Saints Report # 4 - October 3rd, 2010

The Saints beat the Carolina Panthers Sunday, getting 3 field goals from their “everything old is new again” kicker, John Carney, while future all-pro Garrett Hartley cools his heels contemplating his shakiness. Carney, destined to be on the Saints’ speed dial until Hartley gets over his yips, came through to lead the Saints to a 16-14 victory over the team that Sean Payton seems to have the toughest time with.

So, what’s the situation?
Drew Brees, despite a banged-up left knee, is still deadly accurate, although the long passes haven’t been as easy to come by.
The receivers are dropping the ball some.
There are a ton of injuries, with the team a long way from being healthy.
Brees, Sharper, Bush, Thomas, Gay, Prioleau, Harper, Reis, and now Porter.
The Saints have been losing the turnover battle.
The defense has been unsteady against the run.
Teams are learning how to slow down the offense.
Great Consternation among the faithful.

Yet, the Saints are 3-1, one of the best records in a parity-league. If not for the yips, they could be 4-0, albeit an ugly 4-0. Of course, they could be 0-4 pretty easily. But, that’s the NFL – the league where star quarterbacks pull out close games. That’s why everyone should just relax (after the game – it’s impossible to relax during these nail-biters.) We got used to winning pretty, now we need to enjoy winning ugly – they all count the same, and this is the way dynasties get built – winning no matter what the adversity.

Here are some observations. The Saints believe they have a plug and play running back offense, where they can pull a running back off the street and he’ll do fine – thus their reluctance to do a deal with Pierre Thomas while Reggie Bush gets hugely overpaid (it’s a draft position thing.) Unfortunately, the performance of Ladell Betts and Chris Ivory (despite his fumbling problems – 2 in 2 games) may validate their position. Too bad.

The injury bug is hitting hard. If the Saints can withstand this onslaught and get healthy in the 2nd half of the season, they’ll be fine.
Sunday they face the Arizona Cardinals – a desperate team that has to be revenge-minded thinking about last year’s playoff game, even if their best quarterback is dancing with the stars.
The Cardinals have looked terrible this year, so it should be a mismatch, right?
Wrong.
Expect a close game, a nail biter.
It’s a new year baby.