of being young.  Could you?  Could you bounce around like you did 30 years ago?  Me Neither.  The film never gets boring, but it just pales in comparison to movies like The Godfather, for example.  And I’m not a big Godfather fan.  I guess I came away with one overwhelming thought.  This would have been a great mini-series, with young actors to start the story.  There’s no shortage of mob material here, and a lot of great characters.  I just got the feeling that the movie was dragging for the sake of the actors, rather than providing the crisp pace that has been so well established in the classic mob movies. 

 

Scanning the Satellite

The Soundtrack of our Life – Clive Davis – 10

Some documentaries just unfold themselves and all they have to do is tell the story in a straightforward manner.  That is certainly the case with Clive Davis.  Just cover his span of production, from Janis Joplin to Whitney Houston, to Kelly Clarkson.  His incredible career is reviewed, and never has a documentary been more appropriately titled. 

Now that I’ve been binge watching for a couple of years and you might be looking for something to watch I thought I’d give you a ranking of my recent favorites.  My criteria is that these generally consist of seasons of 8 Episodes or less. 

1. Rectify – 4 seasons:  The best portrait of the South I’ve ever seen
2. Fargo – Season 1:  Billy Bob Thornton’s best work, and that’s saying something
3. The OA – 2 seasons:  Totally Unique and largely indescribable
4. Catastrophe – 4 seasons:  the very definition of romantic chemistry
5. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel:  Truly amazing period recreation
6. True Detective – Seasons 1 & 3 – Woody Harrellson and Matthew McConahey astound
7. The Sinner – Season 1 – quite the shocker
8. The Newsroom – Aaron Sorkin’s crackling news drama
9. Veep – measured by the number of laughs, the funniest thing I’ve ever seen
10. Billions – Season 2 – a masterpiece of a season, but the others are great as well.
11. Curb Your Enthusiasm – brilliant, one-of-a-kind comedy
12. Homeland – wildly inconsistent, but the best seasons are unparalleled.
13. Unbelievable – Terrific crime drama
14. Killing Eve – 2 seasons:  Villanelle (Jodie Comer) the villain makes it all worth while
15. Mindhunter – 2 seasons:   Riveting

There is much, much more that I’m sure I’ve forgotten, but these will get you started..