Even After Patriots, Saints Still Have More to Prove

is exactly the kind of thinking I questioned with my fanpost the other day.

We know the Saints have not played well the last 2 weeks, but they’ve won. THEY’VE WON! Which is more than they can say for last year when they lost 5 by a FG or fewer points.

I don’t think anyone is discounting how tough a time we’ve had defending the pass. But, it will be a lot better with Greer, Porter, and Fujita for the playoff run.

But, now you (and apparently Bobby Hebert) are making the tired argument that you need to play well in December to play well in January. We only need to look to last year to find out how wront that argument is. Just look at what the Cardinals did last season.

Look, everyone (especially on the road) is going to give us their best. That’s part of being the best in the league. Yes, we’ve played down to our opponents some this year, but we’ve still won.

You want the defense to play with swagger? Swagger?!

What the hell do you call a Ray Lewis-esque stop on 4th and 2 – that was a bone-crushing, earth-shattering hit Vilma threw down on Snelling.

Our defense is clutch when it matters, and once we have speed in the secondary again with the return of Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter, our blitzing effictiveness will be doubled, thereby creating a beast of a pash-rush. It’s no coincidence that our sack production has dipped off with the disappearance of Greer and Porter. Their ability to play man coverage was the reason our blitz schemes worked.

Once the Saints are healthy they will once more be the most dangerous team in the league.

No…. it is half full. Get those starters back and never underestimate Greg Williams for one second

I agree with everything you said. The silver lining that I see however, is the team’s inexplicable ability to “get up” for the big games, or rather, play light year’s above their heads against the better teams in the league. They’ve shown that on at least three occasions this season — versus the Eagles, Giants and Patriots — and arguably a fourth time against the Jets, though that victory wasn’t exactly in the bag thoughout, despite the final score.

On the whole, that’s better than simply playing up to the competition. That’s showing that they’re at least CAPABLE of running with the big dogs. Or, at the very least, what we all thought were the big dogs at the time. Even of that once fearsome foursome, only the Eagles look like a playoff lock. So, there’s absolutely some grey area there, in terms of just how good this team is and/or how far this “hot and lukewarm” roller coaster is going to take us.

The wonderful thing about the playoffs is, it’s a one-and-done show for the losers. If we beat the Vikings, they won’t be around to unravel beyond the defeat, so it will forever remain an impressive victory in the eyes of football fans everywhere. Because of our relatively weak schedule, THOSE are the kinds of victories we need, in order to gain respect. Let’s be honest, as big as the New England win was, it’s more about “what’s wrong with the Patriots?” in hindsight, not “what’s right with the Saints?” All that is about to change in about a month.

As far as the defense goes, there’s no doubt in my mind that injuries — particularly in the secondary — have taken their toll and are playing a key part in the decline in performance. You do have to keep in mind though, that even when we were playing so-called “dominant” D, we gave up a ridiculous amount of passing yardage to Kevin Kolb, so I really think it’s more about the turnovers that just aren’t coming as frequently lately, that are making it seem like we’ve taken a step back. In reality, we’re still the same mediocre, occasionally overachieving band of misfits we were on that side of the ball all along.

That’s not to say we haven’t improved over last season, when healthy. We didn’t have Sharper and Greer last season. We also didn’t have Porter for a lot of the time. And we didn’t have Gregg Williams preaching strip-and-score at all costs. While far from consistent, those factors have at least reared their pretty head here and there in ’09.

There’s obviously no telling what the future holds, even if we lock up home field advantage throughout. To assume that that guarantees squat beyond a 60 minute extension to this magical season is a bit naive imo, but I’m cool with the dreamers. If Rodgers or McNabb or Warner or Favre or whomever we wind up playing comes out flat, or gets rattled early by the crowd noise, or our suddenly resurrected, non-rusty M*A*S*H unit bursts back onto the scene with reckless, game-changing abandon … then it could be another big step in the right direction for the team as a whole. If it’s business as usual — and by “usual” I mean the kind of shoddy cross-all-your-fingers-and-toes play we’ve unfortunately become accustomed to over the last couple of months … well, then it might be Choke City to the Mark Cuban degree, come January. All we can really do as Saints fans is sit back, enjoy the ride and hope Clark Kent doesn’t forget to pack his cape.

You can’t blow out every opponent and the fact that we’ve won with a banged up defense says a lot about the character of this team. As long as there is time left on the clock, they feel they can win. They showed this in come from behind wins this season and this last game against Atlanta, where they held on to get the W. This isn’t the NCAA. Every pro team is capable of beating the best team out there. You cannot and should not take them lightly.

Is it a concern that Jason Campbell and Chris Redman had career days against the Saints? Yes. What concerns me more? Getting Porter, Greer and Fujita back in time for the playoffs and hoping they aren’t rusty. That is the big picture. Week 14 and Week 15 didn’t mean much for us except to lock up a playoff spot and a first round bye.

I have to think about the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. They finished the regular season 83-78, which was good enough to win the NL Central that year. The hard rule of coming together at the end of the season did not apply to the Cardinals. In September, the Cardinals were 12-16. They lost their final game of the season on October 1 and their September included a seven game losing streak from September 20-September 26. Quite simply, the Cardinals played horrible baseball from September 1 to October 1, going 12-17 down that stretch. They finished just five games over .500, yet won the World Series.

