Team On A Mission

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...and what did he do with Saintsational?

Do we need to stage a hostage rescue???

Do we build a huge wooden rabbit, and hide inside?????

....so, what prompted the change?? Trying to appear more business like???The MSM not taking you seriously??? Inquiring minds wanna know - why'd ya come outta the closet?

Did Greg Bensel threaten you?

Is it part of some further nefarious deal you've made with Dave the Falconer?

...seriously though, good to see YOU here, been a pleasure being around this joint, thanks again (I'm sure I've already thanked you) for giving all us Who Dats around the world a place to come and put their feet up, pop open a Dixie, pinch some heads & suck some tails, listen to some Meters, and talk about the best football team in the world!

I just got an invite to hang with my sister & her husband at a friend of their's house with a balcony right over the parade route tomorrow night. So my fiancee, her daughter and I are striking out in an hour, driving over night from Greensboro, NC to Slidell, should arrive there about dawn, take a nap, then off to NOLA we go!!!

(.....I don't want to say any more than this in addition: a Saints player lives next door to the friend and it has been suggested to me that this individual will be at the party that I'm attending - not naming anyone, and I'm NOT going to be a "typical fan" and make an @$$ out of myself, but if possible to do so without being an obnoxious fan, I'm hoping to get a photo or two of myself with him - is it cool to post that kind of stuff here?)

It's 800 miles to New Orleans, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of twinkies (I don't smoke..), it's dark out, and we're wearing sun glasses...

HIT IT!

The Saints incredible DEFENSE.

Yeah, that's right the defense. They don't get flashy numbers, they give up a lot of yardage, but they put the team in a position to WIN, which is their job.

The best move made by the team this year, getting Gregg Williams. Period. He changed the culture of the defense, and that made it all possible. Without the DEFENSE, the offense is what it already was - the best in the NFL. But, they already were the past 3 of 4 seasons, and what did it gain us without a defense? One playoff win, and a trip to the NFC Championship, where we were soundly defeated. Until we got a good defense, it wasn't enough. Again -

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Folks, that's a truism you've read over and over, and what we all experienced this season, what we FINALLY experienced last night after 43 long, suffering years, was a DEFENSE giving us a championship football team.

How good are these guys? Well, if you listen to the pundits and stat-whores, not so great. They give up a lot of yardage, blah, blah blah. However, check this out - this season, that "not-so-great" statistically defense defeated Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Brett Farve, and Peyton Manning. The last three in consecutive games. Three of them by at least 14 points. 

One future HOF QB I will allow to be attributed to "luck". Two, well, it's a stretch, but OK, maybe you get "lucky" twice. Beating FOUR of them, in one season, three in consecutive games, is SKILL, any way you slice it.

So, while we are all cheering our favorite son, the Super Bowl XLIV MVP Drew Brees and his offensive cohorts - which they absolutely deserve, by the way - do not forget to give an equal amount of cheering for the guys that made it possible for them to win with all those gaudy stats and scores.

Thank you, Saints defense.

We can talk about the stats:

Drew had a better season in every measureable way than Peyton; we actually HAVE a rushing game on offense, the Colts are essentially dead last in the NFL in rushing on offense; we have the better offensive line; we have the better defense when you look at stats that actually mean something - i.e. NOT yards allowed, but such things as passer rating allowed, forced turnovers, turnover ratio, and the BIG one, margin of victory.

No, not any of that is the final nail in the coffin (although they are indeed very important, valid, and effective nails), the real, final nail in the coffin is in this photograph:

via www.talkbass.com

 Yes, it is undated, and my good friend Glenn put "Jan" instead of "Feb", but there are two (moderately) reliable witnesses to the fact that it was written and signed the night of the Saints second preseason game, by a very drunk, but also quite confident ME.

So there it is, the final proof. This napkin, with my signature, has been held in Blacksburg, VA since the night it was written and signed, and I have given my word that if the Saints don't win the Super Bowl, I will eat this napkin.

I WILL NO BE EATING THIS NAPKIN!

(...and yes, I'm kidding - the actual reason is that they're the better team, despite all the media man-love of Peyton Manning and how he is single-handedly going to make up for all of the deficiencies that the Colts have when the cold light of day shines on which team is more balanced and talented on both sides of the ball, and special teams. However, I did recognize in advance that this Saints team was going to be special, so I get a cookie for it, right? :-) )

1st quarter, 4th and less than a yard, inside the Tampa 20, Payton takes a time out, then chooses to kick the field goal. The Saints had been dictating the game to the Bucs for almost the entire quarter, they could do as they pleased, particularly on offense up to that moment.

THAT is the moment, in my mind, that they quit on the game, or at least the offense did (the defense actually put up a pretty good fight, IMO).

Put simply, here are the messages sent.

1) You CAN'T make a yard when the chips are down.
2) The Bucs D can stop us.
3) We don't need to make a statement - to the Bucs, to our fans, or even to ourselves.

An offense that was absolutely dictating terms to an opposing defense, when it is in that position, should move to finish them off, in no uncertain terms. The Saints should have come out on 4th down in that situation, lined Hamilton up behind Eckel, followed two of the better OG's in the NFL, and DARED the Bucs D to try and stop them. Punch them RIGHT IN THE FACE at that moment. They are reeling, and you let them off the hook - they were essentially an injured animal in a corner. You NEVER let that animal have a chance, because it is the one that will kill you - and that is precisely what happened, isn't it?

