Saints Report # 5 - October 15, 2017

The NFL season consists of 16 mini-dramas, plus a few more if things go well. 

Truthfully, most of them are forgettable and simply establish a won-loss record.  Few stand out and get burned into your memory.  Sunday’s 52-38 Saints victory over the Lions in the Superdome was a burner.  It was one of the craziest games I’ve ever seen.  Tell me you’ve ever seen:

• 90 total points
• 4 defensive touchdowns in one game, 3 by the Saints.
• Incredibly well placed punts by Thomas Morestead setting up 2 of those scores, and yet
• The Lions ran back a Morestead punt for a touchdown, which I think was his first ever
• At least 12 passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage
• Drew Brees throwing for less than 200 yards (breaking a 55 game streak)
• The Saints taking a 45-10 lead in the 2^nd half
• Only to give up 28 straight points.
• A leap like Alvin Kamara pulled off.

One other observation - this was one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen, and I was saying that when the Saints were up 5 touchdowns.  They stopped the clock erroneously in the first half, and then there was the Michael Thomas robbery where they apparently changed the rule to read "the receiver must maintain possession through the catch, through hitting the ground, through the tackle, and through eating soup the next day."  I don't complain about officiating too often because "I were one" but I thought the referee was aging before our eyes and wasn't going to make it through the game.  There's an old adage that "you could throw a flag on every play" and they seemed to want to test that theory.

So, the Saints have won 3 straight, which no other team in the NFL can say.  When I saw their brutal opening schedule I thought if they started 3-3, they’d be in good shape, and now they head to Green Bay with a chance to go 4-2, as they won’t have to face Aaron Rogers.  The defense’s confidence is growing as the defensive backfield has improved in step with the pass rush.  The running game has added a Mr. Outside in Kamara to go with Mr. Inside. 

A pass rush and a running game.  They go a long way, and suddenly they’re back.  I won’t get to go to that many games this year.  Sure glad I went to this one.  It’s gonna stick.