Saints Report #1 - September 12, 2021

The Saints opened their season with a football nation-stunning 38-3 victory over the highly regarded Green Bay Packers.  Leave it to the Saints to provide a shot of adrenaline to the hurricane-beleagured who-dat nation.

Who could have seen this coming?  Well I did, because when your supremely talented but aging MVP Quarterback spends the offseason trying to beat out Blossom to host a game show, while courting his latest movie star girlfriend and complaining about his rapport with his bosses, that’s a recipe called “too much on your plate that doesn’t included training.”  As amazing as Aaron Rodgers is, he’s 37, and he looked it today, mostly because of the Saints smothering defense.

Dennis Allen is in his 7^th year as defensive coordinator and is it is a luxury to have someone this good for so long.  Usually they get hired away, but the maturity, schemes, and disguises he employs allows him to overcome the occasional shortage of personnel.  Saints fans have been worried all year about the cornerback position, but 3^rd round pick Paulson Adebo picked off Aaron Rodgers In his first NFL start.  Someday he’ll be telling his grandchildren about that play as a career highlight, or the first of many interceptions.  Next week the Saints will be joined by another top flight cornerback they just traded for, Bradley Roby.  Don’t look now, but the Saints looked like the best defense in the NFL on opening weekend.

On offense, they were just as good.  Hopefully all year, the Saints will execute the run-first, time chewing, ball control offense they used this day.  Limited possessions, keeping high powered offensive superstars watching from the bench with growing impatience, as they methodically worked the ball down the field.  It’s a great formula.  Early in the game when Jameis Winston was unexpectedly running for first downs, and the Saints running back tandem was grinding away, I knew Sean Payton had landed on one of his formidable game plans.  He did it each time Brees was sidelined the last 2 years.  He did it to Tampa Bay twice last year.  The Coach can flat out put a game plan together.

So, how will you know if things are going the Saints’ way?  If the Quarterback is perfectly set up for success the way Jameis Winston was today.  Five Touchdown passes with only 148 yards passing is simply unheard of.  The statistical edge the Saints had in all areas was amazing today, and I could recite them, but will just let them speak for themselves.  The Saints theme for the year should be "no shootouts."  It will put every opponent in Jeopardy.

When a Hurricane like Ida just ravages its way through the land you love, leaving varying degrees of devastation in its wake it is a helpless feeling, like there’s nothing you can do up against a superior force. 

The Green Bay Packers just got a taste of that feeling.

 

Saints Report #3 - September 27, 2020

The Saints have been on national television for the first three weeks of the NFL season, so Drew Brees and his battle with gravity has been a national discussion.  The National Sports Media pays little attention to the Saints most of the time, but a whiff of decline and the Saints are a hot topic.

The Saints lost to the Packers 37-30 on Sunday night in the Superdome.  The Saints hung closer than I really expected them to.  In the end the 36 year legendary quarterback outperformed the 41 year old one just enough to secure the victory. 

Late in the third quarter Alvin Kamara scored on a spectacular 52 yard run after catching a swing pass.  That tied the game at 27, as the 4^th quarter began.  The Saints defense, which played pretty well most of the night when they weren’t being called for pass interference, held the Packers at midfield on a 4^th down attempt.  The Saints took over.  They gained 8 yards on a pass to Murray.  Then came the turning point.  Brees went to the sidelines for Taysom Hill.  Hill fumbled on a 2^nd and 2 option play.  The Packers recovered and although the defense held the Packers to a field goal, It was a deflating moment.  Aaron Rodgers drove the Packers for a touchdown as the 2 minute warning approached and the game was history.

Here are the conclusions from this game:

First, the old Drew Brees showed up.  He was mostly efficient and crisp, if not perfect, and began to utilize his receivers more.  He still is hesitant to throw deep, but he hasn’t thrown deep since Devery Henderson left.  He isn’t a gunslinger anymore, but he still shows signs of life. The Saints have been dinking and dunking for 5 years.  

Secondly, the Saints running game was excellent.  It became apparent early that the Saints could run it at will, and that would accomplish a lot, like keep the clock running and MVP candidate Rodgers off the field. 

Third, rookies Cesar Ruiz and Alex Trautman contributed.  It looks like they can play, and since Andrus Peat’s weekly injury appears serious, Ruiz will get action. 

Fourth, Michael Thomas should have been NFL MVP last year.  He’s that good, and the Saints are just an average offense without him.  On third and long it does not appear Brees is willing to throw to anyone but Thomas near the sticks. 

