This game was awful and miserable I am completely uninspired so this will be pretty short.
- This was definitely the worst loss of the season. Unlile the Saints other losses, this game was a blowout.
- The Saints just came out flat. Not sure whether its being on the road or what but they definitely don't seem to have the same intensity they do at home.
- Bobby McCray finally came out of his shell today and notched 6 tackles after only 3 for the entire season.
- Mehlhaff was perfect on the day.
- Turnovers were the key in this game. The turning point of this game was Shockey's fumble. It was all downhill from there. The Saints have started a new turnover streak.
- Drew Brees did not look like this normal self today. Dropped balls and missed routes by his receivers didn't help either.
- The offensive line was sub-par in their pass blocking today. Drew was forced to scramble and make quite a few throws under duress. This was also a large factor in the below average passing game. Julius Peppers had a very good all around game.
- On the other side of the ball the defense didn't do a great job getting pressure on Delhomme.
- Colston was obviously not really ready to go. I believe he had two drops, at least one of which would normally have been a catch.
- Both Shockey and Colston may have affected the rhythm of the offense. Normally Drew indifferently spreads the ball around to whoever is open but it seemed like he was forcing some passes to a not 100% tandem of Shockey and Colston.
- Maybe it was better run blocking but Reggie was actually getting nice chunks of yards on the ground. It's only fitting that during the same game Reggie seems to finally be getting it in the running game he injures his knee.
- Everyone will be talking about the 3rd and one play that went to Reggie Bush on the pitch. Perhaps Payton was going with Bush because he was in a good rhythm at the time but really that is a Deuce situation.
- I will spare you the "football is a game of inches" diatribe in regards to the two 4th down conversions.
- The running game in general was actually very efficient. Bush, McAllister and Stecker had rush averages of 6.1, 5.2 and 5.0 ypc respectively. Unfortunately, they only ran the ball a total of 20 times. Stewart and Williams of the Panthers carried it a total of 35 times.
- Tight ends Shockey and Billy Miller got some significant yardage but Devery Henderson was the only receiver to gain more than 10 yards.
- Jonathan Vilma yet again finds himself at the top of the list for tackles. He also had a nice pass deflection at the line.
- Unlike weeks past the Saints had trouble stopping the run and allowed 143 yards of rushing offense.
- Probably the most frustrating thing about being a Saints fan year is the incredible inconsistency. Day in and day out. Week in and week out. Year in and year out.
I will leave the rest of the complaining up to you guys. There was a lot of bad out there out on the field today so I expect a lot of yelling and screaming. Don't bottle it up. Let it out.