How does this have any relevance to the NFL? It’s not about playing your best football in December. It’s about playing your best football in January and February.

guys we only have one more road game before the superbowl. and nobody can argue with the fact that we play completely lights out in the dome. even the idiots from other teams make me laugh with their superior “logic” about how we had two crappy wins compared their two losses. as far as going undefeated, maybe we should borrow a line from the team and just take it one game at a time. we’ll sort out the historical significance of the 2009 saints after the season is over.

But what’s even more important this weekend is seeing them play with a defense chock full of swagger, proving they can turn it on when they need and that they will be ready to make that all-important playoff run. Even if they somehow lose. Soon, they won’t have that luxury.

Boom rec’d it. But don’t be a Nervous Nellie. Everything’s going to be fine.

Guys it’s our injuries. Jabari Greer gave up only one TD all season and it wasn’t even his fault. He was in great coverage on Roddy white. Tracy porter was blossoming and was playing very well for us. Scott fujita is one of the smartest players on the team and was always in the right place at the right time mike mckenzie is slow and Malcolm Jenkins us a rookie so I think we will be just fine.

What about the Patriots game? They didn’t have Greer or Porter, yet still looked amazing. A good playoff team needs to be deep and play well, EVEN WHEN THEY DON’T HAVE THEIR STARTERS.

Think about it! Each new opponent has had the opportunity to pick apart every game we’ve played this season. All of our opponents’ game plans have challenged our weaknesses and every game we’ve been able to plug the holes and come out on top! The close games, as I see it, were because the coaches executed better judgement. Keep in mind that we’ve won every game we’ve played! I don’t think we’ve peaked yet.

Hell, as long as we peak in Miami is February I’ll be happier (than I am already!)

Ya’ll know that it wouldn’t be Saintly for the diehard fans not to double up on their heart medication while watching a game. Hell I can’t ever rember seeing a game except through my closed fjngers.

God, I love that movie.

between this December ‘09 Saints team and the team of the past 2 years(and in a broader sense, past 4 decades) to me is that I find myself trusting this Saints team to identify and at least somewhat rectify the problems they’ve run into. The defense hasn’t looked all that much worse(but definitely worse) than the first 11 games of the season, but they haven’t made the brilliant halftime adjustments I’ve grown accustomed to this fall in the last two outings. I really think that’s because of a combination of little things that equal one big slump for the defense. Two back-to-back road games, a constantly rotating defensive back crew, having to sub in linebackers on the fly. Chuckie(the failed blitz, the rotund DE, you pick). Basically, not enough time and reps as a unit to look cohesive. I think they’ll get back to their high-teens-ranked-couple-turnover selves. The offense looked pretty unsure in the second half against Atlanta, but seeing as a 26 point game in their rival’s house is the second worst job they’ve done all year, I’ll trust they will calm back down. The key part is, I trust these Saints to step up. I’m afraid of that feeling, or at least of how much I love it.

That said, I reserve the right to bitch about any and all boneheaded mistakes or decisions to pass three times when you’re closing in on the two minute warning with a three point lead that I see fit to, and I’ll continue to be a “real” fan while I do it.

The Superbowl is still a few games away. We either win it or we don’t. And if we don’t, wee didn’t prove anything.

But hey, it was fantastic to see the pats get demoralized.

I hope the “their” in “above their head” meant the opposition. I am deeply offended otherwise.

…are the Saints the team that always gets it done OR are they awaiting a high caliber/on-fire playoff team to come in and run up 45 points on a defense that has looked VERY porous at times this season? Is this a temporary situation what will get fixed when the defensive starters return?

 Its really hard to say when you see the Rams,Skins and depleted Falcons run up more points on us than the Patriots did.

I am encouraged by the fact that we went through a bad turnover phase that started after the Giants game and the problem seems to have been corrected. Hopefully the boys are hard at work putting caulk in the holes…only time will tell.

they tend to be about as accurate as the fortune tellers down around Jackson Square. They just throw so much ‘data’ at you that, for things in the past, you catch the ones that fit and, for the future, you catch the ones that align with the way things are going. The rest are thrown in the trash.

So, with that being said, I think you want a team peaking around Feb 7.

…this Saints team seems to play up/down the competition…just you watch them rise up to the occasion to show – yet again – to the world that they are legit!

And again….this is not the BCS…you have to win…be it by 3 or by 21 points…

Gonna be a good game, but Saints prevail, I’d say by 10 points!

They tried out Chris McAlister and Herb Donaldson today….

   Cowboys will go down big, somehow that will be the national story, not what Saints do to them, Saints have the mo back and neither Bucs nor Panthers will take it away. The Eagles know they must come to New Orleans and are already talking smack. You wanted respect? You got respect. And more on the way.

Kinda interesting that our rookie secondary were in, I’ll call it, learning mode with a very weak offense in the Redskins. Refined it a little more last week. Now, with the number 3 defense (yards), our defense should be smokin’. I’m telling you, we’re so blessed this yeaR! Of course, we also have the 12th player in the stands, this week, to help out with a lot of screaming. If you can’t hear in the huddle and you can’t hear at the line of scrimmage. What are they going to do? Use sign language?

too many FGs when drives stalled in red zone vs. Redskins

and not enough 2nd-half steamrolling vs. Falcs

D needs to force more punts or TOs, and then Brees & Co. need to turn them into TDs (like we were doing so well early on)

Colts are behind in the 4th!!!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz what happened? Omigod! there only up by 4!!!!!

zzzzzzzzzz what happened?!??!?!? Oh, they won!

You could replace “Colts” with “Saints”. Get used to it.