New Orleans Saints 25 @ San Francisco 49ers 22: The Morning After

The Vikings and the 49ers have outstanding defenses. The Saints’ offense is too loaded to not start firing on all cylinders and hit its groove soon. And of course, long offensive drives mean the defense is on the field less. Even so, the defense is going to be the death of me, though, if they can’t start getting more stops and have to keep relying on turnovers.

They did open last season against some fairly week opponents. I mean who doesn’t put up 45 against the Lions? Although, if the Vikes keep losing it will make our victory against them seem a little week.

From now until the Saints win SB 45 we can expect every team too bring this kind of intensity too games with us, for many teams this is their SB. It’s as close as some will get too the playoffs. Every player on everyteam that has any self respect will be giving a little extra in games with the Defending Superbowl Champs!!!
   Now look at week one against one of the better teams from last year, who just so happen too have one of the best RBs in the NFL if not the best. Look at week two as a team that had there “whole season” riding on this game. With again one of the best RBs in the NFL. Our Saints did what Champions do, they found a way to win.
  The only thing from last night that left me a little upset is the injury too Reggie Bush. I’ve been a supporter of his from day one and still am. Here’s too him getting healthy soon and comming back even stronger with a lot of film study time :)))
   Our boys could have done a few things better but we won. So grab yourself a little Juicyfruit a coke and a smile cuz after 2 games the Saints are undefeated. You can’t get too 16-0 without first getting too 2-0.

Sean Payton is one hell of an NFL head coach. He’s not perfect. But how’d ya like to have that loose cannon impulse control be damned too much testosterone raging bull of a crazy nut Singletary running your team? Payton looked like he knew what he was doing throughout, even if it didn’t work (time outs used in the first quarter to take advantage of the wind). Assuming the niners won the coin toss, I’m not sure that if Payton had won it that he might have deferred in order to pick his endzone so they’d have the wind at their back in the 4th quarter, which they did anyway.

Opponent outcoached AGAIN, by Payton and GDub. I’m very pleased, all puffed up and looking down my nose at the Cowboys fans and everybody else. “You’ll never get anywhere until Jerry fires both Wade Phillips and that Jason guy.”

Frank Gore is awesome. I’m glad I own him in 3 leagues.

Mr. Dave, I agree completely with your post. I might add the M-E Principle also, though: Those weren’t turnovers or giveaways. Those were TAKEAWAYS by the Saints, 2 jump ball picks and a strip. Niners did not beat themselves, they got beat by the Saints defense. 3 serious scoring drives ended abruptly by the Saints going for the ball and I guess I’ll add the excellent Courtney Roby’s fumble recovery in there too. BOOM
minus 30 minus

Those were TAKEAWAYS by the Saints

That’s correct. I agree with that and I see the difference. I fully understand they create those. What’s amazing, like I said, is that they create them at exactly the moment they need them most. It’s uncanny, really.

congrats saints

…sign Joique Bell off Buffalo’s practice squad, but I’m too late: Philadelphia already did it.

As for the defense…I don’t have a clue how to fix it with the personnel we have. I saw players trotting after Gore. Maybe the San Francisco weather made them torpid, I don’t know. But I’m with Dave: takeaways are great—but if they can’t keep them coming, this defense is going to get exposed real quick. And the funny thing is, it’s now our backfield that is the strength of the defense, carrying the front seven. Crazy times.

