We don’t allow anyone in the house during the Saints games.  Friends always say they want to watch a game with us, we politely decline.  It’s not that we are overly introverted…rather it is an issue of focus.  We cannot have others in the house because we will flat out ignore them…and that is just not the way I was raised.

I broke this cardinal rule during the Saints wild card game against the Lions.  My aunt, uncle and their three kids came to visit and to tour some of the local universities.  Unfortunately, they witnessed an all-time high “crazy”, which can only be described as one hot mess.  It may have been the tit-for-tat that went into the 3^rd quarter…it may have been that stunning loss to Seattle last year that still haunts me.  For this game, my fanaticism reached a new level, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the family “checks in” more frequently to monitor my condition. 

With the Lions drawing blood first, and a Colston fumble on our first possession, I began to worry that this game could mirror the season opener against the Packers – where failing to convert on one possession and one turnover dug too deep of a hole to climb out of.  Unlike that game in week one, our defense stepped up in a big way.  The two fumbles early by the Saints did not result in any points.  They swarmed to the holes, clogging up the Lion’s run game and only allowing 32 yards rushing.  Only 32 yards…I get more yards than that chasing after 4-year old twins!  The old adage, bend but don’t break, was never more apparent as Matt Stafford threw for 380 yards.  The defenders put on the pressure and delivered when they needed to, not the least of which was Jabari Greer’s interception.  This defense is not the same defense we had for the first half of the season.

Despite our strengthening defense, I remained white-knuckled until the fourth quarter.  I made everyone put thier jerseys on and kiss the football.  We even ate half a cheesecake at halftime.  Nervous eating…I can’t afford for this to be a new ritual.

The Lions are a force to be reckoned with and remind me a lot of the 2006 Saints.  Thankfully, we have Drew Brees and a stable of weapons that showed up full force in the second half.  The running trifecta – Thomas, Sproles, and Ivory – combined for 160+ yards, opening up the pass game and accentuating Brees’s ruthless efficiency.  After the third “victory lap” around the kitchen island, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I have since rewatched the game with a sense of calm and clarity.  The truth is, the Saints flat out played better ball.  They are a more complete team…they are a more balanced team.  This is a team that wins championships.

If my cousins are reading this…I am so glad you had an opportunity to tour college campuses and start thinking about what your future holds and what you want to be.  I also want you know that I completely understand if this weekend’s antics permanently remove “sports writer” off the list of potential careers.

…an’ dat’s dat!

Over recent years, the NFL has done its best to take that question out of the hands of coaches and players.  In an effort to keep competition at its highest, the NFL has back loaded division contests towards the end of the season.  The result…interesting and meaningful games through week 17, barring the teams that have clinched the number one seed and the first round bye.

Entering week 17, the Saints 13-2, have won their division and are guaranteed at least the three seed.  With a win on Sunday against Carolina, and a St. Louis upset over San Francisco, the Saints would find themselves in the two seed and with a bye week.

So here is the quandary: play your starters with full force in the remote chance the Niners lose, or a more conservative approach that would give our guys a “mini-bye” going into wild card weekend.  Sean Payton has openly stated “full steam ahead”…here’s why I think he is right:

• Everyone knows the phrase get hot and stay hot.  The Saints could not be any hotter right now.   The offense is firing on all cylinders and the defense has gotten better each week.  This is the most balanced we have been all year.  We are playing complete games with tempo and command.
• There are a few records at stake.  Drew Brees broke Dan Marino’s single season passing record Monday night, but Brady, Manning and Rogers are right behind him.  It would be a shame to see Brees be the first to break the 27-year old record, only to claim the second or third place in the record books. Additionally, the record for consecutive games with a touchdown pass needs to be maintained.  Thomas Moorstead is on the verge of breaking records for kickoff touchbacks and net punt yards.  Darren Sproles is chasing a single season all-purpose yards record.  Jimmy Graham is close to breaking a tight end receiving record for both receptions and yards. 
• In the Payton era, the Saints have had a dismal win record against the Panthers in December.  Typically, we have rested our starters in those final games of the season and it is time for a decisive win.
• We need to put the pressure on the niners to have to play to win – we don’t want them easing right into that number two seed.  They need to earn it.
• The Rams could beat the niners (we know that all too well!).

The Saints would feel lousy if they didn’t play 100% and let so many records slip away, only to be noted as obscure footnotes from time to time.  The Saints would feel lousy if the Niners lost.  The Saints would feel lousy if they didn’t “Finish Strong”.

We went into our last two post-seasons with some questions….maybe some answered and some not.  This year we leave nothing on the table.  The Saints march into the playoffs this year “full steam ahead”.

…an’ dat’s dat!

Former “lightning bolt” Darren Sproles electrified Saints fans in the season opener against the Packers.  He was Gayle Sayers, Emmitt Smith, sprinkled with a small dose of Deuce, all rolled into one.  Although he only had two carries for seven yards, Sproles caught seven passes for 75 yards and 168 yards in punt and kick returns.  Every time he touched the ball, I sat on the edge of my seat knowing that something big was about to happen.  By half time, I was looking up Sproles jersey’s on nfl.com and found myself saying, “Reggie Who?”

I wasn’t the only one who drew a comparison to Reggie Bush.  As commentators gushed over Sproles being the “perfect replacement”, I began to wonder…how does Sproles stack up against Reggie statistically?

At first blush, the career numbers for both backs through the 2010 season don’t look terribly different.  Bush has far more running and receiving yards, due to the more than double number of touches Sproles has had in nearly the same number of seasons.  Sproles and Bush average 4.6 yards and 4.0 yards per carry respectively, and 9.6 yards and 7.3 yards per reception.  They can both move the ball, but we also need backs that can also score.  This is where the biggest difference is - Bush logged 29 and Sproles tallied 17.  My next thought…have we downgraded? 

