A visiting team’s disorientation these days probably begins when they pull up to a Superdome that has looked the same outside since it opened in 1975. Now it sports a sponsor’s name and a light show. Then they walk inside, suit up, and are immediately subject to an unprecedented aerial assault. Must be fun.
Monday night the Saints scored seven touchdowns en route to a 49-24 destruction of a New York Giants team sadly lacking a rush on both offense and defense. The Saints unleashed their full arsenal. It was another impressive home performance. If the Saints play like this on the road, and they’ll need to in the playoffs, another Lombardi trophy could be in the offing.
Several things became clear during the course of the Thanksgiving NFL weekend:
1. It’s become nearly impossible to play defense in the NFL because:
a.) You can’t touch the quarterback
b.) You can’t impede the receiver’s progress
c.) You can’t hit the receiver too hard
The NFL has become flag day every day. In an effort to protect the players the zebras have run amuck at the direction of Roger Goody2Shoes. Stop. America is attracted to this game because it is controlled violence and power. It's war-like in that it's a fight for turf, a basic instict of mankind. That they fight over the same 100 yards over and over is beside the point. We love it as it is, don't swing the pendulum toward safety too much. There's little doubt in my mind that someone is going to get killed playing in the NFL some day. The players are bigger and faster, thus the collisions are of a higher impact. But legislating all collisions will make it touch football, and that's not a $7billion business. The NFL is.
2. The Green Bay Packers are having an incredible year and to the untrained eye, there is only one team that can stop them – the New Orleans Saints. When they’re hitting on 8 cyclinders, like they often do in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, they can outgun any team.
3. Drew Brees, on a record-setting yardage pace, should challenge Aaron Rogers for NFL MVP. In his 6th year of collaboration with Sean Payton, Brees is orchestrating an attack the sophistication of which has never been seen before in the NFL. It’s a collection of talent on offense which most teams can only dream of.
Starting at 8-3 is significantly better than 7-4 when the Atlanta Falcons are lurking. The Suh-less Lions come to town for a Sunday night game that should be the next step in a trek that could end in Indianapolis, and another February parade. That would be great.
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