Saints Report #1 - 2016

Same old same old.

Same Song, different verse.

Same old song and dance.

New year, same result.

It was déjà vu all over again for the New Orleans Saints as they lost their season opener 35 – 34 to the Oakland Raiders in the no longer imposing Superdome Sunday. And may I say the Oakland Raider fans were especially obnoxious.

Who wins football games?  Most of the time, it’s the team running the ball in the 4^th quarter, either chewing up clock or grinding their way down the field.

Never going to happen.  Not with the New Orleans Saints.  They are the grindee, not the grinder.

Can’t run the ball.

Can’t stop the run.

Can’t get any pressure on the Quarterback.

Meanwhile Drew Brees threw it all over the field for over 400 yards but it just is never going to matter because the Saints

Can’t run the ball

Can’t stop the run.

Can’t get any pressure on the Quarterback.

Brees showed off his stellar receiving corps of Brandin Cooks, Willie Snead, and Michael Thomas and that quartet is of Super Bowl quality.  Unfortunately, the Saints just don’t have much else.  They’re going to be great fantasy players, but how many wins will it translate into?  Not many, because….

Can’t run the ball

Yea, I know Mark Ingram had a couple of good runs.  But, the Saints need to run it effectively 30 times a game, not 7.   They can’t chew clock when they have a lead, and they can’t pound it when they’re behind.  Average 4 yards a carry.

Can’t stop the run.

168 yards rushing for Oakland.  A 70 yard run by Jalen Richard, a rookie from nearby Alexandria, via Southern Miss, was a particular dagger.  Average 6.4 yards per carry.

Can’t pressure the quarterback.

Up and coming star Derek Carr sat back as if he were doing 7 on 7 drills and picked the young Saints secondary apart, especially after 2^nd year cornerback Delvin Breaux went down.  If the Saints had been able to play touch football rules (which is where the NFL is eventually headed) they still wouldn’t have had a sack.  They never laid a hand on him.  He brought the Raiders back from a 2 touchdown deficit and their 2 point conversions were gutsy and huge confidence builders for their future.

I thought there were two turning points.  The Breaux injury with what would later turn out to be a broken leg was of devastating consequence to the secondary for not just this game, but the season.  Now, it’s all rookies.  OMG.  And no pass rush.

But the real turning point of this game was when Sean Payton signed a new placekicker just days before the game.   Will Lutz has such a strong leg, and will probably be a great kicker, that he emboldened Coach Payton to try from 50 early in the 4^th quarter with a 24-10 lead.  That miss was a turning point because with those old tepid kickers the Saints have, they would have punted.  Instead the miss let the Raiders right back in the game by presenting them with a short field.  Long field goal attempts that put the pressure on this defense – not a great idea.  Especially when the defense gives up 14 yards per play in the 2^nd half, which is the astounding statistic of the week.  Gassed. 

So, now the Saints travel to New York, where Eli Manning is licking his chops.  Who is going to cover Odell Beckham?  Last year’s game was a classic air show, 7 td’s for Brees to 6 for Manning.   Will anybody run the ball?  Or will it be the same old song and dance?

Saints Pre-Season Forecast

Antonio Brown’s 62 yard touchdown reception with 1:35 on the clock brings the Pittsburgh Steelers from behind in a 25-21 victory over the Washington Redskins and (Drew Brees clone) Kirk Cousins (NFL MVP) to win the Super Bowl.  That’s how it will end.  How will this football season begin?

With fantasy football of course.

Because you’re a Saints Fan, and we specialize in fantasy.

We think the Saints have improved their team through the draft and free agency, and we are right.

But every other team believes the same thing.  I think the word is delusional.  But what would life be without a little delusional optimism?

As I write this the rumor is that the Saints, after assessing their Quarterback through a pre-season in which the team performed like they were unsynchronized swimmers, liked what they saw of Drew Brees enough to discuss what may be a 4 year $100 million contract on the 37 year old.  Brees has elected to play hardball, rather than offer a Brady-like home team discount, which is certainly his right.  The problem is that when you look up “dead money” in the dictionary you see a picture of Mickey Loomis, the Saints GM.  Loomis makes mistakes, like everyone else who is alive, but has the unfortunate distinction of making mistakes that are gargantuan in zero’s and crippling in impact.  His latest scheme of building a wall around Drew Brees and making Atlanta pay for it, is unlikely to gain any traction, so Brees, by taking such a large percentage of the payroll may in fact be signing his own decapitation warrant.  It's like sending Hillary Clinton out without body guards.  One thing is for sure in the Brees negotiation, the longer the Saints wait, the more the price goes up, as lesser but younger QB’s sign lucrative contracts.

