The Saints continued to celebrate their sterling Monday
night performance through the first quarter of their visit to Nashville. They found themselves down 14-0 to the Titans
and it looked like it was going to be one of those games where the Saints were
going to get overrun by a team playing for their playoff life.
It was an interesting sight.
The Saints were unfocused, off kilter and out of sync. Drew Brees was noticeably upset with the brain
drain that was going on around him.
Penalty flags were flying and Brees was getting unusual pressure in the
pocket. It was so bad that Ryan Ramczyk
gave up his first sack of the year.
Then, the Saints threw a switch and their superior talent
took over. The Saints offense starting
rolling and Alvin Kamara scored twice while Jared Cook and Michael Thomas were
catching the fever. The Saints took
charge and of all people, Patrick Robinson made several great defensive plays
and CJ Gardner Johnson caused and recovered a fumble with the Saints clinging
to a 3 point lead inside of 4 minutes.
The air went out of Music City with that CJGJ hit of a receiver, and it’s
a play that almost always draws a flag, especially against the Saints. No yellow fever this time.
Then, Michael Thomas scored the last touchdown to make the
final 38-28. Thomas finished with 12
catches for 146 yards and set the NFL record with 146 catches. With one game to go, Thomas may well set an
unreachable 16 game record. Going in to
this game he was almost 30 receptions ahead of the guy in second place – that’s
2 catches a game. He is also almost 400
yards ahead of the nearest competition. Quite simply, Michael Thomas can make a strong case for MVP. The Saints rarely have a bonafide MVP candidate. They've got one now.
The Saints can be beaten, but their talent level is
amazing. There are 6 Saints who may be
on the all-time Saints team: Brees,
Thomas, Ramczyk, Lattimore, Morstead, and Jordan, with several more – Demario Davis,
Terron Armstead, Wil Lutz, and Alvin Kamara knocking on that door. If the Saints win next week, they will
complete their 4th 13-3 Season in the last 11. This is also the second season in a row with
12 wins – something the franchise has never achieved. We’ve had some disappointing season-ends, but
we sure can’t complain about the talent that has been amassed.
Now off to play a despondent Carolina team which will be
trying to salvage some respect in Game 16.
It won’t be easy, but the Saints are closer to a first round bye, and
some home field advantages, like the raucous ruckus the Superdome
provides. They are close to their second straight home field advantage throughout the playoffs. It could get loud.
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