SB Nation User Blog: Philinwood

Does Anyone Know...

Philinwood — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:30:12 -0000

if online you can actually see what the active roster/ depth chart is for the particular Sunday before the game starts or during the game? I was trying to figure out if they activated Arrington or if Jason Kyle stayed active (I don't think I saw him play). I was just wondering, because with people like Fujita. Goodwin, Moore, Hartley and Ellis out, I couldn't figure out who might have taken their places on the roster (other than Pressley) . Any info on this would be appreciated. Also, seems they don't have much confidence in Eckel, but even thouygh Dave Thomas is giving 100% and is very versatile, it would seem to me we need a real professional FB who can be a traditional run blocking FB and carry the ball and catch passes occasionally. Isn't there someone out there who we can pick up!!

De Mario Pressley, Thank you, thank you very much...

Philinwood — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:51:34 -0000

I am sad to see Kendrick Clancy on the IR list. I never deemed him an All Pro candidate, but he did a great job for us and who am I to assess his potential or his stature? Certainly he would have been a very important player/starter on this team as they make a run and I had no qualms whatsoever about him playing/starting whatever. He was solid, hopefully he will come back and be solid next yeqar and I wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully he will wear a ring come February. But, I will say this. I have been waiting for Pressley to get his day and I am optimistic. If he pans out to be a good player, it will be awesome. It seems many were hopeful he would excel just 1-2 years ago and it seemed like he was getting overlooked. And, as Saints fans, we lost PJ Hill and Danny Gorrer from the practice squad- which ( our practice squad) appeared to me several weeks ago, to be immensely talented which should come as no surprise because of how loaded we are on our depth chart at many positions. When other teams actually NOTICE our practice squad, it is a special year no doubt. In the NOLA small market, I think we are one of the last places teams look for practice squad players, unless....duh... YOU ARE UNDEFEATED!!! So, I am happy that Pressley is getting a chance to play, I KNOW he will do good and I just pray we utilize Arrington, if only for special teams or as a sub- we don't want to lose that guy like we lost others.

FOR NON HATERS ONLY

Philinwood — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:08:30 -0000

pretty good analysis of the double reverse from Sunday vs. Dolphins

That's pretty much all I have to say, the rest is in the link but I have to try to get this to seventy five words. I really hope the loss of Evans doesn't hit the Saints too hard, he was really a godsend. i think we will be ok, but it's hard to imagine any replacement fullback being as good a weapon and pass catcher as Evans.

Anatomy of a Play: Bush's double-reverse touchdown

HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE!!

Philinwood — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:33 -0000

The Saints own homefield advantage so far in the playoffs. It is not too early to discuss it since it is so important. It is not too early to admit that it is a precious advantage that should be protecetd each week since it is now ours and no one should take it away from us!!

The game yesterday was EXACTLY what we needed. We needed to prove to ourselves and the NFL that we could come back froma big deficit., especially with offense and defense contributing heavily. We needed to trail and we needed to win an ugly game. Fortunately it was only ugly for a half.

Some random observations-

- If you take away 2 big plays- the longest rushing gain by Miami-Ricky Williams 68 yds for a TD, and their longest pass play (67 yds to Hartline) it reveals our defense only gave up 70 yards rushing and 144 yds passing otherwise. Not too bad other than those 2 plays. On those plays, I think Usama Young didn't defend very well on the running play and Porter screwed up on the pass play. Not sure why Young was in on that running play, but as soon as Jenkins can earn that spot (nickel, dime, whatever) it may help. All in all, great defensive effort except for 2 plays.

- I think the interception to Colston should be change to a fumble. It apppeared that Colston caught it and the defender ripped it out of his hand. That one should be on Colston, not Drew.

- Need better blocking on punt retrurns. You can bash Reggie, but it doesn't really look to me like anyone else could do better with the lack of blocking.

- I like Roby and looking forward to him bringing it back to the house. He's close and the blocking has been better. He should have scored a TD on that long return.

-No one else in the NFL could have scored the way Reggie did- and from my perspective seeing it and seeing the replays 4 times, it appeared that there was no other way to score on that play and he made a great decision. That was a really important play- it brought us to within 4 points, gave us the momentum back (Dolphins had just scored to get to 34 pts), and pumped up the whole team. A field goal would not have done it. Possibly Michael Jordan or LeBron James could have pulled that one off, but as far as the NFL, Reggie is the only one I can think of that could do that.

- If I remember correctly, not sure what play, it seemed Prileau got beat on a pass play pretty good, I could be wrong, but I thought there were other players to put in above him if a defensive back needed to come out. I'm not real confident in Prileau or Young even though I like them. Rather see Reis in or maybe Jenkins.

_ Was Meachem injured? Jenkins? Anyone know how bad Evans injury is??