1. The team that everyone thought SF to be before the Seattle debacle showed up last night, and then some. All of us were concerned about this game before the season started, not because it was a trap, but because SF has a stout defense and beast RB. Add in swirling winds, a loud crowd and a mediocre QB having the game of his life and that’s one hell of a challenge. We didn’t necessarily play bad, they just played really, really well. The funny thing is that we won the game anyway. The difference in the game to me was the Saints of the last 2 seasons have learned to win close games. SF hasn’t yet. I couldn’t help but think back to all those games I watched as a kid in the dome when the dome patrol would have the 49ers on the ropes, only to watch us turn the ball over, then let Montana and Rice drive for the winning score as time expired. It’s a total role reversal.
2. The Saints defense doesn’t apear to be any worse than last year. Their bend but dont break style is the leading cause of heart attacks and spousal abuse in the gulf south, but we won the SB with it last year, so there’s no reason we can’t again.
3.Keep in mind, SF’s style of lockdown defense and elite RB is the best antidote to our style of play. It attacks our biggest weakness on defense and keeps the ball away from Drew. SF shares this same style with the Vikings. The games end up being close, but we’ve won them all so far. Not many teams will match up with us as well as the Vikings and 49ers do. So, I’m not really worried about the offense. I think they just overcame their 2 most difficult matchups with wins to start the season. These last two games were gut-checks. We won them both. There not all going to be easy. The measure of a good team is when you get outplayed but manage to win anyway.

The Saints rolled down the field and score at will on the 1st drive of these 1st 2 games and then it seems like the team thinks they have it all won. I want to see them keep their foot on the gas untill they just smush these teams will to win

I do have to agree with you though. This was a very ugly win. However, when everything goes wrong (except turning the ball over on offense) it takes an entire team to win. Yes Drew did not have a good night, but he did not throw any INTs. our WR did not have a good game. Meachum did not have a single catch. Our defense was extremly fortunate. I do not know how many games where opponents have scored 450+ offenseive yards and lost I can probally tell you there are very few that have lost.

If we look back to last year there were several games in which we had no chance of winning and should have lost.
The fist game that comes to mind is the the redskins game. Really Robert Meachum a WR had a strip and a touchdown return on a play where Drew through an INT. Seriously that happened.

Then there was the NFCCG against the vikings. We were totally beat. Somehow we ended up on the recieving end of Frave’s pass and sealed the deal in overtime.

The point is that they will be several games in which take a collective team effort to win. This game was a grand example of that. Next week it will take a grand team effort in order to fend off the falcons.

I’m assuming that the Saints are saving some of their playbook for the Falcons this week. Otherwise, I’d be a little worried about an upcoming divisional loss. Oh, hell – I guess I AM a little worried about the Falcons. They played lights-out this past Sunday.

Be proud. How many teams would like to have that record right now? Just think, the headlines on CSC today could be looking like this

…familiar to last years. They give up lots of yards but clamp down in the redzone and create turnovers. After the first two games last year they had 7 takeaways, I think. They have 5 total now(I think) against arguably two tougher opponents. To me they’re right on target. It’s like deja vu to me. For games where the offense struggled, defense picked up the slack and vice versa. I dig it.

Ok, I don’t. I actually enjoy this blog. But man, I was there, at the game, screaming and yelling, cheering, telling so many black jerseys to **** themselves and generally doing my part in holding down Candlestick as drunk and belligerent as I possibly could. My throat was bleeding this morning from all the yelling, and I’m pretty sure I offended a lot of people close to me. My team lost and it feels awful. Turned the ball over a million times and just barely lost.

But damn that was a ridiculously entertaining game and if I didn’t get my moneys worth, then I’m insane. Good stuff, guys. If any of you were at the game and a guy who is 6’8’’ with long hair and a giant ZZ Top beard told you to jump off a bridge, I definitely would have felt bad if you followed through with it. Just saying.

Good game. Keep up the good work here.

I share everyones’ concern about the defense, but I think the biggest problem in the passing game was simply the wind. After the game, you could really hear the wind in the microphones of the on-field commentators. That helps explain some of the worst passes I think I’ve ever seen Drew throw. But things like that can upset something as seemingly unrelated as the running game as well because of the mental aspect of it. People simply start getting perturbed when things as dependable as Drew’s arm start to go awry and it bleeds over.

I’m worried about Reggie being out, and our rushing game, and our inability to turn the takeaways into points.