This loss was a COACHING loss, this was a loss of nerve by Sean Payton. The riverboat gambler "play to win" mentality is WHY this team won 13 straight games, the conservative "play to not lose" version of this team is lucky not to have lost the last 4 instead of the last 2. Someone needs to get Payton's attention, tell him to "sack up" or this team will back into the post season then go one and done. Where is that swagger? The BALLS?

He better get it back, and quickly.

Team A goes on the road to play team B, which is a non-division conference foe. Team A is by all measures considerably better than team B, but lays an egg in team B's home stadium, and barely eeks out a win.

Team A then goes on the road to play team C, a division foe. Team A is by all measures considerably better than team C, and absolutely destroys them in their own stadium, winning by 4 scores.

Team A then comes to their home stadium, plays a nationally televised night-time game against non-division non-conference foe under the bright lights against team D, which is considered to be a franchise that is among the best ever, certainly by almost every measure one of the best of the past 10 years, and a fan favorite nationwide. Team A proceeds to embarrass team D in front of a cable television network record audience.

------------------------------------------------------------

Why do I put this up, well...let's give teams A, B, C, and D names:

A: New Orleans Saints
B: St. Louis Rams
C: Tampa Bay Bucs
D: New England Patriots

...wait...there's more...look at THIS line up:

A: New Orleans Saints
B: Washington Redskins
C: Atlanta Falcons
D: Dallas Cowboys

...hmm...


"Those who fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it." - Georges Santayana

...bottom line: Saints looked like dog poop against St. Louis, they looked like the same dog poop against Washington, both teams they should have pancaked on paper.

They followed the St. Louis embarrassment with a thrashing of Tampa, in Tampa, then a similar game against the Patriots.

It all lines up the same way again, almost eerily so.

...anyone want to be the team that's either "C" or "D" in the next 2 weeks????

...man, I was suffering through the Chicago/Minnesota game, trying not to throw objects at the screen because of the horrific play-by-play work of the single most ignorant and annoying pair of common-tators in all of NFL football...and just when I thought I couldn't get more annoyed irritate and angry, Joe "Sideshow Bob" Buck makes this comment:

"What sets the Vikings apart from teams like the Saints is their rushing offense."

Uh....huh?

OK, so I think...well, maybe I didn't remember the difference, and they actually do have a better rushing offense...

...no, I check the NFL.com site for stats, and my memory is correct:

Saints rushing offense rank: #5
Vikings rushing offense rank: #10

...how the HELL do these guys get jobs? Mind you, not jobs commentating on TV about ANYTHING, but jobs period. I wouldn't hire someone that unable to check facts to muck a stall...

I hope they never put these two nosepickers on a Saints game again.

...man, I was suffering through the Chicago/Minnesota game, trying not to throw objects at the screen because of the horrific play-by-play work of the single most ignorant and annoying pair of common-tators in all of NFL football...and just when I thought I couldn't get more annoyed irritate and angry, Joe "Sideshow Bob" Buck makes this comment:

"What sets the Vikings apart from teams like the Saints is their rushing offense."

Uh....huh?

OK, so I think...well, maybe I didn't remember the difference, and they actually do have a better rushing offense...

...no, I check the NFL.com site for stats, and my memory is correct:

Saints rushing offense rank: #5
Vikings rushing offense rank: #10

...how the HELL do these guys get jobs? Mind you, not jobs commentating on TV about ANYTHING, but jobs period. I wouldn't hire someone that unable to check facts to muck a stall...

I hope they never put these two nosepickers on a Saints game again.

Yeah, we all have 'em, and since we all must suffer through an entire weekend without our beloved boys in black & gold trouncing yet another unsuspecting victim, I thought I'd share my little rituals and superstitions - which my girlfriend finds quite amusing. :-P

So, here they are:

No team colors on game day. Ever. No jersey, no hat, no anything related to the Saints.

Watch the game at the same place: Cooper's Ale House, Greensboro, NC.

Order an Abita Turbo Dog as soon as the game starts.

Second Turbo Dog and food at the 2 minute warning.

Diet Coke in the 4th quarter.

I have done these without fail from the 2nd game on (I was out of town the first weekend of the season, and had to improvise - but I did adhere to every item on my list other than location!), and SO FAR (knock on wood), it has brought us to a 4-0 start, I am convinced of it.

The punchline: I'm totally NOT superstitious, subscribe to no faith whatsoever, and am a rationalist about everything in my life but the Saints. When it comes to our Saints however, I'm irrational, just ask the patrons at Cooper's Ale House in Greensboro (especially the Eagles, Bills, and Jets fans that hang there - for some reason, they don't care for me)! :-D

OK, y'all's turn!

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/06/02/cowboys-find-no-trade-partners-so-they-dump-ellis/

Our Saints could certainly use help at BOTH DE and OLB, right? Seems a good fit...if they can get him for the right numbers. We're short on both going into the season, especially at DE if the suspensions for Grant and Smith are not somehow miraculously overturned. I think it makes perfect sense for both sides - we get a solid performer at both positions that can step in as needed, he gets a roster spot on a team that should contend.

...comments?