Fifth, penalties remain a major problem.

Finally, and this is inescapable.  Sean Payton can not commit to running the ball for 4 quarters.  He simply doesn’t have the discipline.  If there was ever a game where it was called for, this was it.  Latavius Murray averaged 5 yards a carry, and it seemed like more.  Alvin Kamara averaged 10 yards a carry.  The Saints rushed 20 times for 122 yards.  They threw 36 passes.  Those numbers should have been reversed.  They began by dominating the line of scrimmage.  I’ve heard football defensive lineman talk many times about how tiring and demoralizing it is for a team to run the ball on a defense.  If the Saints had stuck with their ground game this would have been a 24-20 type game.  But Payton, the master of the passing game, just couldn’t resist.  In the series after the game’s only turnover, the Saints completed 3 passes for a total gain of 5 yards.  Only the Saints could do that.

I am a thankful fan.  I am grateful that Sean Payton is our coach and I don’t want his head on the chopping block.  I have no idea if he answers to anyone in terms of game strategy.  But, as great as Drew Brees is statistically, there’s a reason he only has one Super Bowl.  And I get it, we have a ball control, short passing game.  No one likes 2^nd and 2 more than me.  But, the best seasons have featured a run commitment, and the success the Saints had early last night evaporated, and there’s nothing harder than evaporation in the humidity of New Orleans.  It evaporated because the Saints ran the ball 41% of the time on a night that called for 61%.  It’s not in their DNA, but its time for a transfusion.  Payton wants to win shoot-outs.  He should want to just win games. 

I will close with this statistical addendum.  If you are a Saints fan, you know the records, and you can correlate when the Saints have had success with the percentage of times they run vs. pass in the B/P era.

2006:  45%
2007:  38%
2008:  39%
2009:  46% 
2010:  37%
2011:  39%
2012:  36%\
2013:  36%
2014:  38%
2015:  37%
2016:  37%
2017:  45%
2018:  48%
2019:  41%

 

 

Saints Report #7

Much separates New Orleans and the surrounding areas from most other metro areas in their Monday atmosphere.

There are two things you can be sure of on Monday.  First there are a whole lot of people eating red beans and rice.   Secondly, the mood is especially good after a Saints win on Sunday.  Extra sausage with those red beans, please.

Today is such a day.  All is right with the world, at least until Thursday night.

On Sunday the Saints were visited by a formidable Green Bay Packer team, one that still may make a Super Bowl trip, although it is looking more and more to me like the Detroit Lions may be the team of destiny this year in the NFC.  Considering the Lions are working miracles without Calvin Johnson, yesterday doing the Saints a big favor by coming back from a 21-0 halftime deficit to beat the hapless Falcons, they just are beginning to build that “we can do anything” confidence that the Saints seem to only have on Poydras street.  Wouldn’t an Arizona vs. Lion NFC finals be something?  There’s a long way to go yet, though, and maybe the Saints will yet have something to say.

Back to the Superdome.

The Saints and Packers seemed to be headed for a shootout Sunday night, if a field goal heavy game can be considered a shootout.  Then all-world Aaron Rodgers pulled a hammie, then pulled a Geno by throwing a couple of interceptions, while the Saints kept right on rolling, putting up a 44 spot, to win 44 – 23, which is a blowout you wouldn’t have seen coming if you were driving a Corvair.

Where did this come from?  Well, first Sean Payton just couldn’t avoid the obvious on film.  The Packers are horrible against the run, dead last in the NFL after this game, and despite the fact that the Saints were down to two running backs, he committed to the run.  Mark Ingram had his long awaited breakout game, running for 172 yards, and the Saints actually were 50/50 run/pass.  Thus Drew Brees, throwing 20 some less passes than usual, had a brilliant game, going 27 for 32 for 310 yards, including a bomb or two to showcase his diminished arm strength(!).  The effective running game, along with the return of Jimmy Graham, kept Brees clean in the pocket and isn’t it amazing what all that can do for offensive effectiveness?  Chewing up the clock with the running game, finally getting Brandon Cooks deep for a touchdown, a defense that bent all night, but played pretty well in the red zone - all of this adds up to a promising future as the Saints can actually take first place in the division at 4-4 on Thursday night with a win.

All they have to do is take all this, pack it in a suitcase, put in on a plane, and carry it to Charlotte.  Just once, take it on the road, guys.  As Brian Wilson says, “Wouldn’t it be nice?”  It could make a Halloween Friday even more fun than usual.