But we soldier on.  We have Mark Ingram to not take any pressure off.  We have a new wide receiver named Mike Thomas who better be a Colston/Moore combo if he’s going to help, and we have an offensive line that needs to jell yesterday.  We’re betting on a bunch of rookie cornerbacks to help Delvin Breaux, and we’ll try to forget the two bungled draft choices of Peat and Grayson that could have been defensive help, like a pass rush to protect the kiddie squad that will be chasing receivers.  Just for fun, google the two drafts and take a gander at the players that were available when we pulled these two out of the hat.  I’m not saying they can’t be serviceable pros.  I’m just saying it’s a time-worn Saints tradition to dwell on what could’ve been.  It keeps us insane.

New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen seems to have advanced the defense over that guy with my profile.  The offense actually ran the ball on first down throughout the preseason, so we probably didn’t get a good look at what they can do.  After weeks of pre-season and training camp, the Saints decided they didn’t like either kicker and booted them both in favor of a rookie who had been cut elsewhere, in case you’re wondering what desperation smells like.

So, after all of that, it’s time for my prediction.  I won’t get fooled again.  I’m well aware that some teams improve steadily throughout the year, and while that hasn’t been the Saints M.O. it’s a possibility given the youth and talent on board. Still, the best I can muster up, with a healthy Brees throwing for 5K, is a 9-7 record, barely missing the playoffs.  I reserve the right to amend that prediction at about 1:30 on Sunday.  See you in the dome.

At the Cinema - August 2016

Gleason – 10

One after another they come – outstanding documentaries that tell us “You think you know, but you really don’t.”

Gleason is the latest.  It’s the astoundingly candid story of the journey of Steve Gleason.  I’m guessing most people don’t know who he is, especially if they are not part of the rabid group we call “sports fans.” 

So let me start here.  The New Orleans Saints are now in their 50^th year and only one player has a statue outside their stadium.  It’s Steve Gleason.

In 2005, there was Hurricane Katrina.  Previously known as the home of the Saints as well as several Super Bowls, the Louisiana Superdome become a refuge for thousands of displaced New Orleans residents, and it wasn’t a good host – it certainly wasn’t meant for this.  It became a symbol for everything that went wrong in the city during the flooding that followed that hurricane.  The Saints became nomads, playing in Baton Rouge and San Antonio, and for a while it seemed that the city would lose one of its most precious commodities, a football team that had never amounted to much; never really earned the zeal it generated.

It took a year to bring the dome and the Saints back, and they started the season 2-0 on the road behind an unknown new coach that was suspected to be the latest in a long line of dubious hires, and a cast-off quarterback who was recovering from a devastating injury.  They came home to their dome.  They beat the hated Atlanta Falcons that night.  That’s where Steve Gleason comes in.  In a scoreless game, Gleason stormed through and blocked a punt, and Curtis Deloach recovered in the end zone.  It was the first Saints score in the dome in over a year and that roar is the loudest, most emotional sound I’ve ever heard.  Everyone there that night would tell you the same thing.  The punt block is what is depicted in that statue.  It will be the first of many iconic moments that would be piloted by that coach, that quarterback, and that team that first made it to an NFC Championship game, then 3 years later won a Super Bowl.

But Steve Gleason wasn’t done affecting the world.  First he had to get real unlucky.  He retired, and was stricken with ALS – Lou Gehrig’s disease, and he began a health descent that he would chronicle on film for his unborn son Rivers.  It is from those videos that a most compelling story is compiled..  

I’m going not going to tell you what happens but I will tell you how it’s going to make you feel.

INADEQUATE – Steve Gleason has accomplished more since he lost his ability to speak, which he now does via computer, than most of us will do in a lifetime.  It has provided him an opportunity to substantially change health care and benefits for ALS victims.  He formed the Gleason foundation and it has been relentless.

ENAMORED – With Michelle, his wife.  Watching what she goes through and how she handles it, from a visit to a faith healer, to a devastatingly frank bedroom scene, to the day to day commitment, makes her a bigger star than any actress.  She is winning at real life. 

SYMPATHETIC – The no-holds barred approach to this documentary extends to Steve’s uneven relationship with his father who questions Steve’s faith, while questioning God on why this is happening. We’ve all had moments with our family that are tough, but they aren’t on film.

ASTOUNDED – At what they are willing to show.  The disease is graphically depicted.  There are times you just can’t watch, and there are times when you won’t believe what you are seeing.

THANKFUL – for what you have.  We live in a world where everyone complains constantly and social media allows us to bitch, bitch, bitch, but we have so much that we do so little with.

Steve Gleason does so much with so little that if you’re not moved by this movie, check your pulse.

You may have been dead for years.  As for Steve Gleason, he's got more to do.