Saints Report #2 - September 16, 2018

I don’t even know where to begin with this edition of the New Orleans Saints.  Last year at this time, as the Saints started 0-2 for the fourth straight year, they looked like a Ball of Confusion.  This year they are in some kind of Psychedelic Shack with a 1-1 record.  The hapless and hopeless Cleveland Browns came to the dome and beat the Saints in pass, punt, run, but not kick.   

Zane Gonzalez is the kicker for the Browns and he missed 2 field goals and 2 extra points, enabling the Saints to squeak by 21-18.  The Browns outplayed the Saints in the other 2 phases of the game, but a big 4^th quarter interception by safety Marcus Williams led to a touchdown that put the Saints ahead 18-12.  That should have been it, but Ken Crawley got beat for an improbable long touchdown pass.  With the score 18-18, Gonzalez missed his second extra point.   The Saints drove for a game winning field goal and had to watch Gonzalez miss a long attempt that would have tied it. 

The last time Sean Payton met his old defensive coach Gregg Williams, the Saints torched the Rams, running up the score with impunity.  This time Williams had the upper hand, sacking Brees 3 times on third down.  Brees missed two touchdown passes that he would normally execute, Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas carried the offense again, and the Saints basically won a game they shouldn’t have.  The Saints running game is dormant and their pass rush non-existent and these are the things that carried them through last year’s winning streak.

So, it’s a normal NFL year.  Just as I predicted Tampa Bay and Kansas City will meet in the Super Bowl after getting by Minnesota and Jacksonville in their conference finals.  Or I would have predicted if I understood the NFL.   

So now, the Saints are past their poisonous first two games and are off to Atlanta to play the 1-1 Falcons in a game that will leave the loser in last place in the division.  So, let me tell you what’s going to happen in Atlanta.

There will be traffic.  Many of the clogged streets will have Peachtree in their name.

That's all I can tell you