I was at the game yesterday, there were a lot of Saints fans compared to the last time we played in Washington during the Haslett era. It was a very hot day and it looked like the defense got very tired.

One point to make was after Portis scored the 2nd touchdown in the 4th Qtr. For the 2nd week in a row, Payton became very conservative with the play calling running the ball three times. If we are going to win games we are going to have to pound teams in the 4th qtr. On a third and two to call a run up the middle is so unlike his style that we saw two years ago. He has so many weapons, why he would choose to just run up the middle with a very tired defense on the sidelines.

I hope that we are healthy on defense next week because it is going to be a shootout at Mile High.

confusing game. confusing offense. Payton has to decide what he wants the offense to be. it’s like he has a gin rummy hand and he can’t decide to go for a run or a flush, go with hearts or with 4 eights. is it Bush, Pierre, or Deuce? Deuce is my sentimental favorite for all he has done and all he can do. Bush can do so many things. But if we HAD to get rid of all RBs and keep one, it would definite be PT.

Having said that, 3rd and one and Deuce is fresh and has ran two dives for 5 yards each- that’s a no brainer. That’s what he is one the team for. And Meachem gets one chance and scores a touchdown,, duh…that’s what receivers should do and why not give him more of a chance? Also, why Shockey the invisible man? Everyone said before the game the two players who need to step it up with Colston down are Shockey and Meachem. They are the ones who have to be the playmakers. Patten and Moore and Henderson are good, but they benefitted from Colston getting so much attention before he got hurt , They are not # 1’s they are #2s. When you try to make a #2 receiver your top guy, then everyone struggles.
Passing game has to rely on Shockey and Meachem and Henderson has to go deep even if he is a decoy. He can open things up for everyone and meachem can too.
When the saints run they need Karney in the game and they should also go with 4 wideouts occasionally. Also, I like Ken Kevisaharn, but is he really been effective? The Saints need a safety that inspires fear in the other team like Ronnie Lott and Lynch used to do, Saints don’t have that. Also, Saints need to blitz more. if our dbs can’t cover receivers for 2 seconds, we won’t win anyway. if you through the house at the quarterback, it should only take 2-2.5 seconds to crash down. It’s what the Eagles have done for years. But, it has to be a 6 or 7 nab blitz. 5 rushers is not a blitz, just a little pressure.

If the Saints had lost because Washington took a couple of picks to the house, or because of special teams breakdowns, no big deal. Those are one-time occurrences, and the team will just have to suck it up and have a better game next week. But that’s not what happened.

No, what’s particularly depressing is that they lost because they look like the same 7-9 team from last year: no running game, no defense—and no strength of character. It’s third and two and your coach (against all common sense) calls for a run into the middle of the defense, the same type of play that has been failing all day. Okay, but you’re ahead, it’s the fourth quarter, the game is on the line: who wants it more? Apparently, Washington does. I wish Payton had run a reverse to Devery Henderson.

Compare the Saints to the Panthers. There’s a team that really wants to win, that simply won’t accept being defeated. Coming from behind in the fourth quarters of games against San Diego and Chicago speaks volumes about the character of a team. As things stand now, Carolina has got to be considered the team to beat in this division.

The Saints need to learn that in order to be winners, you actually have to do the winning. Getting anointed by all the sportswriters doesn’t count for squat. Washington wasn’t intimidated by the Saints’ rep, and demonstrated to the entire league why nobody else should be, either. The only thing to do is to take it out on Denver and demonstrate to the entire league that the Saints ARE for real, and they’d better fear playing us. This next game is going to tell us a lot about which Saints team we actually have.

losing close games because the defense can’t get stops and the offense can’t pick up a 1st down on 3rd and 3.

 Taped the game but don’t plan to watch it, too depressing the first time.

 I’m going to eat some crow:
-We couldn’t ask for a better kicker than how Martin Gramatica has been kicking. Really good job, Martin.
-I saw Mark Campbell catch a pass and get up. All right, Mark. Do some more Soups.
-I saw Devery Henderson catch 2 passes but I did not see him drop one. Go Devery!
-Now I know who Troy Evans is. Nice special teams tackle. Didn’t notice him playing linebacker though.

Complaints:
-WTF on the black jerseys at hot away games? Saints do this all the time. Why can’t they play these in the gold jerseys with the black pants??? Ugly, but cooler.
-Missed tackles. I was counting. 1,2,3,4, 5 got him. Absolutely despicable.
-Play calling. Frustrating. I can’t see any rhyme or reason. It’s not working.
-We need to find a punt and kick returner and stick with him. Where is Beerman?

Saints deserved to lose that game, but still had a pretty good chance to win it at the end.
Drew’s postgame comments were not good. Couldn’t find a rhythm. They need to find it, and pretty quick.

to lose. We got outplayed buy a team that said WE WILL WIN .
Hell their fans were booing them and they still came at us 100%.

Coach got 3 more years. He was at his best when he was wild and aggressive. Try things. Reggie up the middle on 3rd IS NOT THE FREAKING answer.

