Saints at the Bye

This is the Saints bye week report.  Sorry, I did not write about the last 2 games until now, as I was on the disabled list getting a new knee.  Unfortunately, I was joining Michael Thomas, Wil Lutz, Erik McCoy, Terron Armstead, Deonte Harris, Taysom Hill, Tony Jones Jr, Marcus Davenport, Chase Hanson, Kwon Alexander, Ken Crawley, Nick Vannett, Tre’Quan Smith, and others on the sideline. 

Put them together with those from last year who aren’t here:  Drew Brees, Latavius Murray, Thomas Morestead, JT Gray, Trey Hendrickson, Sheldon Rankins, Malcolm Brown, Josh Hill, Jared Cook, Alex Anzalone, Emmanuel Sanders, Michael Burton, and Janoris Jenkins totals 26 absent.  All but Brees are contributing on other teams. 

And the Saints are 3-2 at the bye. 

Imagine if it was your company and you experienced that kind of turnover and absenteeism.You’d take 3-2 all day long.  And you’re just a bad quarter away from being 4-1.

Yes, the Saints last 2 games were experiments in what to do with 11-point fourth quarter leads. In the first, they just blew it to the Giants. 

If you’ve ever been a manager, you’ve had a bad day at the office.  You went against your instincts and hired the wrong person.  You chewed someone out for something that wasn’t their fault.  You made the wrong choice and it backfired.  You just made a stupid decision and it was costly.

Sean Payton simply had a bad day at the office against the Giants, something we’re not used to (except in the playoffs.)  Except for a three straight touchdown stretch in the second and third quarter, the Saints bungled decision after decision. They held a 21-10 lead with 8 minutes left, and then the Giants did to us what we are used to seeing the Saints do to teams over the last 15 years.

Squandered a time-out and a challenge with one of the most meaningless challenges of a spot I can ever remember seeing. 

Having a kicker that is obviously mediocre try a 58 yarder but not a 43 yarder.

Having only one running play that Taysom Hill can run.  His previous 2 spectacular runs were kind of a tip for the Giants to move the Titanic into that particular hole.

Having Taysom Hill throw a bomb which he didn’t have the arm for, thus an interception.

Not Throwing one pass to Alvin Kamara, who carried a career high 26 times.

Defense was no better

The annual Joe Montana create-a-star award goes to Daniel Jones who racked up over 400 yards passing and looked all world.  For one week.

Paulson Adebo, who appears to have the physical tools, got picked on all day, and the Saints lost in overtime 27-21.

Almost all those strategic errors got rectified the next week when the Saints when to DC and beat the nameless team 33-22.  As good as Ron Rivera appears to be as a coach, he rarely can handle Payton.  Blake Gillikin had the best game I’ve ever seen a punter have, as he seems to be on a mission to revive the coffin corner.  He deposited three punts of 53 yards or more inside the 5-yard line, completely changing the game.  Likewise, Marshon Lattimore seemed to take every ball in the air as a personal insult.

There are 3 things that I think are the most difficult in sports:  1) hit a round baseball moving very fast with a round bat, 2) hit a golf ball where you want it to go, and 3) cover a wide receiver.  I looked at the Saints secondary as their weakest link, but Lattimore may be the best in the game right now, Adebo has improved and looks like the steal of the draft, and if he’s not, linebacker Pete Werner is.

Being 3-2 at this point is a testament to organizational stability.  The first three draft choices are contributing.  Other than the place kicker, the Saints have been able to reload, restock, reboot, and stay competitive. 

Then there’s Jameis Winston, who has held his own.  While throwing to an all-new receiving corps, he has cut down his mistakes, but not eliminated them.  He’s thrown some good, bad, and ugly passes.  But, it ain’t a beauty contest and the reality of it is that the Saints are a middle tier team right now.  The question is, when some starters come back, can they make the jump?   

At the bye, all things considered, I’ll take 3-2.