Atlanta Falcons 27 @ New Orleans Saints 24: The View from Section 140

I agree with your statement. The time for the Saints to wake up was 3 weeks ago. Amen, you are preaching to the choir.

Tony Gonzalez had a monster game with eight catches for 110 yards. This is now the third game in a row that tight ends have been able to rack up some significant yardage against the Saints defense. Here’s a fun fact: In three games so far this season, opponents tight ends have caught for 310 yards. That’s 46% of all receiving yards (674) given up. In other words, playing against the Saints defense tight ends are nearly equaling the production of their wide receivers. Have opponents found a chink in the armor?

Killed us. Every time I looked up he was making a key catch, usually for a first down. And, I don’t even wanna talk about stopping da run. BUT, what I DO wanna know is……..

What the hell is in that cup, Dave???? (lol)

“What else can you say about Lance Moore that everyone hasn’t already said. Not only was yesterday his coming back party, it was also a career performance for Lance.”

As a friend of mine stated yesterday, Lance had the game of Reggie’s career. He even had more rushing yards (0) than Reggie would have had.

but the difference is they lost this time. Winning after ugly games still possibly leaves them thinking they will somehow pull it off in the end. I am concerned but not ready to throw in the towel. I know this is probably harder for those that are used to them reversing directions when least expected.

Also I would not write Tampa Bay off so quickly. Unless the Saints get their stuff together Philly and Dallas (if they played the way they did yesterday, lucky for us they are inconsistent) scare me. We have to be wary that even the crappy teams will still bring their A games to the table, so don’t put stock in the fact that we seemingly have an easy schedule here on out for awhile.

I hate to say it but I had a bad feeling all week but didn’t want to jinx it. I think in our heart of hearts we all knew it was coming after the past 2 weeks. I would rather them get a loss in sooner than later if they have to lose.

More than anything I am tired of them leaving Hartley to win the game. He should be making extra points instead. I know it’s his job but damn, how many times does he have to make up for the Saints crappy play? When he makes it he is a hero but when he doesn’t he’s the worst kicker in the league. I am confused as to what people think is a good kicker since they aren’t going to push it through every time they kick. I thought John Carney had the same problem which is why Hartley is there.

I have said it before but PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD get the Saintsation’s new outfits. They look ridiculous. I know, I know, leave it to the girl to make these statements but world champions should not have the cheapest looking outfits on their cheerleaders! It just really bothers me, as you can tell :)

“I’m pretty sure Jon Stinchcomb was throwing up on the sideline very early in the game.”

He must have heard Ivory was listed ahead of Betts on the depth chart.

got in front of a TV just in time to see the end of the 4th and that crazy OT. But seems like the balance was way off, too pass happy and Betts was left out? What was that all about? And I heard Colston and Henderson had poor games. Have they been reading too many of their own headlines? D Henny was dropping them like his rookie year I hear.

/living in denial

Also, that PI call on Greer was BS. The pass was heading for the ground, it was uncatchable. Turned a 4th-5 into a 1st-10.

The Falcons are the best team we’ve played so far this year and we lost.

That doesn’t concern me nearly as much as the mediocre performances in wins against the Vikings and 49’s. Regardless of pre-season hype for these two teams, they’re not very good. Combined, they’re 5-1 with the only win being the VIkings over the hapless Lions.

The Seahawks and Chiefs beat the 49’s by a combined score of 62-16, The same team scored 23 points against the Saints and it took an ugly, last second field goal by our besieged kicker to get a victory.

Given the reality of the defensive unit we have, the only way the Saints are going to win consistently is by putting up a lot of points. They have a month to get it together and rebuild their confidence as they will be going up against the NFL’s bottom feeders. Rather than just win these games, they need to dominate offensively. Otherwise, it could get ugly in the second half of the season when the competition gets considerably more difficult.

I’m on the side with those who say the loss makes it different. Somehow Payton and Drew were riding the “we won the turnover ratio/we find ways to win.” bandwagon through the first two games. Looking a bit too comfortable there.

Now, I know they aren’t exactly going to have as their post- game talking points be, “Holy cow, we could’ve, maybe should’ve lost that one!”

Too much resting on the laurels of successful opening offense. Wakeup calls can fix that.

Everyone eles’s point about other things that need fixing aren’t as easily fixable with the proverbial wakeup call.

He’s been starting for us the past four years. His name is Scott Shanle. His best is only average and he rarely makes any critical plays. We should have spent the money or draft pick to get someone, Dansby this past off-season would have been dandy.

We know we don’t have a defense like the Steelers who only give up 10 points a game. We have a defense who creates turnovers and plays excellent redzone defense. In the first 2 games we did that. In the 3rd game we didn’t get any TOs and didn’t play the best RZ defense. My problem right now is…Drew Brees. I know, I know. Your reaching for your guns right now but it’s the truth. He’s not the only problem with the offense though but i’ll get onto that later. Brees’ stats are wonderful besides the last game. Stats don’t tell everything though. Brees has not been accurate on the long ball. We haven’t had a big play TD yet. I know the one with Moore but it looked more like busted coverage to me. Brees has been off target on almost all of his long ball passes. Moore has our only catch of over 40 yards. Brees isn’t always getting the best help(looking at you Henderson) but he hasn’t always given the best help. Stats have been great but the big explosive plays that we haven’t gotten yet all come down on him.

My 2nd problem is our run game/Payton’s playcalling. His playcalling is erratic right now it seems. I feel like it’s pass pass pass pass run or it’s run run run run pass. Running game needs to step up. I’m looking at the backs on this one. No one’s showing up to play really. PT had 87 yards on 17 carries or so in the Vikings game. That’s not terrible but it could be better. PT has a 3.2 YPC average right now. We haven’t come close to 100 yards rushing in a game yet. It’s time to step up our run game! That’s brings me to this…I saw Deuce on the sidelines in the pics and was wondering if he’s still in game shape. Ivory’s 7 carries for 13 yards and a fumble isn’t cutting it and Betts is our best option as a #2(3 when reggie’s healthy) RB. Remember Mike Bell? Remember the power/ferrocity he brought to the game? Yeah, Ivory doesn’t seem to run the same way as that, which is what we needed. Reggie’s the receiving threat/take it to the house threat and PT is the workhorse back that fights for the extra yardage and can rip off big plays. Ivory just seems to be like a mix of them. PT will fight for the extra yardage but isn’t a “big bruiser” type of back that we need on 3/4th and short. Please come back Deuce