The Defense we could say were bad. They were horrible in the 4th but I dont blame them as much as some might think. You expect to be on the field 1/2 the game, not 3/4 of it. As for the heat, well im sure it was a crapload warmer in training camp, so take that crutch away from them. All in all the Defense played ok. The CBs were at best average. They CANNOT be left alone out there and expect them to perform. We do not have the talent. S.Moss is freaking fast and im shocked he didnt burn us even more.

Anyway im bitter and mad and rambling. I will go back to my lunch and sulk some more.

Long story short. We lost and deserved to. They won. They outplayed us.

rotoworld.com

Saints MLB Jonathan Vilma recorded 16 tackles (10 solo) in Week 2.
Vilma hasn’t made a big play yet, but they will come. He did bat down a pass Sunday. Vilma currently has an NFL-leading 25 total tackles. London Fletcher (24), Rodney Harrison (22), and Dhani Jones (20) are next best.
Sep. 15 – 1:05 p.m. ET

Defense

The redskins were able to run the ball well. They were just killing us in the second half up the left side.
- Its hard to imagine that not having Lake, that rookie who’s hurt, and Thomas there to give the guys a break didn’t affect us, especially with the amount of time we were on defense.
- It seemed like we were in the wrong scheme on those runs to the left side too. There were more blockers there than we had defenders.

Im glad the coaches have confidence in Tracy Porter. I think he’ll be a solid player, but my goodness. Didn’t the guy leave the game with an injury and come back..? If so, we had a rookie who was less than 100% guarding Santana Moss with no saftey help in the forth quarter. Come on gibbs. Thats just stupid. (on another note, its pretty telling that with MM, Gay, and Porter hurt, Jason David still didnt play)

All that said, I dont think now is the time to be overly frustrated. Both of our starting cornerbacks are hurt and their receivers are no slouches. We’re not deep at cb. obviously. We just need to get healthy. Till then, our secondary will be suspect. (I am starting to warm to Usama Young. He showed some nice open field tackles)

We’re just not going to beat teams with our defense. The added problem is that our offensive isn’t there right now to carry the weight.

Offense

Brees and Shockey aren’t used to each other yet. Colston is hurt. Deuce is hurt. Meachem is still in a developmental stage. Chances are we’re not going to have everyone healthy at any given point, but right now, the saints are not close to their full potential on offense and probably wont be till the second half of the season.

Also, once Colston gets back and Brees/Shockey get in a grove, if/when Meachem gets going, teams are going to have to respect the pass a lot more than they were yesterday and the running game will pick up. Right now, the backs dont have any where to go. Bush has been totally surrounded when he gets the ball. Now, I’m betting that this isn’t all on our weakened passing game. Our Oline is just not very dominant.. I wouldn’t be too too opposed to them taking a solid tackle or outstanding guard with our one draft pick next year. I’d like to see some more Carl Nicks in there. The guys seems beastly.

Im bumbed about the game but I think you have to take a longer term view of things right now.

Gibbs Gumbo Defense didn’t taste good this game, although the offense did not help all that much. The defense was tired after being out there a while, you still need a safety over the top. But with the way Portis was running, they had to bring them up to help the run. All week the defense should do tackling drills.

Offense was poor. The Skins D just pass rushed and didn’t worry about the run all that much. Better playcalling is needed.

“The running game is lacking though and he is still reverting to his old dancing ways every so often. He just needs to realize when its a good time to bounce around and when he needs to put his head down and turn it upfield. We he makes the right decision it is beautiful”

But in all the RB’s defense, whether its #5, Thomas or Deuce, the O-line sucks!!!!! I found an interesting stat from a saints fan from sports line and he said:

"The bottom line is that The Saints have the worst run-blocking schemes in The NFL. They are absolutely dreadful at opening up running lanes. How many times does a Saint runningback get to the second level untouched? Once in a blue-moon. The thing is, you don’t even need 350 pound snow-plows to open up running lanes, just ask Mike Shanahan. You can open up running lanes with schemes, so once a real coach gets his hands on this offensive line you will see more consistent results.

 Sean Payton’s idea of a run game is a 5 yard dump off, a quick screen, a bubble screen, a wheel route.

Saints 2008 Run Offense: 3.4 ypc | 24th Ranked

Saints 2007 Run Offense: 3.7 ypc | 28th Ranked

Saints 2006 Run Offense: 3.7 ypc | 28th Ranked

NOW LOOK AT THIS {Pre-Payton}

Saints 2005 Run Offense: 4.0 ypc | 12th Ranked

Saints 2004 Run Offense: 4.0 ypc | 19th Ranked

Saints 2003 Run Offense: 4.5 ypc | 8th Ranked

if you look at The Saints passing average you will see similar deficiencies.

Bottom Line: Reggie Bush is perfectly fine right at his position. The queen on the chess board can only move when the pawns make way."

I agree with this dudes assessment. Blame it on Reggie all you want but lets see. if you ask me, line him/or thomas deeper in the backfield so they can see the whole better and use Karney.