Here's a stat to put the Wildcat in perspective

Philinwood — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:33:13 -0000

The Saints throw the ball, on average, 32 times per game. The Dolphins, on average, throw 29 times per game. Now although it is true that the Dolphins run more than the Saints, maybe as many as 12 times more per game, it is obvious that they throw pretty often and that the passing game is pretty important to them. Theoretically there could be problems with the Saints managing the Wildcat, but let's face it this Dolphins QB is going to have to be pretty darn good passing against a tough defense to win- they haven't been able to win by just running the ball, they had to pass also. And, they only won 2 out of 5 games at that. So, 1) if they are successful and can win by mostly relying on the Wildcat, then good for them- they deserve to win, or 2) if they can win through the air and Henne can have more success with his passing game than Brees does- then good for them , they deserve to win. And, 3) if they try to beat us with balance, well, balance seems to be our middle name this year, so see #1 and #2 if they can outplay us with balance.

NFL.COM Just put out a new poll

Philinwood — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:34:14 -0000

and the topic was ..Which is the best of the undefeated 5 teams, and the Saints were leading the poll of 175,000 votes. This is awesome, but essentially means very little except that we are no longer unnoticed. But, for once
we are getting some recognition. What's important now is to handle this new recognition and not get caught up in the headlines and the fanfare. I think this is a team and a coaching staff that can manage that.

Here are some things different than last year

Philinwood — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:55:52 -0000

I know that we still get anxious when we have a small lead and the momentum starts to turn, but don't you always feel that our offense, if they get the ball, can always move it and get into scoring position? And, our defense can hold or get a turnover. That's a big difference from last year. Now, the Jets D was awseome, I mean in the top 3-4 in the NFL, maybe even the best defense on any given day. But, I always thought our offense, if it needed to open things up, could get the job done. When you always have the lead and you are going against a rookie QB who is error prone, it's better to stay conservative on offense and protect the ball- even if it's a little boring and it's tempting to go for it more. But, the Jets defense deserves huge credit.

Speaking of defenses, ours deserves even more credit. What a game!!! While I realize that our defensive personnel is better this year than last, if we had the same defensive coordinator this year as last, I am SURE that:

1) Sharper doesn't have as many picks and TDs

2) The defense doesn't get 14 pts yesterday

3) We don't win the turnover battle every week.

GW has risen to the occasion every week and from my perspective, he kept it vanilla on purpose for the first 2 weeks and every week we see more packages and more pressure. Kudos to him. I'm looking foirward to the future. I am very happy he has two weeks to prepare for the Giants.

I think we have to do better on short yardage, especially at the goal line. But that brings me to my one criticism of Payton- the play calling could be better at the goal line. I think once we start doing better there it will snowball. But, maybe we should make it look like pass when we are going to run it. Let Reggie be a wideout on one side or go into motion and then run it up the gut. And, we need to throw sometimes on short yardage at the goal line. WE have so many weapons. We need to score and do some short 3rd downs with "disguised" power plays, not pure power. We aren't quite that kind of team yet. Some teams can tell you where they are going to run the ball for one yard and still get it, but that's not us. But, we can still get the short yardage.

Jon Runyan

Philinwood — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:18:16 -0000

Anyone know what's up with Jon Runyan?. This guy has been a beast for 13 years and has started every game for the last 12 seasons- never missing a start. He had offseason surgery and seems to still want to play and the Saints are thin at OT. He's 6'7" 330lbs and seems very, very even keeled and would be a good locker room presence. I don't know much about what's up with him lately, but I think he would be good fit. Payton should know him well as he spent a year in Phila. with him. I would think they could work out a deal for the next 12 games and playoffs that wouldn't break the bank.

# 7 as in SEVEN??

Philinwood — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:15:53 -0000

Just saw Sports Center and Herm Edwards gave his rankings of top NFL QBs - Of course he had P Manning and Brady 1-2, but he had Eli #3, and he had Mc Rib ahead of Brees as well as Rivers (WTF?) and somebody else too. Oh, Warner. Where has Herm been the last few years and what kind of weed is he smokin? Mc Rib might be compromised the whole year, Rivers is pretty good, but he's no Drew Brees. Warner is old, ok he got to the Super Bowl, but he is past his prime and this year is bound to be not as good as last year. And Eli Manning- a good QB but really not as good as P Manning, Brady or Brees. And now that I think of it, Brady lost to Miami and came within a lucky play of losing to Buffalo. Well, Brady is good, but some of the others, sheesh. And, Brady should have to earn those honors with more than a good quarter. What has Rivers accomplished and didn't Drew kick his ass on another continent? Well, Herm isn't the brightest light. What kills me is all the other analysts seem to be debating who is #1- is it Drew, Peyton, or Tom, and Herm says Drew is #7. Maybe now we know why Herm didn't win too many games. Talent asessment is a big part of coaching.

I got some pics from the game

Philinwood — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:59:51 -0000

C:\Documents and Settings\Peel\My Documents\7TEB8913 PB

hoping this will come through. I never imported photos to CSC before, so this is an experiment. If anyone wants the digital images via e-mail, send me an e-mail at Philinwoo@aol.com (make sure you write Philinwoo, not Philinwood as aol cut off the last letter and I never corrected it). I'll send them to you. Make sure you write Saints Pics in the subject area so I'll know it isn't spam.