More slicing of the stats thankfully suggests no, and here’s why:

• Sproles is more efficient at scoring.  He will score a touchdown every 23 touches versus Bush’s 28.
• However, Bush is far more efficient at scoring in the run game.  He will score a touchdown every 31 carries versus Sproles’ 41.
• On the flip side, Sproles is more efficient scoring in the passing game.  He will score every 13.3 receptions versus Bush’s 24.  For Sproles, that can be a touchdown every other game.

This seemed about right, but I wasn’t quite ready to “check out” with my jersey purchase quite yet.  If you are a fan looking for someone who is NOT Reggie Bush, you might be disappointed.  Sproles clearly is effective in space, just like Reggie, and may function more as a receiver than a back.  Hey, this may not be a bad thing with Lance Moore and Marques Colston out with injuries.

Still, something about Sproles seemed different.  I wasn’t holding my breath, waiting for that missed pass in the flat, the stripped fumble or the muffed return.  For some reason, I felt comfortable that he was going to protect the ball.  This settling certainty was a bit unfamiliar – I have been conditioned to be on pins and needles in anticipation of the next turnover. 

Unfortunately, the numbers suggest that this quiet calm and eerie confidence may be fleeting.  Sproles has fumbled the ball 13 times (losing possession on 8) while Bush racked up 19, losing 11.  Yeah, 13 is better than 19, but after adjusting for the number of touches, Sproles has turned the ball over at a greater rate (every 36 touches) than Bush (every 43).

Before I hastily added an at-home defibrillator to my shopping cart, I decided to take a giant step back.  How many times have we seen player go off to other teams and re-ignite their careers?  Randy Moss, Michael Vick, Jeff Garcia to name a few.  Sproles already has impressive career numbers and a memorable opening season performance.  Maybe the humidity in the Big Easy will make that ball stick to hands better!

 ...an' dat's dat!

Saints fans didn’t have much to smile about after the 42-34 loss Thursday night against the Packers.  On the surface, the eight-point loss seemed to paint a prettier picture, suggesting a game that was much closer than it really was.  For many, it was a reminder of the defensive struggles that have been the Achilles heel for the franchise dating back to 2006.  That said, we were in that game until the end, and there is something to be said for that, but The Packers made it look easy and we made it as hard as we could have.

But, let’s break it down…

Defense - This game had some scary parallels to post-season loss to the Seahawks – a game so embarrassing to the team and fans, that it seemed impossible that it would happen again.  The difference is that we played a respectable opponent Thursday…..The Super Bowl Champions!  That said, the defense has to come up with more stops than they did.  The Packers looked like they were playing pitch and catch against a defense that wasn’t physical or aggressive.  As I mentioned in the post “Cutting Room Floor”, we appear to be thin in the secondary.  Patrick Robinson was getting picked on – reminiscent of Jason David.  Roman Harper played great coverage, but seemed so focused on not getting burned, that he missed opportunities to strip the ball or pick off a pass. We played man to man and that didn’t work. Then we played a zone…kind of a soft zone and they picked that apart. When they needed first downs in the 4^th quarter, they got them. We forced two punts and the rest of their offensive series resulted in touchdowns. There was ONE BIG HIT…ONE…where’s the “wood” that we brought in 2009?

Where was the aggression?  Where was the raw predatory animal instinct Greg Williams bred in 2009?  Where was the swagger?  Our soft defense cannot force our offense to play perfect football.  Prediction: Darren Sharper will be signed by the home opener against the Bears. 

Offense - Drew Brees played nearly flawlessly.  He showed command and leadership on the field as he orchestrated the near comeback.  There were a few errant passes, and while he was sacked three times, they were smart sacks.  He didn’t try to force it, despite playing from behind the entire game. As one of the elite quarterbacks in the league, I believe that he has learned that it’s his job to run the offense, not BE the offense.

Darren Sproles was ON FIRE.  He was electric – strong and agile.  He’s like a freakin’ lightning bolt on the field. I’m not sure if he’s actually faster than everyone else, but he sure does look like it. As a whole, the core of running backs has shown that, as the season goes on, there will be great things to come. 

Coaching - I don’t disagree with going for it on 4^th down in the third quarter.  In fact, it was classic Sean Payton.  Be aggressive.  We were down by at least two scores – even if we had made the field goal, we wouldn’t have won the game.  I love the “go for it” call, but not the play that was called. That is the time to play power football…in the third quarter, when a touchdown, not the game, is on the line. Give your rookie a shot when there’s time to recover. Ingram MIGHT have been able to run downhill when the defense has a 15-point cushion. Pierre Thomas, in only the way that he can, could have squirted through an obscure hole.  Sproles could have bounced to the outside.  Conversely, I think the decision to try and run Ingram in, with zero ticks on the clock and the game on the line, might have been too much for him to handle. THAT’S where you want your Pro-Bowl, Super Bowl MVP Quarterback to be able to make a play. Naturally, everything is in hindsight…what the hell do I know…I was nervously eating Jambalaya and pacing with a baseball bat around the room.

As deflated as I was after the game, I woke up this morning reinvigorated and encouraged.  The Packers got worried when there was five minutes left and the offense fluidly moved the ball into the end zone.  We can score a lot of points and they know that - they got conservative and nervous in the waning minutes of the game.  The SAINTS have become THAT team that you never count out.  If you leave a little time on the clock, or maybe even none, you stand a good chance of losing.

As my father-in-law said, “they will never play any better all year, and we will get better and better”.  I hope to see The Packers in The Dome in January.

There are 15 more games……I’m feeling good about all of them!

That’s something to smile about.  Now, say “cheese”.

An’ Dat’s Dat!