But I am soooo glad to be 2-0 and looking at the Falcons through the windshield. A dirty bird can’t fly with a broken wing.

I could be wrong but maybe his shoulder is hurt. I hope not

It felt like our D overall did a good job (with some improvements needed, obviously) but they basically got raped by a more mature, well prepared team. It was like watching your friend get bullied by the class ahole but there is nothing you can do about it because the bully is bigger than you too. Oh and Gore is a BEAST.

One of the biggest concerns for me was the inability to make something of those takeaways. Yes it helps keep them from scoring but with THAT many turnovers there is NO REASON the game should have been THAT CLOSE.

My biggest concern overall is how uncomfortable Drew looked all night long. I feel like in every game where he feels any real pressure the offense starts to crumble. Dallas was a great example of it last year. If I was an opposing team with a defense I knew could man handle it I would play the Saints the way we played the Vikings in the NFC championship. I would be on Drew like white on rice.

I had nightmares of losing all night long after the game, hahaha. I shouldn’t be this pissy after a win.

How many times throughout the years did we lose these types of games? I’m going to set back and enjoy as long as I can. And yes I agree with every one of ya, but It’s our turn apparently , how else can you explain it.

even though we WON is: potential. Or not living up to it, I suppose. It’s frustrating to me and many other who do not feel upset, but grateful. It’s the way of the world now. Sadly, many are turning into spoiled fans. I can just imagine the belly-aching after a loss. I could write a Fanpost on this, but I’m not going to. Remember when we won the games we were not supposed to, but LOST the games we were supposed to win? Let’s get some perspective on just how hard it is for ANY team to repeat because of many factors besides the target on our backs.

I’m proud of the win and proud of this team.

but i was happy with how the saints overcame the adversity of the game (on the road, bad wind, not really clicking on offense/defense) to pull out a win. i think that was really the best the 49ers could play – it def was alex smith’s best game as a professional – and yet we still won without having to go to overtime. we made plays when it counted, and at the end of the season all that will really matter is the W.

of course i want madden-type numbers from brees every week (although a 74% completion rate, 250+ yds, 2 TDs, and 0 turnovers is FREAKING AMAZING PEOPLE DID YOU FORGET ABOUT AARON BROOKS?), but i’d much rather scrape out wins – even if they’re ugly. defense gets it done when they need to, just like they did last season.

and i’m disappointed reggie’s hurt, but in light of taking my optimistix (that’s the name of my optimism pills), i’m thinking this is a way to really establish PT as a force on our team. in games past when reggie’s been out, he really showed his ability to be a fully capable feature back, and i think sean p too often is tempted to use reggie even to our detriment. anyway, it sucks, but it might help get the offense a little more focused and crisp…. bring on the dirty birds!

Congratulations on the win! Any win counts the same at the end of the season, and the fact that it was a divisional opponent who you may end up playing in the playoffs just adds some weight.
Some analysts questioned the Saints ability to repeat because of their defense. It ranked in the bottom quortile of the league last year in yardage but made up for that by a crazy number of takeaways. And the idea was that relying on takeaways to carry your D will fail at some point. Well, the SF game gave some reasons to doubt this logic.
Watching the game I was under the impression that the Niners shot themselves in their collective feet and a more experienced team could beat New Orleans. but than again, last year your team showed some flaws and the Falcons, along with some other teams nearly beat them, but “nearly beat” is not the same as “beat”.
So, on one hand, I was encouraged to see the flaws in the Saints game (and that gives some hope that the Falcons can at least split the series and maybe unseat the Saints in the division). On the other hand, I am scared that the Saints still have that luck on their side and every bounce goes their way (like the two fumbles by Bush and the Niners).
I am looking forward to the Sunday’s game. Last season, both NO-ATL games were thrillers. No doubt the Saints have better chances of winning, especially at home, but a lot will depend on which version of the Falcons shows up.