Saints Report #15 - December 23, 2012

The Saints went to Dallas for what may have been the Sean Payton bowl, and upended the Cowboys and their playoff hopes in overtime, 34-31.  The Saints and Drew Brees put together one long drive after another as they piled up yardage and time of possession, only to see Tony Romo and Dez Bryant burn the Saints with long passes keeping the game close. 

Unbelievably the Saints squandered a 2 touchdown 4^th quarter lead as Romo lead the Cowboys to 2 touchdowns in the last 5 minutes.  However, the Saints held in overtime, and Brees led another methodical drive that was capped by a bizarre play on which Marques Colston fumbled after a nice catch, and Jimmy Graham made a game winning recovery on the Cowboy’s 2 yard line.  Garrett Hartley, who had missed a short field goal early in the game, nailed what amounted to an extra point, and the Saints taketh away after they giveth. 

Drew Brees passed for over 400 yards, and the Saints also ran the ball well.  Let’s state the obvious.  Mark Ingram continues to improve and is making an impact.  No one can cover Darren Sproles.  But it’s Pierre Thomas who has been the Saints most consistent player all year.  Brees may have gone over 500 yards if the receivers hadn’t had the dropsies.  The Saints have been as unpredictable as “Homeland” all year, and if Sean Payton returns, and brings a bucket of consistency, next year could actually be fun.

Saints Report #14 - December 16, 2012

Out of the blue, out of nowhere, the Saints came marching into the dome and played their most complete, dominant game of this year, and maybe any year by shutting out the Tampa Bay Bucs 41-0.  The only thing missing was John McKay. 

The offense, led like an orchestra by maestro Drew Brees played flawlessly.  But, it was the Saints much maligned defense which was the story of this game.  They made Buc QB Josh Freeman look lost as they continued their recent improvement.  Suddenly the Saints front four is jelling and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnulo is giving them just enough blitz help to wreak havoc.  If you saw a shutout coming, the Saints first since the Clinton administration, we need to talk about a trip to Vegas.

Saints Report #13 - December 9, 2012

Sean Payton’s value was never more evident than in this Meadowlands debacle, as the Giants embarrassed the Saints 52-27.  One of Payton’s abilities, honed undoubtedly over many years, is the unique ability to get all his players on the bus. For this game, special teams didn’t make the trip.

Rookie David Martin torched the Saints repeatedly on kick returns and long runs.  It was if the Saints were reliving their first playoff game ever, when Anthony Carter of the Vikings ran wild on the Superdome carpet.  Not since that game had there been a total special team breakdown resembling the Titanic.  Game planning memo – when the other team keeps starting their drives in your territory, it’s going to be a long day, and it doesn’t really matter if Jimmy Hoffa is buried in the end zone or not.

Saints Report # 12 - November 29, 2012

I made my first visit to the Georgia Dome to watch the Falcons stick a fork in the New Orleans Saints 23-13, snuffing out what little playoff hope the Saints had as they fell to 5 – 7.  The Saints needed to knock off at least one of the 2 division leaders they faced in a 5 day period, and that evaporated in a flood of one of the bad things that can happen when you pass the ball - interceptions.

I can only watch the Saints play in domed stadiums you see, because I might be tempted to jump out of a normal stadium.  The Saints play calling has morphed into a death trap, a suicide rap.  It’s been established that the Saints are pass first, run a distant second, but if you live by the pass, you die by the pass, and right now the Saints are dying over and over.  It’s hard to watch.

Beef # 1:  Third down.  The Saints faced third down 14 times during the game.  They passed 13 times.  That’s not hard for the opposing defensive coordinator to figure out.  Their philosophy has always been to have the ball in the hands of their best player – Drew Brees.  What about their second best player, Pierre Thomas?  He carried 14 times for 84 yards, a 6 yard average, but he is never on the field on 3^rd down, not even to give the defense something to think about.

Beef # 2:  Play action.  It’s not fooling defenses anymore, because they don’t believe the Saints have any confidence in running, even on third and 1, and will never run the ball in a clutch situation.

Beef # 3:  Middle of the field.  The Safeties are staying home.  They are clogging up the middle to stop Jimmy Graham and it’s working.  Drew Brees has now made a horrible throw into the middle in each of the last two games, when the middle of the field looked like a concourse in the Atlanta airport.  Our wide receivers can’t get deep, so the defense is single covering Joe Morgan and Devery Henderson, neither of whom have caught anything significant since the debates.  When Lance Moore is your deep threat, you’ve got problems.

Beef # 4:  Darren Sproles.  I hate to say this but as great as Sproles is, he makes the Saints predictable.  When he’s in the game, it’s a passing down.  They haven’t handed him the ball since 1942.  What happened to that neat little counter play they used to run?  Did they drop it from the playbook?

Beef # 5:  Second Down.  Every time the Saints come out in their shotgun, empty backfield on 2^nd and short I wonder if they understand the nature of the game.  Memo to Joe Vitt:  First downs are a good thing.  We act like we are allergic to them.

Beef # 6:  We can’t stand prosperity.  The only reason the game was close is because the Falcons were as stupid as the Saints.  The Falcons first drive of the game was a running, clock-chewing demoralizer behind Michael Turner.  The Saints first drive of the second half was a running, clock-chewing demoralizer behind Pierre Thomas.  Both teams quickly abandoned that philosophy as too efficient and boring. 

Beef # 7:  Stupidity.  Has there ever been a more obvious infraction than the pitiful attempt at a pick that Jimmy Graham pulled?  It cost the Saints a touchdown, and I was throwing the flag from 25 rows up.  Couple that with the horrible clock management at the end of the first half, which also cost the Saints points, and Moore’s drop of a ball in the end zone, and you have a litany of mistakes that could have had the Saints winning a game they really didn’t deserve to win.  And who had the great idea of throwing a pass to Chris Ivory?

I could go on and on, but where’s the beef?  Here’s what’s going to happen.  The Saints now have to win their last 4 games to finish 9 – 7.  The coaches are gathered.  They are deciding that the best way for the Saints to get to 9 -7 is to put the ball in Brees’ hands, even behind the injured line and the stacked defenses that don’t respect the run.  The defense is actually improving.  They think they can do it. 

It ain’t gonna work.