Saints Report #7 - October 25, 2015

A tale of two halves.  It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.

The Saints went to Indianapolis for a rematch with their lone Super Bowl opponent and held on for a 27-20 victory.

They completely dominated the first half and even ambushed the Colts with a fake field goal.

A McCown to Watson pass put the Saints in business close to the goal, and Khiry Robinson jammed it in for the first of his two touchdowns.  Mark Ingram had a career first half as he ran wild.  The only down side in the first half was a missed extra point and a faux goal line stand when the Saints got down close after a long Ingram run.  From the two yard line, although they’d been dominant in the running game the Saints decided to pass.  An offensive pass interference, followed by a Brees' interception can only be explained by the possibility that Sean Payton believes passing touchdowns count for more than running ones.  They could have led by 4 touchdowns at the half.

But the Saints led 20 – 0 at the half and pushed it to 27-0 in the third quarter before the offense went into hibernation.

Some teams can’t stand prosperity.  The Saints despise it. 

Heralded cornerback Delvin Breaux fell down twice on long touchdown passes to Ty Hilton.  The Colts closed to within 27-20, but a clutch onside kick recovery by Marcus Murphy allowed the Saints a last possession.  With the game on the line Brees went to the most interesting receiver in the world for his only catch of the day.  Marques Colston doesn’t catch many these days, but when he does, they’re important.  His catch insured that the Saints would run out the clock

The bottom line.  The Saints played spectacularly well and got their first road win since Donald Trump had a haircut.

The defense continues to improve and Cam Jordan is leading the youngsters.  It’s not surprising that the game tightened up because that’s the way the NFL is built.  The onside kick is the only make-it-take-it rule in sports, and it almost was a “paybacks are hell” incident for the Saints.

The Saints improved to 3-4 and if they win the next three, Giants and Titans in the Dome, then the Redskins on the road, they could be 6-4 at the bye.  The way the season started, that would be an unexpected and relative prosperity.