It’s funny but can’t help but feel like its raining outside even though I’m in l.a. and “it never rains in southern california…” oh you guys might not know about that, anyway, the game has put a cloud over my head. I don’t even wanna see wifey when I get home. Don’t wanna hear her ask, “how was the game?”

we’ll have to discuss Drew…

Defense wins championships; but this game is decided by who has more points at the end. We have a scoring machine and we are not using it properly, we’re trying to be Air Payton and it doesn’t work every time. We need a running game for balance. I was knocked out by what I saw of Pierre Thomas today. Why didn’t we use him more? Until he showed that he could not get the first down? He never got a chance to fail. Drew got plenty of chances. And Drew is awesome. But he should not have forced those throws. Any other decision would have been more correct.

My wife agreed to travel to the Detroit game if they won today. I didn’t want to say anything earlier for fear that I’d jinx it. Bitterly disappointed.

Good job, defense. Can’t reasonably ask for too much more than they delivered today.

I personally have had all I can stand of SP and his love afair with #25! And as far as #9 goes, why would we have any reason to beleive he could lead us to a come behind win? He’s never done it before………….Defense I thought was the game highlight.

he barely played.

Before going into what’s wrong and what went wrong, let’s recap the positives.

1) Our place kicker looked very good today – could you imagine Automatica or Melhlahffa kicking in this weather? It would have been a nightmare. Knock on wood, but we may have found our answer here.

2) Colston’s 6 for 106. He appears to be all the way back, although in a much more “mortal” form it seems. He has dropped some passes that he usually would catch, although all of today’s drops (I think I saw a stat flash on the screen in the 4th that said 8 drops on the day) will be categorized as aberrations (maybe weather-related) unless it becomes a pattern, because as a whole the WRs have done much better than last season in hanging onto catches.

3) Inspired play and much better overall performance by the “D.” Vilma had a huge strip and steal that gave us the first score of the game. And while we had no “huge” game-changing turnovers other than that, they held the Bucs to a couple of FGs, punts, and kept us in the game (even though JD got burned bad for that TD – was he peeking in the backfield again?, and we let Garcia scramble for some maddening first-down gaining yardage), in the end held TB to pretty respectable offensive stats. If not for their 2nd-half stops, we’re not even in the game.

Now on to the other stuff:

Brees consistently forces throws (and ends up with multiple INTs) when the offense is not clicking. Sometimes this happens in blowouts, and sometimes in close games. What happens in these cases, I think, is that he feels like he has to do it all, he has to play better and make something happen when nothing’s really working offensively.

Why does he feel this way? Because the team’s “scouting report” and overall mindset/conventional wisdom is that we have no running game and our defense can’t stop anyone, so it’s all on him. But what contributes to our lack of a running game is Payton’s inability to commit to it. And something that’s changing is our defense’s ability to contribute a few stops and a TO or two each week.

What can help us in the next four games and beyond?

Drew – realize that you don’t have to do it all. Our D is improving, and hopefully will keep on improving, so you don’t have to force things that are not there.

Sean – realize that we must give more of a commitment to trying to run the ball. Pierre is worthy of this commitment. Also, don’t give a bunch of rushing touches to Reggie – use him in 2006 style, and give Pierre those rushing touches.

Mickey Loomis – don’t let Payton talk you into drafting another WR in the first round in April. We seem to have wasted 2007’s pick on a speedster who can’t get on the field for us in a crowded WR position. Can we deal him for a high 2nd round pick? Or, if Devery’s got more value try to get something for him? We MUST shore up our defense – Porter was a good pick, Vilma and McCray were good pickups, Ellis seems to produce more than anyone else on that DL, but we need some ball-hawk playmakers, and we need to add some depth at all positions.

New Orleans Saints team – play with pride and keep working hard, and don’t give up. If we win out, we may find something surprising in our stockings for Christmas (hell, the Bucs lost three straight after clinching the division last year). And if we at least finish strong and continue getting better, we’ll have something to build on, and we can hold our heads up high (is there a STYX song lyric hiding in that last part) all while making our team more appealing to free agents.

New Orleans Saints Fans – don’t give up on this team. Stay strong and keep on root root rooting for them. Keep analyzing stats, games, plays, and your feelings and gut reactions. Share them with others and be loud and proud of your team. We’ve got three more weeks that we can say “let’s get ’em next week.”

OK, it’s rough and unedited, and I’ll probably hate it when I re-read it Monday after work, but there it is.

I love you Saints, and I love you Saints fans, and I do loves My Chronic (thanks to Dave and everyone for making it what it is).

The Saints…ARE COMING
The Saints…ARE COMING
(and hear GreenDay and U2 in your head as you sing this)

I am really angry over the coaching this game and this season. It was obvious that this was going to be a game difficult to throw the ball in. We threww 47 times! That’s unbelieveable. Payton is a horrible coach. 4thand 1 and he does a reverse to Henderson? And, with all the lousy challenges he did this season, why didn’t he challenge the tipped eception to Bryant? This team could have won so many games with a different cxoaching staff.

Brees has led 12 4th quarter comebacks in his career, but none with Payton. Payton is now 0-18. Get rid of Payton. What good is a coach if the other team knows all they have to do is be wiining after 3 quarters? It is like the Philadelphia Phillies, they knew and their opponents knew that they only had to be winning after 7 innings and the game was over- lights out. The won the World Series!! It simplifies the game so much if you only have to win 3/4 of it and then it is over. One of the few bright points in the game was PT’s excellent run for a TD and then the next offe3nsive play is to Reggie? WTF PT has shown he is the one to go to. Why is Reggie even getting the ball. And Deuce did better than Reggie. Reggie danced like he was in Studio 54. I am sorry, but Payton is leading this team into another last place finish with the best offense in football. He should be fired-it’s criminal.

That was an all-around poor effort offensively I felt today – I didn’t see the whole game, but why didn’t we try and run the ball more? Of course Brees is going to throw ints when he throws 47 times, especially with Jammal Brown being the worst LT in football – he loves false starts, too. OK, so he’s not the worst – I’m sure whoever the Lions have at LT is much worse, but he is beaten consistently.

As for #25, I hate to agree with the Sporting News article from earlier this week, but all he will ever be is a glorified punt returner – and he was TERRIBLE at that today! A 13 YARD LOSS ON A PUNT RETURN?!!? – You have to be kidding me. I’m sure someteam somewhere, though would still give up a solid defensive starter and a fairly high draft choice for him, which we could use to get a true RB – I like Pierre, but feel he’s better suited as a 3rd down, change of pace back. Goodness knows #25 can’t run it, anyway!

Finally, I believe Payton has got to change his play calling or leave Bourbon Street – he has to run the ball more to keep teams honest – I’m from Pennsylvania, but a life long saints fan – the Eagles fans are dealing with the same issue with the equally horrible andy reid. Even if you’re running game isn’t going well, you’ve got to run to keep the defense honest. I’m an assistant high school coach and we run the spread offense. 2 years ago, we threw the ball 80% of the time and our record was 2-8. This season we found a run game and our record was 8-3 and our school went to the district playoffs for the first time in school history – it translates to all levels.

me angry

It’s the coaching.

And I wouldn’t trade Bush. Just rest the dood for next year.

We don’t need him! He can’t run. Look at our line, it’s the best in the league. PT runs well, at least against teams that don’t handle the run well. PT is our guy, forget Reggie with all his punt returns, his great receiving feats and his last second touchdowns plus he works too well as a decoy at times opening it up for other players. Let’s start a blog, www.tradereggiebush.com hopefully the Saints will trade him and we can get another amazing running back to become mediocre behind our amazing offensive line, especially with our pass happy coach.

PT has a somewhat Reggie-like game 11 carries 34 yds 1 reception 20 yds 1 TD and “he’s the man” but when Reggie does it he sucks. He can only work with what the Saints have. No offense but this team can’t block for crap. I understand I’m on the love side of the fans love/hate relationship with Reggie but mark my words: if he is traded and the team he lands on has a line, he’s gonna kill and i don’t even say how that’s going to make those who are on the hate side feel. Let’s also not forget the dude wasn’t 100%.

i don’t get it at all. As much as he’s done in games. Keeping us in it or giving us that lead…I don’t get it.

So when he gets the ball and two defenders are in his face immediately? And when that happens every game. Or what about when we pass 80 percent of the time and never let our backs get a rhythm. How do we know that Reggie would not have done what PT did against GB or KC? We don’t But he did that against Denver and started doing it against Carolina. PT didn’t do crap tonight, as far as the run goes. I admit Reggie needs to hold on to the ball, his hands suck when it comes to that, he holds it out too far from his body. But I’ve been watching game after game, in slo mo, and as soon as he gets the ball someone is in his face. Not only that. There are games when he’s getting into a groove and we just keep passing. I’m not blind to his weaknesses but Im more on the side of his situation affecting what he could do than his skills. I say trade him, relieve ourselves of that stifled electricity.

the problem with reggie is that he plays like it is a flag football league. he is hard to get a hand on, but he goes down very easy when a defender does. and these guys are pros and there are 11 of them every play trying to get to him, so for him to avoid even minimal contact is very difficult and even minimal contact and he’s on his way down. compare hime to brandon jacobs- now there is a guy that can change a game and break tackles. he is a big reason why the Giants are so good.

he’s not a bruiser you’re right but we knew that, jacobs gets caught from behind a lot and they end up kicking field goals sometimes. I think he’ll put on some weight eventually. Who knows. Once again, we should trade him.

I think Payton understands the value of it but I just don’t think he believes the Saints are good enough to run it with their current personnel. He simply believes his best way to move the ball right now is through his quarterback and receivers.

I know this: Mickey Loomis is the man who hired Sean Payton and he trusts him immensely. His future might well be tied to how well Payton does so it makes sense that he would extend his deal. It creates more security for him down the line. Bill Kuharich did the same thing with Mike Ditka, if you recall. Loomis and Payton aren’t going anywhere. They’re as secure as any coach-GM tandem in the league. So Saints fans best learn to like their style or pick a new team to support.

Or prepare for a lot of bitching.

I think the Saints will definitely cut ties with McAllister in the offseason. I’ll be shocked if he’s back. I also think Aaron Stecker is probably done here. With that in mind, there will be roster spot or two available for a young free agent or rookie. I would think the Saints will look for a big back to complement Bush and Thomas. That shouldn’t be hard to find someone to fill that role. I don’t really foresee any changes to the offensive line, unless they choose to part ways with Jon Stinchcomb, who will be an unrestricted free agent. The Saints like Zack Streif and could elect to give him a shot to start on the right side. Jermon Bushrod is also in the wings, but I haven’t heard much from coaches about his progress. The other four starters are probably going to be back.

Anyone remember Roger on Wiseguy? I just saw William Russ on TV and remembered him. Recurring character, kept calling Vinny “Buckwheat”, and he wore a Saints cap! I was so thrilled to see that, I still remember it. Because he was the only other Saints fan I knew. Personally, sort of. Seriously. I was out there alone for a long time.

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0042875/filmoseries#tt0092484

love that show, met the girl, not corey’s but his best friends, at the gas station years back. She was baggin on my homies hair.

although I thought she was cute too. The black chick. Is that her? She kinda looks like the chick from 3rd rock.

Sorry if this has been stated already, because I know that I’m not the only one that feels this way, but I am convinced that this Saints team is A LOT better off without Reggie Bush. He seems to be one of those players that the coaches don’t care what he does because he’s REGGIE BUSH, but could you imagine the scrutiny that a player like Lance Moore (who has become my favorite NFL player) or Pierre Thomas (who has the potential to be my favorite player) would return a punt for -12 yards? It seems as though we turn into some kind of college team when Reggie is on the field and he is just that an AWESOME college football player who probably is worth a 3rd round draft pick if there was ever to be a re-draft. And just to throw this in, when i watch him play it doesn’t seem to be his fault. I sometimes just don’t get the fact that he MUST touch the ball every freakin play.

P.S.
Pierre’s best is better than Reggie’s best